[openssl-users] Initialising OpenSSL more than once - how do we handle this?

[Graham Leggett]

Hi all,

Over at httpd we’re struggling with crashes and instability caused by attempts by various independent libraries we link to, all of which in turn link to openssl, initialising openssl multiple times. In turn these separate libraries might de-initialise openssl on shutdown expecting a re-initiailise to work and hilarity ensues.

What is the correct way to handle openssl initialisation when multiple independent libraries are all trying to initialise openssl independently of one another?

Is there reference counting of some kind?

Could instability be caused by not matching the correct teardown function calls with the correct setup function calls?

Regards,
Graham
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