RAND_BYTES(3ossl)

✨ RAND_BYTES 💖 (the 3ossl manual)

okay so bestie, gather round, because today we're talking about the literal ✨randomness✨ of the universe. This page covers RAND_bytes, RAND_priv_bytes, RAND_bytes_ex, RAND_priv_bytes_ex, RAND_pseudo_bytes, and RAND_set1_random_provider — aka the whole squad whose job is to generate random data for you. no cap, this is the good stuff. 🎀

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🌸 NAME 🌸

RAND_bytes, RAND_priv_bytes, RAND_bytes_ex, RAND_priv_bytes_ex, RAND_pseudo_bytes, RAND_set1_random_provider — generate random data 🦋

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🌈 SYNOPSIS 🌈

#include <openssl/rand.h>

int RAND_bytes(unsigned char *buf, int num);
int RAND_priv_bytes(unsigned char *buf, int num);

int RAND_bytes_ex(OSSL_LIB_CTX *ctx, unsigned char *buf, size_t num,
                  unsigned int strength);
int RAND_priv_bytes_ex(OSSL_LIB_CTX *ctx, unsigned char *buf, size_t num,
                       unsigned int strength);

int RAND_set1_random_provider(OSSL_LIB_CTX *ctx, OSSL_PROVIDER *p);

Heads up tho: the function below has been deprecated since OpenSSL 1.1.0, and you can hide it entirely by defining OPENSSL_API_COMPAT with a suitable version value — check openssl_user_macros(7) for the deets:

int RAND_pseudo_bytes(unsigned char *buf, int num);

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💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

RAND_bytes()</purl> generates num random bytes using a cryptographically secure pseudo random generator (CSPRNG) and stores them in buf. And listen — buf MUST NOT be NULL. Like, not even a little. 🙈

RAND_priv_bytes() has the exact same semantics as RAND_bytes(). It's meant for generating values that should stay private. If you're using the default RAND_METHOD, this function uses a separate "private" PRNG instance, so that if the "public" PRNG instance gets compromised, the secrecy of these private values is still safe. it's giving main character protection energy 👑 — all the details are in RAND(7) and EVP_RAND(7).

RAND_bytes_ex() and RAND_priv_bytes_ex() are the same as RAND_bytes() and RAND_priv_bytes(), except they both take extra strength and ctx parameters. The bytes generated will have a security strength of at least strength bits. The DRBG used for the operation is the public or private DRBG associated with the specified ctx. That parameter can be NULL, in which case the default library context is used (see OSSL_LIB_CTX(3)). ✨ Also, if the default RAND_METHOD has been changed, then for compatibility reasons the RAND_METHOD will be used in preference and the DRBG of the library context gets ignored. rude but true. 💀

RAND_set1_random_provider() specifies a provider, prov, which will be used by the library context ctx for all of the generate calls above, instead of the built-in DRBGs and entropy source. Pass NULL for the provider to disable the random provider functionality — in that case, the built-in DRBGs and entropy source will be used. 🫶 Also: this call should not be considered thread safe. periodt.

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🧚 NOTES 🧚

By default, the OpenSSL CSPRNG supports a security level of 256 bits, provided it was able to seed itself from a trusted entropy source. On all major platforms supported by OpenSSL (including the Unix-like platforms and Windows), OpenSSL is configured to automatically seed the CSPRNG on first use using the operating system's random generator. slay. 🌟

If the entropy source fails or is not available, the CSPRNG will enter an error state and refuse to generate random bytes. 😭 For that reason, it is important to always check the error return value of RAND_bytes() and RAND_priv_bytes() and not take randomness for granted. fr fr, do not skip the check.

On other platforms, there might not be a trusted entropy source available, or OpenSSL might have been explicitly configured to use different entropy sources. If you are in doubt about the quality of the entropy source, don't hesitate to ask your operating system vendor or post a question on GitHub or the openssl-users mailing list. 💌

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⭐ RETURN VALUES ⭐

• RAND_bytes() and RAND_priv_bytes() return 1 on success, -1 if not supported by the current RAND method, or 0 on other failure. The error code can be obtained by ERR_get_error(3).
• RAND_set1_random_provider() returns 1 on success and 0 on failure.

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🦋 SEE ALSO 🦋

RAND_add(3), RAND_bytes(3), RAND_priv_bytes(3), ERR_get_error(3), RAND(7), EVP_RAND(7)

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🎀 HISTORY 🎀

1. RAND_pseudo_bytes() was deprecated in OpenSSL 1.1.0; use RAND_bytes() instead. (rip bozo 💀)
2. The RAND_priv_bytes() function was added in OpenSSL 1.1.1.
3. The RAND_bytes_ex() and RAND_priv_bytes_ex() functions were added in OpenSSL 3.0.
4. The RAND_set1_random_provider() function was added in OpenSSL 3.5.

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💜 COPYRIGHT 💜

Copyright 2000-2026 The OpenSSL Project Authors. All Rights Reserved.

Licensed under the Apache License 2.0 (the "License"). You may not use this file except in compliance with the License. You can obtain a copy in the file LICENSE in the source distribution or at <https://www.openssl.org/source/license.html>.

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okay that's the whole vibe, bestie 💖 this was the 3ossl page for RAND_BYTES, straight out of version 3.5.9, dated 2026-09-29 — go forth and be cryptographically secure, mwah 🫶✨🌸