getpass - The GNU C Library

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### 32.2 Reading Passwords

When reading in a password, it is desirable to avoid displaying it on the screen, to help keep it secret. The following function handles this in a convenient way.

— Function: char * getpass (const char *prompt)

> `getpass` outputs prompt, then reads a string in from the terminal without echoing it. It tries to connect to the real terminal, `/dev/tty`, if possible, to encourage users not to put plaintext passwords in files; otherwise, it uses `stdin` and `stderr`. `getpass` also disables the INTR, QUIT, and SUSP characters on the terminal using the `ISIG` terminal attribute (see Local Modes). The terminal is flushed before and after `getpass`, so that characters of a mistyped password are not accidentally visible.

> In other C libraries, `getpass` may only return the first `PASS_MAX` bytes of a password. The GNU C library has no limit, so `PASS_MAX` is undefined.

> The prototype for this function is in `unistd.h`. `PASS_MAX` would be defined in `limits.h`.

This precise set of operations may not suit all possible situations. In this case, it is recommended that users write their own `getpass` substitute. For instance, a very simple substitute is as follows:

         #include <termios.h>
         #include <stdio.h>

         ssize_t
         my_getpass (char **lineptr, size_t *n, FILE *stream)
         {
           struct termios old, new;
           int nread;

           /* Turn echoing off and fail if we can't. */
           if (tcgetattr (fileno (stream), &old) != 0)
             return -1;
           new = old;
           new.c_lflag &= ~ECHO;
           if (tcsetattr (fileno (stream), TCSAFLUSH, &new) != 0)
             return -1;

           /* Read the password. */
           nread = getline (lineptr, n, stream);

           /* Restore terminal. */
           (void) tcsetattr (fileno (stream), TCSAFLUSH, &old);

           return nread;
         }

The substitute takes the same parameters as `getline` (see Line Input); the user must print any prompt desired.