clearenv(3) — Linux manual page

clearenv(3)             Library Functions Manual             clearenv(3)

NAME

       clearenv - clear the environment

LIBRARY

       Standard C library (libc, -lc)

SYNOPSIS

       #include <stdlib.h>

       int clearenv(void);

   Feature Test Macro Requirements for glibc (see
   feature_test_macros(7)):

       clearenv():
           /* glibc >= 2.19: */ _DEFAULT_SOURCE
               || /* glibc <= 2.19: */ _SVID_SOURCE || _BSD_SOURCE

DESCRIPTION

       The clearenv() function clears the environment of all name-value
       pairs and sets the value of the external variable environ to
       NULL.  After this call, new variables can be added to the
       environment using putenv(3) and setenv(3).

RETURN VALUE

       The clearenv() function returns zero on success, and a nonzero
       value on failure.

ATTRIBUTES

       For an explanation of the terms used in this section, see
       attributes(7).
       ┌─────────────────────────┬───────────────┬─────────────────────┐
       │ Interface               │ Attribute     │ Value               │
       ├─────────────────────────┼───────────────┼─────────────────────┤
       │ clearenv()              │ Thread safety │ MT-Unsafe const:env │
       └─────────────────────────┴───────────────┴─────────────────────┘

STANDARDS

       putenv()
              POSIX.1-2008.

       clearenv()
              None.

HISTORY

       putenv()
              glibc 2.0.  POSIX.1-2001.

       clearenv()
              glibc 2.0.

       Various UNIX variants (DG/UX, HP-UX, QNX, ...).  POSIX.9
       (bindings for FORTRAN77).  POSIX.1-1996 did not accept clearenv()
       and putenv(3), but changed its mind and scheduled these functions
       for some later issue of this standard (see §B.4.6.1).  However,
       POSIX.1-2001 adds only putenv(3), and rejected clearenv().

NOTES

       On systems where clearenv() is unavailable, the assignment

           environ = NULL;

       will probably do.

       The clearenv() function may be useful in security-conscious
       applications that want to precisely control the environment that
       is passed to programs executed using exec(3).  The application
       would do this by first clearing the environment and then adding
       select environment variables.

       Note that the main effect of clearenv() is to adjust the value of
       the pointer environ(7); this function does not erase the contents
       of the buffers containing the environment definitions.

       The DG/UX and Tru64 man pages write: If environ has been modified
       by anything other than the putenv(3), getenv(3), or clearenv()
       functions, then clearenv() will return an error and the process
       environment will remain unchanged.

SEE ALSO

       getenv(3), putenv(3), setenv(3), unsetenv(3), environ(7)

COLOPHON

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Linux man-pages 6.9.1          2024-05-02                    clearenv(3)

Pages that refer to this page: getenv(3), putenv(3), setenv(3), environ(7)

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