SSL_GET_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT(3ossl)

💅 SSL_GET_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT — ok bestie, it's giving "how long does a session last" ✨

So this page lives in the OpenSSL manual, section 3ossl (that's the SSL_GET_DEFAULT_TIMEOUT(3ossl) vibe, iykyk). It's a tiny one. Like, one function, one number, and yet — iconic. Let's get into it. 🦋

---

🌸 NAME 🌸

SSL_get_default_timeout — get that default session timeout value, queen 👑

---

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

#include <openssl/ssl.h>

long SSL_get_default_timeout(const SSL *ssl);

---

💖 DESCRIPTION 💖

SSL_get_default_timeout() hands you back the default timeout value that gets assigned to SSL_SESSION objects negotiated for whatever protocol is valid for ssl. That's it. That's the whole function. Simple, elegant, no notes. 🎀

---

🧚 NOTES 🧚

Okay so here's the tea, bestie 🍵 — every time a new session gets negotiated, it gets assigned a timeout value. Once that clock runs out, the session is not accepted for session reuse anymore. Bye bye, session, you had a good run 💀

Now: if that timeout value was not explicitly set using SSL_CTX_set_timeout(3), then the hardcoded default timeout for the protocol kicks in.

And guess what SSL_get_default_timeout() returns? Yep — that hardcoded value. And the number is:

300 seconds for all currently supported protocols. ⏰

No cap. Three hundred. Every protocol. Same number. It's giving consistency, honestly. 🌈

---

👑 RETURN VALUES 👑

See description, babe. That's literally where it is. 💅

---

🔥 SEE ALSO 🔥

• ssl(7)
• SSL_CTX_set_session_cache_mode(3)
• SSL_SESSION_get_time(3)
• SSL_CTX_flush_sessions(3)
• SSL_get_default_timeout(3)

(the last one is this page — yes, the manpage cites itself, main character energy fr fr ⭐)

---

💜 COPYRIGHT 💜

Copyright 2001-2016 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>.

---

Okay that's the whole page!! Thanks for reading my little manpage era 🎀✨

Signed off from the OpenSSL manual, version 3.5.9, dated 2026-09-29 — catch you in the next one, bestie 💖🦋