1BN_NEW(3)                           OpenSSL                          BN_NEW(3)
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NAME

6       BN_new, BN_secure_new, BN_clear, BN_free, BN_clear_free - allocate and
7       free BIGNUMs
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SYNOPSIS

10        #include <openssl/bn.h>
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12        BIGNUM *BN_new(void);
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14        BIGNUM *BN_secure_new(void);
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16        void BN_clear(BIGNUM *a);
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18        void BN_free(BIGNUM *a);
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20        void BN_clear_free(BIGNUM *a);
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DESCRIPTION

23       BN_new() allocates and initializes a BIGNUM structure.  BN_secure_new()
24       does the same except that the secure heap OPENSSL_secure_malloc(3) is
25       used to store the value.
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27       BN_clear() is used to destroy sensitive data such as keys when they are
28       no longer needed. It erases the memory used by a and sets it to the
29       value 0.  If a is NULL, nothing is done.
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31       BN_free() frees the components of the BIGNUM, and if it was created by
32       BN_new(), also the structure itself. BN_clear_free() additionally
33       overwrites the data before the memory is returned to the system.  If a
34       is NULL, nothing is done.
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RETURN VALUES

37       BN_new() and BN_secure_new() return a pointer to the BIGNUM initialised
38       to the value 0.  If the allocation fails, they return NULL and set an
39       error code that can be obtained by ERR_get_error(3).
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41       BN_clear(), BN_free() and BN_clear_free() have no return values.
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SEE ALSO

44       ERR_get_error(3), OPENSSL_secure_malloc(3)
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HISTORY

47       BN_init() was removed in OpenSSL 1.1.0; use BN_new() instead.
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50       Copyright 2000-2019 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved.
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52       Licensed under the OpenSSL license (the "License").  You may not use
53       this file except in compliance with the License.  You can obtain a copy
54       in the file LICENSE in the source distribution or at
55       <https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html>.
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591.1.1i                            2021-01-26                         BN_NEW(3)
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