crypt (3p) - Linux Manuals

crypt: string encoding function (CRYPT)

PROLOG

This manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual. The Linux implementation of this interface may differ (consult the corresponding Linux manual page for details of Linux behavior), or the interface may not be implemented on Linux.

NAME

crypt - string encoding function (CRYPT)

SYNOPSIS

#include <unistd.h>

char *crypt(const char *key, const char *salt);

DESCRIPTION

The crypt() function is a string encoding function. The algorithm is implementation-defined.

The key argument points to a string to be encoded. The salt argument is a string chosen from the set:

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 . /

The first two characters of this string may be used to perturb the encoding algorithm.

The return value of crypt() points to static data that is overwritten by each call.

The crypt() function need not be reentrant. A function that is not required to be reentrant is not required to be thread-safe.

RETURN VALUE

Upon successful completion, crypt() shall return a pointer to the encoded string. The first two characters of the returned value shall be those of the salt argument. Otherwise, it shall return a null pointer and set errno to indicate the error.

ERRORS

The crypt() function shall fail if:

ENOSYS

The functionality is not supported on this implementation.

The following sections are informative.

EXAMPLES

Encoding Passwords

The following example finds a user database entry matching a particular user name and changes the current password to a new password. The crypt() function generates an encoded version of each password. The first call to crypt() produces an encoded version of the old password; that encoded password is then compared to the password stored in the user database. The second call to crypt() encodes the new password before it is stored.

The putpwent() function, used in the following example, is not part of IEEE Std 1003.1-2001.

#include <unistd.h>
#include <pwd.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <stdio.h>
...
int valid_change;
int pfd;  /* Integer for file descriptor returned by open(). */
FILE *fpfd;  /* File pointer for use in putpwent(). */
struct passwd *p;
char user[100];
char oldpasswd[100];
char newpasswd[100];
char savepasswd[100];
...
valid_change = 0;
while ((p = getpwent()) != NULL) {
    /* Change entry if found. */
    if (strcmp(p->pw_name, user) == 0) {
        if (strcmp(p->pw_passwd, crypt(oldpasswd, p->pw_passwd)) == 0) {
            strcpy(savepasswd, crypt(newpasswd, user));
            p->pw_passwd = savepasswd;
            valid_change = 1;
        }
        else {
            fprintf(stderr, "Old password is not valid\n");
        }
    }
    /* Put passwd entry into ptmp. */
    putpwent(p, fpfd);
}

APPLICATION USAGE

The values returned by this function need not be portable among XSI-conformant systems.

RATIONALE

None.

FUTURE DIRECTIONS

None.

COPYRIGHT

Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form from IEEE Std 1003.1, 2003 Edition, Standard for Information Technology -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 6, Copyright (C) 2001-2003 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. In the event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard is the referee document. The original Standard can be obtained online at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .