trusty (3) SSL_read.3ssl.gz

NAME

       SSL_read - read bytes from a TLS/SSL connection.

SYNOPSIS

        #include <openssl/ssl.h>

        int SSL_read(SSL *ssl, void *buf, int num);

DESCRIPTION

       SSL_read() tries to read num bytes from the specified ssl into the buffer buf.

NOTES

       If necessary, SSL_read() will negotiate a TLS/SSL session, if not already explicitly performed by
       SSL_connect(3) or SSL_accept(3). If the peer requests a re-negotiation, it will be performed
       transparently during the SSL_read() operation. The behaviour of SSL_read() depends on the underlying BIO.

       For the transparent negotiation to succeed, the ssl must have been initialized to client or server mode.
       This is being done by calling SSL_set_connect_state(3) or SSL_set_accept_state() before the first call to
       an SSL_read() or SSL_write(3) function.

       SSL_read() works based on the SSL/TLS records. The data are received in records (with a maximum record
       size of 16kB for SSLv3/TLSv1). Only when a record has been completely received, it can be processed
       (decryption and check of integrity). Therefore data that was not retrieved at the last call of SSL_read()
       can still be buffered inside the SSL layer and will be retrieved on the next call to SSL_read(). If num
       is higher than the number of bytes buffered, SSL_read() will return with the bytes buffered.  If no more
       bytes are in the buffer, SSL_read() will trigger the processing of the next record. Only when the record
       has been received and processed completely, SSL_read() will return reporting success. At most the
       contents of the record will be returned. As the size of an SSL/TLS record may exceed the maximum packet
       size of the underlying transport (e.g. TCP), it may be necessary to read several packets from the
       transport layer before the record is complete and SSL_read() can succeed.

       If the underlying BIO is blocking, SSL_read() will only return, once the read operation has been finished
       or an error occurred, except when a renegotiation take place, in which case a SSL_ERROR_WANT_READ may
       occur.  This behaviour can be controlled with the SSL_MODE_AUTO_RETRY flag of the SSL_CTX_set_mode(3)
       call.

       If the underlying BIO is non-blocking, SSL_read() will also return when the underlying BIO could not
       satisfy the needs of SSL_read() to continue the operation. In this case a call to SSL_get_error(3) with
       the return value of SSL_read() will yield SSL_ERROR_WANT_READ or SSL_ERROR_WANT_WRITE. As at any time a
       re-negotiation is possible, a call to SSL_read() can also cause write operations! The calling process
       then must repeat the call after taking appropriate action to satisfy the needs of SSL_read(). The action
       depends on the underlying BIO. When using a non-blocking socket, nothing is to be done, but select() can
       be used to check for the required condition. When using a buffering BIO, like a BIO pair, data must be
       written into or retrieved out of the BIO before being able to continue.

       SSL_pending(3) can be used to find out whether there are buffered bytes available for immediate
       retrieval. In this case SSL_read() can be called without blocking or actually receiving new data from the
       underlying socket.

WARNING

       When an SSL_read() operation has to be repeated because of SSL_ERROR_WANT_READ or SSL_ERROR_WANT_WRITE,
       it must be repeated with the same arguments.

RETURN VALUES

       The following return values can occur:

       >0  The read operation was successful; the return value is the number of bytes actually read from the
           TLS/SSL connection.

       0   The read operation was not successful. The reason may either be a clean shutdown due to a "close
           notify" alert sent by the peer (in which case the SSL_RECEIVED_SHUTDOWN flag in the ssl shutdown
           state is set (see SSL_shutdown(3), SSL_set_shutdown(3)). It is also possible, that the peer simply
           shut down the underlying transport and the shutdown is incomplete. Call SSL_get_error() with the
           return value ret to find out, whether an error occurred or the connection was shut down cleanly
           (SSL_ERROR_ZERO_RETURN).

           SSLv2 (deprecated) does not support a shutdown alert protocol, so it can only be detected, whether
           the underlying connection was closed. It cannot be checked, whether the closure was initiated by the
           peer or by something else.

       <0  The read operation was not successful, because either an error occurred or action must be taken by
           the calling process. Call SSL_get_error() with the return value ret to find out the reason.

SEE ALSO

       SSL_get_error(3), SSL_write(3), SSL_CTX_set_mode(3), SSL_CTX_new(3), SSL_connect(3), SSL_accept(3)
       SSL_set_connect_state(3), SSL_pending(3), SSL_shutdown(3), SSL_set_shutdown(3), ssl(3), bio(3)