memfrob(3)

memfrob3

Memory frobnicate (obfuscate)

Usage

#define _GNU_SOURCE             /* See feature_test_macros(7) */
#include <string.h>  // see memory.h(3head)

void *memfrob(size_t n; void s[n], size_t n);

Library

Standard C library (libc, -lc)

Overview

The memfrob() function obfuscates the first n bytes of the memory area s by exclusive-ORing each character with the number 42. The effect can be reversed by using memfrob() on the obfuscated memory area.

Note that this function is not a proper encryption routine as the XOR constant is fixed, and is suitable only for hiding strings.

Return value

The memfrob() function returns a pointer to the obfuscated memory area.

Attributes

For an explanation of the terms used in this section, see attributes(7).

InterfaceAttributeValue
memfrob()Thread safetyMT-Safe

Releases

19 releases since Debian 1.1 (Buzz); the text changed 13 times.

  1. 1.1–2.2
  2. 3.0
  3. 3.1
  4. 4.0
  5. 5.0
  6. 6.0
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. Arch

Standards

GNU.

From man-pages 6.19-1 in Arch Linux 2026-11-01. Parsed by carta from the page's man source.