---
name: "X509_cmp_time"
section: "3ssl"
platform: "linux"
package: "openssl"
version: "3.6.5-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/X509_cmp_time"
---

# X509\_cmp\_time(3ssl)

X509 time functions

## NAME

X509\_cmp\_time, X509\_cmp\_current\_time, X509\_cmp\_timeframe, X509\_time\_adj, X509\_time\_adj\_ex, X509\_gmtime\_adj - X509 time functions

## SYNOPSIS

```
 int X509_cmp_time(const ASN1_TIME *asn1_time, time_t *in_tm);
 int X509_cmp_current_time(const ASN1_TIME *asn1_time);
 int X509_cmp_timeframe(const X509_VERIFY_PARAM *vpm,
                        const ASN1_TIME *start, const ASN1_TIME *end);
 ASN1_TIME *X509_time_adj(ASN1_TIME *asn1_time, long offset_sec, time_t *in_tm);
 ASN1_TIME *X509_time_adj_ex(ASN1_TIME *asn1_time, int offset_day, long
                             offset_sec, time_t *in_tm);
 ASN1_TIME *X509_gmtime_adj(ASN1_TIME *asn1_time, long offset_sec);
```

## DESCRIPTION

**X509\_cmp\_time()** compares the ASN1\_TIME in *asn1\_time* with the time in \<in\_tm\>.

**X509\_cmp\_current\_time()** compares the ASN1\_TIME in *asn1\_time* with the current time, expressed as time\_t.

**X509\_cmp\_timeframe()** compares the given time period with the reference time included in the verification parameters *vpm* if they are not NULL and contain **X509\_V\_FLAG\_USE\_CHECK\_TIME**; else the current time is used as reference time.

**X509\_time\_adj\_ex()** sets the ASN1\_TIME structure *asn1\_time* to the time *offset\_day* and *offset\_sec* after *in\_tm*.

**X509\_time\_adj()** sets the ASN1\_TIME structure *asn1\_time* to the time *offset\_sec* after *in\_tm*. This method can only handle second offsets up to the capacity of long, so the newer **X509\_time\_adj\_ex()** API should be preferred.

In both methods, if *asn1\_time* is NULL, a new ASN1\_TIME structure is allocated and returned.

In all methods, if *in\_tm* is NULL, the current time, expressed as time\_t, is used.

*asn1\_time* must satisfy the ASN1\_TIME format mandated by RFC 5280, i.e., its format must be either YYMMDDHHMMSSZ or YYYYMMDDHHMMSSZ.

**X509\_gmtime\_adj()** sets the ASN1\_TIME structure *asn1\_time* to the time *offset\_sec* after the current time. It is equivalent to calling **X509\_time\_adj()** with the last parameter as NULL.

## BUGS

Unlike many standard comparison functions, **X509\_cmp\_time()** and **X509\_cmp\_current\_time()** return 0 on error.

## RETURN VALUES

**X509\_cmp\_time()** and **X509\_cmp\_current\_time()** return -1 if *asn1\_time* is earlier than, or equal to, *in\_tm* (resp. current time), and 1 otherwise. These methods return 0 on error.

**X509\_cmp\_timeframe()** returns 0 if *vpm* is not NULL and the verification parameters do not contain **X509\_V\_FLAG\_USE\_CHECK\_TIME** but do contain **X509\_V\_FLAG\_NO\_CHECK\_TIME**. Otherwise it returns 1 if the end time is not NULL and the reference time (which has determined as stated above) is past the end time, -1 if the start time is not NULL and the reference time is before, else 0 to indicate that the reference time is in range (implying that the end time is not before the start time if both are present).

**X509\_time\_adj()**, **X509\_time\_adj\_ex()** and **X509\_gmtime\_adj()** return a pointer to the updated ASN1\_TIME structure, and NULL on error.

## HISTORY

**X509\_cmp\_timeframe()** was added in OpenSSL 3.0.

## COPYRIGHT

Copyright 2017-2018 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\>.