---
name: "pam_strerror"
section: "3"
platform: "freebsd"
package: "base"
version: "16.0-CURRENT-20261027-61c70dc16a79"
release: "FreeBSD 16.0-CURRENT (2026-10-27)"
platforms: ["linux", "freebsd", "macos"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/pam_strerror"
---

# pam\_strerror(3)

get PAM standard error message string

## NAME

**pam\_strerror** – get PAM standard error message string

## SYNOPSIS

**#include \<sys/types.h\>**

**#include \<security/pam\_appl.h\>**

*const char \**\

**pam\_strerror**(*const pam\_handle\_t \*pamh*, *int error\_number*);

## DESCRIPTION

The **pam\_strerror**() function returns a pointer to a string containing a textual description of the error indicated by the *error\_number* argument. The *pamh* argument is ignored. For compatibility with other implementations, it should be either a valid PAM handle returned by a previous call to [pam\_start(3)](/pam_start/3.md), or NULL.

## RETURN VALUES

The **pam\_strerror**() function returns NULL on failure.

## SEE ALSO

[pam(3)](/pam/3.md), [pam\_start(3)](/pam_start/3.md)

## STANDARDS

*X/Open Single Sign-On Service (XSSO) - Pluggable Authentication Modules*, June 1997.

## AUTHORS

The **pam\_strerror**() function and this manual page were developed for the FreeBSD Project by ThinkSec AS and Network Associates Laboratories, the Security Research Division of Network Associates, Inc. under DARPA/SPAWAR contract N66001-01-C-8035 (“CBOSS”), as part of the DARPA CHATS research program.

The OpenPAM library is maintained by Dag-Erling Smørgrav ⟨*des@des.dev*⟩.