RIPEMD160_INIT(3ossl)

💅 RIPEMD160_INIT(3ossl) — the OpenSSL manual, but make it make sense 🫶

Okay bestie, so this page lives in the OpenSSL manual, section 3ossl, and it's all about the RIPEMD-160 hash function. It's giving "legacy but still iconic" energy, so buckle up 🎀

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✨ NAME ✨

RIPEMD160, RIPEMD160_Init, RIPEMD160_Update, RIPEMD160_Final — the RIPEMD-160 hash function. Yes, all five-ish names for one vibe 💖

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

First thing's first, bestie — you gotta include the header:

#include <openssl/ripemd.h>

🚨 Heads up, queen: the following functions have been deprecated since OpenSSL 3.0, and can be hidden entirely by defining OPENSSL_API_COMPAT with a suitable version value. See openssl_user_macros(7) for the deets. So like... they're still here, but they're on thin ice 💀

Here are the function signatures, exactly as they appear:

unsigned char *RIPEMD160(const unsigned char *d, unsigned long n,
                         unsigned char *md);

int RIPEMD160_Init(RIPEMD160_CTX *c);
int RIPEMD160_Update(RIPEMD160_CTX *c, const void *data, unsigned long len);
int RIPEMD160_Final(unsigned char *md, RIPEMD160_CTX *c);

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

So like — all of the functions on this page are deprecated. I'm not saying it, the manpage is saying it 😭 Applications should instead use EVP_DigestInit_ex(3), EVP_DigestUpdate(3) and EVP_DigestFinal_ex(3). That's the glow-up, okay? ✨

RIPEMD-160 is a cryptographic hash function with a 160 bit output. Short, sweet, and to the point.

RIPEMD160() computes the RIPEMD-160 message digest of the n bytes at d and places it in md — and md must have space for RIPEMD160_DIGEST_LENGTH == 20 bytes of output. No skimping on the buffer, bestie 🫶 If md is NULL, the digest is placed in a static array. (iykyk, static arrays are a whole vibe 🙈)

Now, the following functions are your go-to if the message is not completely stored in memory — like when you're streaming data in chunks:

• RIPEMD160_Init() — initializes a RIPEMD160_CTX structure. Set it up, bestie 💅
• RIPEMD160_Update() — can be called repeatedly with chunks of the message to be hashed (len bytes at data). Feed it piece by piece, it eats 🍓
• RIPEMD160_Final() — places the message digest in md (which, again, must have space for RIPEMD160_DIGEST_LENGTH == 20 bytes of output), and erases the RIPEMD160_CTX. Clean up after yourself, periodt 🧹

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🎀 RETURN VALUES 🎀

• RIPEMD160() — returns a pointer to the hash value. Iconic 🌈
• RIPEMD160_Init(), RIPEMD160_Update() and RIPEMD160_Final() — return 1 for success, 0 otherwise. Simple as that 💖

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💜 NOTE 💜

Applications should use the higher level functions — EVP_DigestInit(3) etc. — instead of calling these functions directly. Like, these are the training wheels, and you're ready for the real thing, bestie 👑

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⭐ CONFORMING TO ⭐

ISO/IEC 10118-3:2016 Dedicated Hash-Function 1 (RIPEMD-160). Look at it, all official and certified 📜✨

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🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

EVP_DigestInit(3) — go read that one next, it's the main character energy this page is pointing you toward 💅

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🌸 HISTORY 🌸

All of these functions were deprecated in OpenSSL 3.0. Sad but true, they had a good run 🥲

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🫶 COPYRIGHT 🫶

Copyright 2000-2020 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved. 🎀

Licensed under the Apache License 2.0 (the "License"). You may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You can obtain a copy in the file LICENSE in the source distribution or at <https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html> 📄

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💌 cute lil sign-off

This page is from OpenSSL 3.5.6, dated 2026-04-07, and it's filed under RIPEMD160_INIT(3ossl). Okay that's the whole manual page, love you, bye bestie 💕✨🦋