SSL_ALLOC_BUFFERS(3ossl)

✨ SSL_ALLOC_BUFFERS(3ossl) ✨

okay bestie, gather round 💖 this is the OpenSSL manual page for SSL_free_buffers and SSL_alloc_buffers, and we're gonna talk about buffers. like, the read and write buffers inside your SSL object. yes queen, manual buffer management. it's giving ✨control✨.

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🌸 NAME 🌸

SSL_free_buffers, SSL_alloc_buffers — manage SSL structure buffers

🦋 SYNOPSIS 🦋

#include <openssl/ssl.h>

int SSL_free_buffers(SSL *ssl);
int SSL_alloc_buffers(SSL *ssl);

💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

so basically, SSL_free_buffers() frees the read and write buffers of the given ssl. and SSL_alloc_buffers() allocates the read and write buffers of the given ssl. that's the whole vibe. 💖

now, the SSL_MODE_RELEASE_BUFFERS mode releases read or write buffers whenever the buffers have been drained. these functions let applications manually control when buffers are freed and allocated. you're the main character here, you decide. 👑

after freeing the buffers, the buffers are automatically reallocated upon a new read or write. so like, you do not need to call SSL_alloc_buffers(). but you can, if you want to make sure the buffers are preallocated. this can be used to avoid allocation during data processing, or with CRYPTO_set_mem_functions() to control where and how buffers are allocated. no cap, that's a real use case. 🔥

🫶 heads up bestie: these functions are no-ops when used with QUIC SSL objects. for QUIC, SSL_free_buffers() always fails, and SSL_alloc_buffers() always succeeds. not me getting a completely different outcome from the same pair of calls 💀

⭐ RETURN VALUES ⭐

the following return values can occur:

• 0 (Failure) — the SSL_free_buffers() function returns 0 when there is pending data to be read or written. the SSL_alloc_buffers() function returns 0 when there is an allocation failure. 😭
• 1 (Success) — the SSL_free_buffers() function returns 1 if the buffers have been freed. this value is also returned if the buffers had been freed before calling SSL_free_buffers(). the SSL_alloc_buffers() function returns 1 if the buffers have been allocated. this value is also returned if the buffers had been allocated before calling SSL_alloc_buffers(). slay, idempotent king 🎀

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

• ssl(7)
• SSL_free(3)
• SSL_clear(3)
• SSL_new(3)
• SSL_CTX_set_mode(3)
• CRYPTO_set_mem_functions(3)

👑 COPYRIGHT 👑

Copyright 2017-2023 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 page, bestie 💜 this one's from OpenSSL version 3.5.9, dated 2026-09-29, and it's filed under SSL_ALLOC_BUFFERS(3ossl). go free some buffers responsibly, mwah 🫶💖✨