TS_VERIFY_CTX(3ossl)

📦 version 15.1, in freebsd 15.1

💜 NAME 💜

Hiii bestie, welcome to the TS_VERIFY_CTX(3ossl) page from the OpenSSL manual ✨ — this is the whole squad of functions that manage the TS response verification context. The full lineup is: TS_VERIFY_CTX, TS_VERIFY_CTX_new, TS_VERIFY_CTX_init, TS_VERIFY_CTX_free, TS_VERIFY_CTX_cleanup, TS_VERIFY_CTX_set_flags, TS_VERIFY_CTX_add_flags, TS_VERIFY_CTX_set0_data, TS_VERIFY_CTX_set0_imprint, TS_VERIFY_CTX_set0_store, TS_VERIFY_CTX_set0_certs, TS_VERIFY_CTX_set_certs, TS_VERIFY_CTS_set_certs, TS_VERIFY_CTX_set_data, TS_VERIFY_CTX_set_imprint, TS_VERIFY_CTX_set_store.

Yes, that's a lot of names. Yes, some of them are deprecated. We'll get to that, don't worry 😌

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

#include <openssl/ts.h>

typedef struct TS_verify_ctx TS_VERIFY_CTX;

TS_VERIFY_CTX *TS_VERIFY_CTX_new(void);
void TS_VERIFY_CTX_init(TS_VERIFY_CTX *ctx);
void TS_VERIFY_CTX_free(TS_VERIFY_CTX *ctx);
void TS_VERIFY_CTX_cleanup(TS_VERIFY_CTX *ctx);
int TS_VERIFY_CTX_set_flags(TS_VERIFY_CTX *ctx, int f);
int TS_VERIFY_CTX_add_flags(TS_VERIFY_CTX *ctx, int f);
int TS_VERIFY_CTX_set0_data(TS_VERIFY_CTX *ctx, BIO *b);
int TS_VERIFY_CTX_set0_imprint(TS_VERIFY_CTX *ctx,
                               unsigned char *hexstr, long len);
int TS_VERIFY_CTX_set0_store(TS_VERIFY_CTX *ctx, X509_STORE *s);
int TS_VERIFY_CTX_set0_certs(TS_VERIFY_CTX *ctx, STACK_OF(X509) *certs);

The following functions have been deprecated since OpenSSL 3.4:

BIO *TS_VERIFY_CTX_set_data(TS_VERIFY_CTX *ctx, BIO *b);
unsigned char *TS_VERIFY_CTX_set_imprint(TS_VERIFY_CTX *ctx,
                                         unsigned char *hexstr, long len);
X509_STORE *TS_VERIFY_CTX_set_store(TS_VERIFY_CTX *ctx, X509_STORE *s);
STACK_OF(X509) *TS_VERIFY_CTX_set_certs(TS_VERIFY_CTX *ctx,
                                        STACK_OF(X509) *certs);

The following function has been deprecated since OpenSSL 3.0:

STACK_OF(X509) *TS_VERIFY_CTS_set_certs(TS_VERIFY_CTX *ctx,
                                        STACK_OF(X509) *certs);

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

Okay so, the Time-Stamp Protocol (TSP) is defined by RFC 3161. TSP is a protocol used to provide long-term proof of the existence of certain data before a particular time 🕰️. TSP defines a Time Stamping Authority (TSA) and an entity that makes requests to the TSA. Usually, the TSA is referred to as the server side, and the requesting entity is referred to as the client.

In TSP, when a server sends a response to a client, the server normally needs to sign the response data — the TimeStampToken (TST) — with its private key. Then the client verifies the received TST using the server's certificate chain 🔐. It's giving trust-but-verify, and honestly? Iconic.

For all the following methods, unless noted otherwise, ctx is the verification context created in advance.

  • TS_VERIFY_CTX_new() — returns an allocated TS_VERIFY_CTX structure ✨.
  • TS_VERIFY_CTX_init() — initializes a verification context.
  • TS_VERIFY_CTX_free() — frees up a TS_VERIFY_CTX object. ctx is the verification context to be freed. If ctx is NULL, the call is ignored (so no dramatic crash, she just moves on 💅).
  • TS_VERIFY_CTX_set_flags() — sets the flags in the verification context. f are the flags to be set.
  • TS_VERIFY_CTX_add_flags() — adds flags to the verification context. f are the flags to be added (OR'd).
  • TS_VERIFY_CTX_set0_data() — sets the data to be verified. b is the BIO with the data. A previously assigned BIO is freed 🫶.
  • TS_VERIFY_CTX_set0_imprint() — sets the message imprint. hexstr is the message imprint to be assigned. A previously assigned imprint is freed.
  • TS_VERIFY_CTX_set0_store() — sets the store for the verification context. s is the store to be assigned. A previously assigned store is freed.
  • TS_VERIFY_CTX_set0_certs() — used to set the server's certificate chain when verifying a TST. certs is a stack of X509 certificates.
  • TS_VERIFY_CTX_cleanup() — frees all data associated with the given TS_VERIFY_CTX object and initializes it. ctx is the verification context created in advance. If ctx is NULL, the call is ignored.

🎀 The deprecated girlies (read the fine print, bestie) 🎀

All of the following functions described are deprecated. Applications should instead use the functions TS_VERIFY_CTX_set0_data(3), TS_VERIFY_CTX_set0_imprint(3), TS_VERIFY_CTX_set0_store(3), TS_VERIFY_CTX_set0_certs(3).

Like, they still work, but they're the old version of the outfit. The set0_ ones are the main character now 👑
  • TS_VERIFY_CTX_set_data() — used to set the BIO with the data to be verified. A previously assigned BIO is not freed by this call 😭. b is the BIO with the data to assign.
  • TS_VERIFY_CTX_set_imprint() — used to set the message imprint. A previously assigned imprint is freed by this call. hexstr is the string with the message imprint to assign.
  • TS_VERIFY_CTX_set_store() — used to set the certificate store. A previously assigned store is not freed by this call. s is the store to assign.
  • TS_VERIFY_CTX_set_certs() — used to set the server's certificate chain. A previously assigned stack is not freed by this call. certs is a stack of X509 certificates.
  • TS_VERIFY_CTS_set_certs() — a misspelled version of TS_VERIFY_CTX_set_certs() which takes the same parameters and returns the same result. Yes, the typo is canon. It's in the ABI. We keep her for compatibility 🫠

⭐ RETURN VALUES ⭐

  • TS_VERIFY_CTX_new() — returns an allocated TS_VERIFY_CTX structure.
  • TS_VERIFY_CTX_set_flags() — returns the flags passed via parameter f.
  • TS_VERIFY_CTX_add_flags() — returns the flags of the context after the ones passed via parameter f are added to it.
  • TS_VERIFY_CTX_set0_data(), TS_VERIFY_CTX_set0_imprint(), TS_VERIFY_CTX_set0_store(), and TS_VERIFY_CTX_set0_certs() — return 1 if the value could be successfully set and 0 in case of any error. Slay or flop, no in-between 💀
  • The deprecated functions TS_VERIFY_CTX_set_data(), TS_VERIFY_CTX_set_imprint(), TS_VERIFY_CTX_set_store(), TS_VERIFY_CTX_set_certs() — return the parameter the user passes via parameter bio, hexstr, s or certs.

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

OSSL_ESS_check_signing_certs(3) — go read that one too, bestie, it's the whole ecosystem 🧚

🔥 HISTORY 🔥

TS_VERIFY_CTX_set0_data(), TS_VERIFY_CTX_set0_imprint(), TS_VERIFY_CTX_set0_store(), TS_VERIFY_CTX_set0_certs() replace the functions TS_VERIFY_CTX_set_data(), TS_VERIFY_CTX_set_imprint(), TS_VERIFY_CTX_set_store(), TS_VERIFY_CTX_set_certs() that were deprecated in OpenSSL 3.4.0.

The spelling of TS_VERIFY_CTX_set_certs() was corrected in OpenSSL 3.0.0. The misspelled version TS_VERIFY_CTS_set_certs() has been retained for compatibility reasons, but it is deprecated in OpenSSL 3.0.0. Not me mourning the typo era 🪦

Copyright 2019-2024 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>.

And that's the page, bestie 💖 This one's from 3.5.6, dated 2026-04-07, and it's the TS_VERIFY_CTX(3ossl) manual page — you're so welcome, go verify some timestamps 🎀🦋

📦 where this page comes from