PKCS8_PRIV_KEY_INFO_NEW(3)

okay so bestie, welcome to the PKCS8_PRIV_KEY_INFO_NEW(3) page from the Library Functions Manual. it’s giving “PKCS#8 private key information” and honestly? iconic. let’s go 💅

🌸 NAME 🌸

PKCS8_PRIV_KEY_INFO_new, PKCS8_PRIV_KEY_INFO_free — PKCS#8 private key information. that’s the whole name section, periodt.

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

okay the synopsis is literally right here, no cap:

library “libcrypto” #include <openssl/x509.h>

PKCS8_PRIV_KEY_INFO *
PKCS8_PRIV_KEY_INFO_new(void);

void
PKCS8_PRIV_KEY_INFO_free(PKCS8_PRIV_KEY_INFO *key);

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so PKCS8_PRIV_KEY_INFO_new() does the cute alloc-and-init thing: it allocates and initializes an empty PKCS8_PRIV_KEY_INFO object. that object represents an ASN.1 PrivateKeyInfo structure defined in RFC 5208 section 5. it can hold a private key together with information about the algorithm to be used with it and optional attributes. very “main character key container” energy. ✨

and PKCS8_PRIV_KEY_INFO_free() frees key. that’s it. that’s the whole job. 🫶

💖 RETURN VALUES 💖

PKCS8_PRIV_KEY_INFO_new() returns the new PKCS8_PRIV_KEY_INFO object or NULL if an error occurs. so it’s either “slay, here’s your object” or NULL. no in-between. 😭

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

go look at these besties, fr fr:

• d2i_PKCS8_PRIV_KEY_INFO(3)
• d2i_PKCS8PrivateKey_bio(3)
• EVP_PKCS82PKEY(3)
• PEM_read_PKCS8_PRIV_KEY_INFO(3)
• PKCS12_parse(3)
• PKCS8_pkey_set0(3)
• X509_ATTRIBUTE_new(3)

🌈 STANDARDS 🌈

RFC 5208: PKCS#8: Private-Key Information Syntax Specification — yes, that exact standard. no need to squint, it’s right there. periodt.

🎀 HISTORY 🎀

PKCS8_PRIV_KEY_INFO_new() and PKCS8_PRIV_KEY_INFO_free() first appeared in OpenSSL 0.9.3 and have been available since OpenBSD 2.6. old-school but still serving. 💅

xoxo, source/version: Debian 🍓 date: June 8, 2025 🍓 manual: PKCS8_PRIV_KEY_INFO_NEW(3) 💋