OCSP_SENDREQ_NEW(3)

🌸 NAME 🌸

Hiii bestie, welcome to the OCSP_SENDREQ_NEW(3) page 💖 — that's the one from the Library Functions Manual, and it's the whole squad of OCSP responder query functions, aka:

OCSP_sendreq_new, OCSP_sendreq_nbio, OCSP_REQ_CTX_free, OCSP_REQ_CTX_add1_header, OCSP_REQ_CTX_set1_req, OCSP_parse_url, and OCSP_sendreq_bio.

OCSP responder query functions. That's the vibe. No cap. ✨

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🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

So first things first, this is a library situation: library “libcrypto”, and you're gonna need #include <openssl/ocsp.h> before anything slays.

OCSP_REQ_CTX *
OCSP_sendreq_new(BIO *io, const char *path, OCSP_REQUEST *req,
    int maxline);

int
OCSP_sendreq_nbio(OCSP_RESPONSE **presp, OCSP_REQ_CTX *rctx);

void
OCSP_REQ_CTX_free(OCSP_REQ_CTX *rctx);

int
OCSP_REQ_CTX_add1_header(OCSP_REQ_CTX *rctx, const char *name,
    const char *value);

int
OCSP_REQ_CTX_set1_req(OCSP_REQ_CTX *rctx, OCSP_REQUEST *req);

int
OCSP_parse_url(const char *url, char **phost, char **pport,
    char **ppath, int *pssl);

OCSP_RESPONSE *
OCSP_sendreq_bio(BIO *io, const char *path, OCSP_REQUEST *req);

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💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

Okay so let's go function by function, because each one has main character energy and also a job to do.

• OCSP_sendreq_new() — hands you back an OCSP_REQ_CTX structure, built from the responder io, the URI path path, the OCSP request req, and a response-header maximum line length of maxline. If maxline is zero, a default value of 4k is used (so like, it's not gonna be weirdly small, don't stress 🫶). And plot twist: the OCSP request req may be set to NULL and provided later if required.
• The arguments to OCSP_sendreq_new() correspond to the components of the URI. For example, if the responder URI is http://ocsp.com/ocspreq, the BIO io should be connected to host ocsp.com on port 80 and path should be set to "/ocspreq". It's giving "everything in its right place" 💫
• OCSP_sendreq_nbio() — does non-blocking I/O on the OCSP request context rctx. When the operation is complete, it returns the response in *presp. Now, if OCSP_sendreq_nbio() indicates an operation should be retried, the corresponding BIO can be examined to determine which operation (read or write) should be retried, and appropriate action can be taken — for example a select(2) call on the underlying socket. Iconic retry behaviour, honestly.
• OCSP_REQ_CTX_free() — frees up the OCSP context rctx. Cleanup queen 🧹✨
• OCSP_REQ_CTX_add1_header() — adds header name with value value to the context rctx. The added headers are of the form "name: value" or just "name" if value is NULL. You can call OCSP_REQ_CTX_add1_header() more than once to add multiple headers — stack 'em, bestie 💅

⚠️ But listen: it must be called before any calls to OCSP_sendreq_nbio(). And the req parameter in the initial to OCSP_sendreq_new() call must be set to NULL if additional headers are set. Like, that's the rule, fr fr.

• OCSP_REQ_CTX_set1_req() — sets the OCSP request in rctx to req. This function should be called after any calls to OCSP_REQ_CTX_add1_header(). Order matters, always has 💀
• OCSP_parse_url() — a utility function to parse a url of the form http[s]://host[:port][/path] and store pointers to newly allocated copies of the strings host, port, and path in *phost, *pport, and *ppath, respectively. By default, *ppath is set to "/" and *pport to "443" for https or "80" for http. For https, *pssl is set to 1; otherwise, to 0. Newly allocated copies, okay? Somebody's gotta free those later 👀
• OCSP_sendreq_bio() — performs an OCSP request using the responder io, the URI path path, and the OCSP request req. It does not support retries and so cannot handle non-blocking I/O efficiently. It is retained for compatibility and its use in new applications is not recommended. So like… it's a legacy icon, we respect it, we just don't build new stuff on it 🙈

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⭐ RETURN VALUES ⭐

Vibe check on what you actually get back:

• OCSP_sendreq_new() returns a valid OCSP_REQ_CTX structure or NULL if an error occurred.
• OCSP_sendreq_nbio() returns 1 if the operation was completed successfully, -1 if the operation should be retried, or 0 if an error occurred. Three whole moods 😭
• OCSP_REQ_CTX_add1_header(), OCSP_REQ_CTX_set1_req(), and OCSP_parse_url() return 1 for success or 0 for failure.
• OCSP_sendreq_bio() returns the OCSP_RESPONSE structure sent by the responder or NULL if an error occurred.

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🍓 EXAMPLES 🍓

Add a Host header for ocsp.com:

      OCSP_REQ_CTX_add1_header(ctx, Host, ocsp.com );

Look at that. So simple. So elegant. We love a one-liner 🎀

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

Go read these next, bestie, they're all connected:

OCSP_cert_to_id(3), OCSP_request_add1_nonce(3), OCSP_REQUEST_new(3), OCSP_resp_find_status(3), OCSP_response_status(3), X509_get1_ocsp(3)

iykyk 💜

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👑 HISTORY 👑

Storytime, because these functions have lore:

• OCSP_parse_url() and OCSP_sendreq_bio() first appeared in OpenSSL 0.9.7 and have been available since OpenBSD 3.2.
• OCSP_sendreq_new(), OCSP_sendreq_nbio(), and OCSP_REQ_CTX_free() first appeared in OpenSSL 0.9.8h and have been available since OpenBSD 4.5.
• OCSP_REQ_CTX_add1_header() and OCSP_REQ_CTX_set1_req() first appeared in OpenSSL 1.0.0 and have been available since OpenBSD 4.9.

Glow-up after glow-up, honestly 🔥

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💀 CAVEATS 💀

Read this part, it's important, don't skip it 🙈

• These functions only perform a minimal HTTP query to a responder. If an application wishes to support more advanced features, it should use an alternative, more complete, HTTP library.
• Currently only HTTP POST queries to responders are supported. That's it. That's the whole menu.

So like, if you need more than the basics, go get a real HTTP library. This one's doing its little best and that's valid 🫶

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<div align="center">🎀</div>

Okay that's the whole page, bestie — you're officially an OCSP responder query expert 💖 This gem came from Debian, dated June 8, 2025, and that's the OCSP_SENDREQ_NEW(3) tea. Slay, stay safe, and always set req to NULL before adding headers ✨🦋💅