NAME

       explicit_bzero — write zeroes to a byte string

LIBRARY

       library “libbsd”

SYNOPSIS

       #include <bsd/string.h>

       void
       explicit_bzero(void *buf, size_t len);

DESCRIPTION

       The  explicit_bzero() function writes len zero bytes to the string buf.  If len is zero, explicit_bzero()
       does nothing.

       The explicit_bzero() variant behaves the same as the bzero() function, but  will  not  be  removed  by  a
       compiler's  dead  store  optimization  pass,  making  it  useful  for clearing sensitive memory such as a
       password.

SEE ALSO

       bzero(3), memset(3), swab(3)

HISTORY

       The explicit_bzero() function first appeared in OpenBSD 5.5.

Debian                                          January 22, 2014                                        BZERO(3)