ASN1_STRING_NEW(3)

📦 version 4.4.0, in alpine 3.24, arch rolling

💅 ASN1_STRING_NEW(3) — the `ASN1_STRING` allocation glow-up

okay so bestie, this is a page from the Library Functions Manual, and it's all about making and yeeting ASN1_STRING objects. it's giving very "i contain multitudes" energy, and honestly she does. ✨

✨ NAME ✨

ASN1_STRING_new, ASN1_STRING_type_new, ASN1_STRING_free, ASN1_OCTET_STRING_new, ASN1_OCTET_STRING_free, ASN1_BIT_STRING_new, ASN1_BIT_STRING_free, ASN1_INTEGER_new, ASN1_INTEGER_free, ASN1_ENUMERATED_new, ASN1_ENUMERATED_free, ASN1_UTF8STRING_new, ASN1_UTF8STRING_free, ASN1_IA5STRING_new, ASN1_IA5STRING_free, ASN1_UNIVERSALSTRING_new, ASN1_UNIVERSALSTRING_free, ASN1_BMPSTRING_new, ASN1_BMPSTRING_free, ASN1_GENERALSTRING_new, ASN1_GENERALSTRING_free, ASN1_T61STRING_new, ASN1_T61STRING_free, ASN1_VISIBLESTRING_new, ASN1_VISIBLESTRING_free, ASN1_PRINTABLESTRING_new, ASN1_PRINTABLESTRING_free, ASN1_PRINTABLE_new, ASN1_PRINTABLE_free, DIRECTORYSTRING_new, DIRECTORYSTRING_free, DISPLAYTEXT_new, DISPLAYTEXT_free, ASN1_GENERALIZEDTIME_new, ASN1_GENERALIZEDTIME_free, ASN1_UTCTIME_new, ASN1_UTCTIME_free, ASN1_TIME_new, ASN1_TIME_free — allocate and free ASN1_STRING objects 🎀

like, the whole friend group. they all do the same two things: make a thing, and free a thing. periodt.

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

library “libcrypto”

#include <openssl/asn1.h>

ASN1_STRING *
ASN1_STRING_new(void);

ASN1_STRING *
ASN1_STRING_type_new(int type);

void
ASN1_STRING_free(ASN1_STRING *a);

ASN1_OCTET_STRING *
ASN1_OCTET_STRING_new(void);

void
ASN1_OCTET_STRING_free(ASN1_OCTET_STRING *a);

ASN1_BIT_STRING *
ASN1_BIT_STRING_new(void);

void
ASN1_BIT_STRING_free(ASN1_BIT_STRING *a);

ASN1_INTEGER *
ASN1_INTEGER_new(void);

void
ASN1_INTEGER_free(ASN1_INTEGER *a);

ASN1_ENUMERATED *
ASN1_ENUMERATED_new(void);

void
ASN1_ENUMERATED_free(ASN1_ENUMERATED *a);

ASN1_UTF8STRING *
ASN1_UTF8STRING_new(void);

void
ASN1_UTF8STRING_free(ASN1_UTF8STRING *a);

ASN1_IA5STRING *
ASN1_IA5STRING_new(void);

void
ASN1_IA5STRING_free(ASN1_IA5STRING *a);

ASN1_UNIVERSALSTRING *
ASN1_UNIVERSALSTRING_new(void);

void
ASN1_UNIVERSALSTRING_free(ASN1_UNIVERSALSTRING *a);

ASN1_BMPSTRING *
ASN1_BMPSTRING_new(void);

void
ASN1_BMPSTRING_free(ASN1_BMPSTRING *a);

ASN1_GENERALSTRING *
ASN1_GENERALSTRING_new(void);

void
ASN1_GENERALSTRING_free(ASN1_GENERALSTRING *a);

ASN1_T61STRING *
ASN1_T61STRING_new(void);

void
ASN1_T61STRING_free(ASN1_T61STRING *a);

ASN1_VISIBLESTRING *
ASN1_VISIBLESTRING_new(void);

void
ASN1_VISIBLESTRING_free(ASN1_VISIBLESTRING *a);

ASN1_PRINTABLESTRING *
ASN1_PRINTABLESTRING_new(void);

void
ASN1_PRINTABLESTRING_free(ASN1_PRINTABLESTRING *a);

ASN1_STRING *
ASN1_PRINTABLE_new(void);

void
ASN1_PRINTABLE_free(ASN1_STRING *a);

ASN1_STRING *
DIRECTORYSTRING_new(void);

void
DIRECTORYSTRING_free(ASN1_STRING *a);

ASN1_STRING *
DISPLAYTEXT_new(void);

void
DISPLAYTEXT_free(ASN1_STRING *a);

ASN1_GENERALIZEDTIME *
ASN1_GENERALIZEDTIME_new(void);

void
ASN1_GENERALIZEDTIME_free(ASN1_GENERALIZEDTIME *a);

ASN1_UTCTIME *
ASN1_UTCTIME_new(void);

void
ASN1_UTCTIME_free(ASN1_UTCTIME *a);

ASN1_TIME *
ASN1_TIME_new(void);

void
ASN1_TIME_free(ASN1_TIME *a);

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so the ASN1_STRING object is basically the main character of ASN.1 built-in types — she can represent a whole variety of them. she's got two things going on: a type and a value. iconic, versatile, no notes. 💅

all the *_new() functions allocate and initialize an empty ASN1_STRING object. and here's the tea on what type each one gets assigned, plus which ASN.1 type that actually represents 👇

ASN1_STRING_new() → OpenSSL type V_ASN1_OCTET_STRING (the ASN.1 type column is blank for this one, she's just vibing as the generic base)
ASN1_STRING_type_new() → OpenSSL type is whatever you pass in the type argument (again, no ASN.1 type listed — you're the one deciding, bestie)
ASN1_OCTET_STRING_new() → V_ASN1_OCTET_STRING, representing OCTET STRING
ASN1_BIT_STRING_new() → V_ASN1_BIT_STRING, representing BIT STRING
ASN1_INTEGER_new() → V_ASN1_INTEGER, representing INTEGER
ASN1_ENUMERATED_new() → V_ASN1_ENUMERATED, representing ENUMERATED
ASN1_UTF8STRING_new() → V_ASN1_UTF8STRING, representing UTF8String
ASN1_IA5STRING_new() → V_ASN1_IA5STRING, representing IA5String
ASN1_UNIVERSALSTRING_new() → V_ASN1_UNIVERSALSTRING, representing UniversalString
ASN1_BMPSTRING_new() → V_ASN1_BMPSTRING, representing BMPString
ASN1_GENERALSTRING_new() → V_ASN1_GENERALSTRING, representing GeneralString
ASN1_T61STRING_new() → V_ASN1_T61STRING, representing T61String
ASN1_VISIBLESTRING_new() → V_ASN1_VISIBLESTRING, representing VisibleString
ASN1_PRINTABLESTRING_new() → V_ASN1_PRINTABLESTRING, representing PrintableString
ASN1_PRINTABLE_new() → V_ASN1_UNDEF (yep, undefined. she's mysterious ✨)
DIRECTORYSTRING_new() → V_ASN1_UNDEF (also mysterious)
DISPLAYTEXT_new() → V_ASN1_UNDEF (mystery squad, assemble)
ASN1_GENERALIZEDTIME_new() → V_ASN1_GENERALIZEDTIME, representing GeneralizedTime
ASN1_UTCTIME_new() → V_ASN1_UTCTIME, representing UTCTime
ASN1_TIME_new() → V_ASN1_UNDEF, representing TIME

and for cleanup time 🧹 — all the *_free() functions free a, including any data contained in it. and if a is a NULL pointer, no action occurs. she simply doesn't react. no drama, no crash. 🫶

💖 RETURN VALUES 💖

all the *_new() functions return the new ASN1_STRING object if successful 🎉. otherwise NULL is returned and you can grab an error code with ERR_get_error(3). ngl, always check — a NULL sneaking up on you is not the vibe. 😭

the whole extended friend group, go say hi 🦋

⭐ HISTORY ⭐

a little lore drop for you, because the backstory is lowkey fascinating 📜:

ASN1_OCTET_STRING_new(), ASN1_OCTET_STRING_free(), ASN1_BIT_STRING_new(), ASN1_BIT_STRING_free(), ASN1_INTEGER_new(), ASN1_INTEGER_free(), ASN1_IA5STRING_new(), ASN1_IA5STRING_free(), ASN1_T61STRING_new(), ASN1_T61STRING_free(), ASN1_PRINTABLESTRING_new(), ASN1_PRINTABLESTRING_free(), ASN1_PRINTABLE_new(), ASN1_PRINTABLE_free(), ASN1_UTCTIME_new(), and ASN1_UTCTIME_free() first appeared in SSLeay 0.5.1.
ASN1_STRING_new(), ASN1_STRING_type_new(), and ASN1_STRING_free() first appeared in SSLeay 0.6.5.
ASN1_UNIVERSALSTRING_new(), ASN1_UNIVERSALSTRING_free(), ASN1_GENERALSTRING_new(), and ASN1_GENERALSTRING_free() first appeared in SSLeay 0.8.0.
ASN1_BMPSTRING_new(), ASN1_BMPSTRING_free(), ASN1_GENERALIZEDTIME_new(), and ASN1_GENERALIZEDTIME_free() first appeared in SSLeay 0.9.0.
all of these have been available since OpenBSD 2.4. ✨

and then the newer gen arrived:

ASN1_ENUMERATED_new(), ASN1_ENUMERATED_free(), ASN1_TIME_new(), and ASN1_TIME_free() first appeared in OpenSSL 0.9.2b.
ASN1_UTF8STRING_new(), ASN1_UTF8STRING_free(), ASN1_VISIBLESTRING_new(), ASN1_VISIBLESTRING_free(), DIRECTORYSTRING_new(), DIRECTORYSTRING_free(), DISPLAYTEXT_new(), and DISPLAYTEXT_free() first appeared in OpenSSL 0.9.3.
these have been available since OpenBSD 2.6. 💜

💀 BUGS 💀

okay bestie, warning time. 🚨

ASN1_OCTET_STRING, ASN1_BIT_STRING, ASN1_INTEGER, ASN1_ENUMERATED, ASN1_UTF8STRING, ASN1_IA5STRING, ASN1_UNIVERSALSTRING, ASN1_BMPSTRING, ASN1_GENERALSTRING, ASN1_T61STRING, ASN1_VISIBLESTRING, ASN1_PRINTABLESTRING, ASN1_GENERALIZEDTIME, ASN1_UTCTIME, and ASN1_TIME are merely typedef aliases of ASN1_STRING and provide no type safety whatsoever. 🙈

fr fr — they're all the same girl in different outfits. don't let the cute typedef names fool you into thinking the compiler will catch your mistakes, because she will not. 😭

and that's the page, bestie! this one came from the Debian build, dated June 8, 2025 — so if you're citing it, that's the whole pedigree 🎀✨ go forth and allocate responsibly 💅

📦 where this page comes from

alpine 3.24: libressl-doc 4.3.1-r0 · custom
arch rolling: libressl 4.4.0-1 · ISC AND custom:OpenSSL
💖 girlified by deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash-1017 on 2026-11-04: a language model's rewrite of the original, under its terms