1READPASSPHRASE(3)        BSD Library Functions Manual        READPASSPHRASE(3)
2

NAME

4     readpassphrase — get a passphrase from the user
5

LIBRARY

7     Utility functions from BSD systems (libbsd, -lbsd)
8

SYNOPSIS

10     #include <readpassphrase.h>
11
12     char *
13     readpassphrase(const char *prompt, char *buf, size_t bufsiz, int flags);
14

DESCRIPTION

16     The readpassphrase() function displays a prompt to, and reads in a
17     passphrase from, /dev/tty.  If this file is inaccessible and the
18     RPP_REQUIRE_TTY flag is not set, readpassphrase() displays the prompt on
19     the standard error output and reads from the standard input.  In this
20     case it is generally not possible to turn off echo.
21
22     Up to bufsiz - 1 characters (one is for the NUL) are read into the pro‐
23     vided buffer buf.  Any additional characters and the terminating newline
24     (or return) character are discarded.
25
26     readpassphrase() takes the following optional flags:
27
28           RPP_ECHO_OFF            turn off echo (default behavior)
29           RPP_ECHO_ON             leave echo on
30           RPP_REQUIRE_TTY         fail if there is no tty
31           RPP_FORCELOWER          force input to lower case
32           RPP_FORCEUPPER          force input to upper case
33           RPP_SEVENBIT            strip the high bit from input
34           RPP_STDIN               force read of passphrase from stdin
35
36     The calling process should zero the passphrase as soon as possible to
37     avoid leaving the cleartext passphrase visible in the process's address
38     space.
39

RETURN VALUES

41     Upon successful completion, readpassphrase() returns a pointer to the
42     NUL-terminated passphrase.  If an error is encountered, the terminal
43     state is restored and a null pointer is returned.
44

FILES

46     /dev/tty
47

EXAMPLES

49     The following code fragment will read a passphrase from /dev/tty into the
50     buffer passbuf.
51
52           char passbuf[1024];
53
54           ...
55
56           if (readpassphrase("Response: ", passbuf, sizeof(passbuf),
57               RPP_REQUIRE_TTY) == NULL)
58                   errx(1, "unable to read passphrase");
59
60           if (compare(transform(passbuf), epass) != 0)
61                   errx(1, "bad passphrase");
62
63           ...
64
65           memset(passbuf, 0, sizeof(passbuf));
66

ERRORS

68     [EINTR]            The readpassphrase() function was interrupted by a
69                        signal.
70
71     [EINVAL]           The bufsiz argument was zero.
72
73     [EIO]              The process is a member of a background process
74                        attempting to read from its controlling terminal, the
75                        process is ignoring or blocking the SIGTTIN signal, or
76                        the process group is orphaned.
77
78     [EMFILE]           The process has already reached its limit for open
79                        file descriptors.
80
81     [ENFILE]           The system file table is full.
82
83     [ENOTTY]           There is no controlling terminal and the
84                        RPP_REQUIRE_TTY flag was specified.
85

SIGNALS

87     readpassphrase() will catch the following signals:
88
89           SIGALRM         SIGHUP          SIGINT
90           SIGPIPE         SIGQUIT         SIGTERM
91           SIGTSTP         SIGTTIN         SIGTTOU
92
93     When one of the above signals is intercepted, terminal echo will be
94     restored if it had previously been turned off.  If a signal handler was
95     installed for the signal when readpassphrase() was called, that handler
96     is then executed.  If no handler was previously installed for the signal
97     then the default action is taken as per sigaction(2).
98
99     The SIGTSTP, SIGTTIN, and SIGTTOU signals (stop signals generated from
100     keyboard or due to terminal I/O from a background process) are treated
101     specially.  When the process is resumed after it has been stopped,
102     readpassphrase() will reprint the prompt and the user may then enter a
103     passphrase.
104

SEE ALSO

106     sigaction(2), getpass(3)
107

STANDARDS

109     The readpassphrase() function is an OpenBSD extension and should not be
110     used if portability is desired.
111

HISTORY

113     The readpassphrase() function first appeared in OpenBSD 2.9.
114
115BSD                              June 22, 2019                             BSD
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