libssh2_base64_decode(3)

💖 libssh2_base64_decode 💖

okay bestie, welcome to the libssh2_base64_decode page — part of the libssh2 manual, third section, and honestly? this one's a ✨situationship✨ not a function. buckle up. 🎀

🌸 NAME 🌸

libssh2_base64_decode — decode a base64 encoded string 🦋

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

#include <libssh2.h>

int
libssh2_base64_decode(LIBSSH2_SESSION *session, char **dest,
                      unsigned int *dest_len, const char *src,
                      unsigned int src_len);

💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

so. okay. deep breath. 🫶

this function is deemed DEPRECATED and will be removed from libssh2 in a future version. do not use it!! 🚨

like. not "maybe don't". not "consider another option". do not use it. that's the whole vibe. 💀

what it does, for the record: it decodes a base64 chunk and stores it into a newly allocated buffer. 🧚

dest_len gets set to hold the length of the returned buffer — and that's the buffer that *dest will point to. so like, the pointer points, the length tells you how much, cute, iconic, whatever. 👑

and here's the part that makes me scream: the returned buffer is allocated by this function, but it is not clear how to free that memory! 😭 it's giving "here's a gift, no receipt, no box, no clue". no cap.

💀 BUGS 💀

okay so the tea: 🍓

the memory that *dest points to is allocated by the malloc function that libssh2 uses — but there is no way for an application to free this data in a safe and reliable way!! 😭

like. it's allocated. it's yours. you cannot safely let it go. that is the bug. that is the entire bug. fr fr. 💀

🌈 RETURN VALUE 🌈

• 0 — if successful ✨
• -1 — if any error occurred 🙈

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

hmm, there's nothing listed here bestie — this page is a lone wolf, main character energy, no supporting cast. 🦋

anyway, that's the whole page — from the libssh2 1.0 era, dated 23 Dec 2008, which is genuinely ancient in internet years. 💜 mwah, stay safe, don't call the deprecated function, and free your memory responsibly (when the docs let you) 🎀✨