X509_STORE_C...ET_BY_SUBJECT(3ossl)

📦
version 3.5.9 · 8 versions
, in fedora 43, fedora 44

💖 X509_STORE_C...ET_BY_SUBJECT 💖

okay bestie, so this is from the 3ossl manual section (yes the name got squished in the header, it's fine, it's a whole vibe) and it's literally just two little functions that go ✨look stuff up✨ for you.

🌸 NAME 🌸

X509_STORE_CTX_get_by_subject, X509_STORE_CTX_get_obj_by_subject — the X509 and X509_CRL lookup functions, aka your little search bar for certs and CRLs 🦋

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

#include <openssl/x509_vfy.h>

int X509_STORE_CTX_get_by_subject(const X509_STORE_CTX *vs,
                                  X509_LOOKUP_TYPE type,
                                  const X509_NAME *name, X509_OBJECT *ret);
X509_OBJECT *X509_STORE_CTX_get_obj_by_subject(X509_STORE_CTX *vs,
                                               X509_LOOKUP_TYPE type,
                                               const X509_NAME *name);

💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

So X509_STORE_CTX_get_by_subject() is out here trying to find an object of a given type — and type can be X509_LU_X509 or X509_LU_CRL, those are your two options, no others, periodt — with a given subject name, from the store that lives inside the store context vs.

And then: if it's found AND ret is not NULL, it bumps the reference count up ⬆️ and stashes the looked-up object in ret. The way that reference counting matters… iykyk, don't leak, bestie 😭

X509_STORE_CTX_get_obj_by_subject() is literally the same thing but it's giving main character energy: it returns the found object on success, and NULL otherwise. No ret parameter, no out-param drama, just hand you the object directly 💅

🫶 RETURN VALUES 🫶

  • X509_STORE_CTX_get_by_subject() returns 1 if the lookup was successful, else 0. That's it, that's the whole scale, very binary of it 💀
  • X509_STORE_CTX_get_obj_by_subject() returns an object on success, else NULL. Slay. ✨

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

like, go read those too, they're the cousins 🧚

Copyright 2022 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>.

fr fr read the license before you go using this, it's not optional, no cap 🍓

and that's the whole page, bestie — this was version 3.5.9, dated 2026-09-2, and honestly? iconic. go look up some subjects 💖🌈⭐

📦 where this page comes from