AUTHORITY_KEYID_NEW(3)

📦 version 4.4.0, in alpine 3.24, arch rolling

💅 AUTHORITY_KEYID_NEW 💅

okay so bestie, let me put you onto AUTHORITY_KEYID_new, AUTHORITY_KEYID_free — they're the X.509 authority key identifier extension girlies, from the libcrypto library. this is the <openssl/x509v3.h> era, periodt.

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

like, literally just include the header and you're golden:

library “libcrypto” #include <openssl/x509v3.h>

AUTHORITY_KEYID *
AUTHORITY_KEYID_new(void);

void
AUTHORITY_KEYID_free(AUTHORITY_KEYID *id);

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so the whole vibe of the authority key identifier extension is: an X.509 certificate or a certificate revocation list can specify which key pair was used for signing it. that's it, that's the slay. 🔥

AUTHORITY_KEYID_new() allocates and initializes an empty AUTHORITY_KEYID object — no cap, it's giving blank canvas main character energy. this object represents an ASN.1 AuthorityKeyIdentifier structure, as defined in RFC 5280 section 4.2.1.1. and get this — it can hold an issuer name, a serial number, and a key identifier. all three. iconique. 👑

AUTHORITY_KEYID_free() frees id. that's the whole thing. clean up after yourself bestie 💖

🎀 RETURN VALUES 🎀

AUTHORITY_KEYID_new() returns the new AUTHORITY_KEYID object — or NULL if an error occurs 😭 (in which case, vibe check failed, try again).

🌸 SEE ALSO 🌸

go read these too, they're all in the same friend group fr fr 🫶

🌈 STANDARDS 🌈

RFC 5280: Internet X.509 Public Key Infrastructure Certificate and Certificate Revocation List (CRL) Profile — the source material, the blueprint, the moment:

  • section 4.2.1.1: Certificate Extensions: Authority Key Identifier
  • section 5.2.1: CRL Extensions: Authority Key Identifier

⭐ HISTORY ⭐

AUTHORITY_KEYID_new() and AUTHORITY_KEYID_free() first appeared in OpenSSL 0.9.2b and have been available since OpenBSD 2.6. legacy queens, honestly. they've been doing this longer than we've been alive 💀✨

and that's the whole page bestie!! this one's from the Debian crew, dated June 8, 2025 — AUTHORITY_KEYID_NEW(3), library functions manual, mwah 💋🧚‍♀️

📦 where this page comes from