CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST(3) Library Functions Manual CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST(3)
NAME
CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST - verify the certificate's name against host
SYNOPSIS
#include <curl/curl.h>
CURLcode curl_easy_setopt(CURL *handle, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST, long verify);
DESCRIPTION
Pass a long set to 2L to make libcurl verify the host in the server's
TLS certificate.
When negotiating a TLS connection, the server sends a certificate indi-
cating its identity.
When CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST(3) is set to 1 or 2, the server certificate
must indicate that it was made for the hostname or address curl connects
to, or the connection fails. Simply put, it means it has to have the
same name in the certificate as is used in the URL you operate against.
curl considers the server the intended one when the Common Name field or
a Subject Alternate Name field in the certificate matches the hostname
in the URL to which you told curl to connect.
When the verify value is 0, the connection succeeds regardless of the
names in the certificate. Use that ability with caution,
This option controls checking the server's certificate's claimed iden-
tity. The separate CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER(3) options enables/disables
verification that the certificate is signed by a trusted Certificate Au-
thority.
WARNING: disabling verification of the certificate allows bad guys to
man-in-the-middle the communication without you knowing it. Disabling
verification makes the communication insecure. Just having encryption on
a transfer is not enough as you cannot be sure that you are communicat-
ing with the correct end-point.
When libcurl uses secure protocols it trusts responses and allows for
example HSTS and Alt-Svc information to be stored and used subsequently.
Disabling certificate verification can make libcurl trust and use such
information from malicious servers.
MATCHING
A certificate can have the name as a wildcard. The only asterisk (*)
must then be the left-most character and it must be followed by a pe-
riod. The wildcard must further contain more than one period as it can-
not be set for a top-level domain.
A certificate can be set for a numerical IP address (IPv4 or IPv6), but
then it should be a Subject Alternate Name kind and its type should cor-
rectly identify the field as an IP address.
LIMITATIONS
Secure Transport: If verify value is 0, then SNI is also disabled. SNI
is a TLS extension that sends the hostname to the server. The server may
use that information to do such things as sending back a specific cer-
tificate for the hostname, or forwarding the request to a specific ori-
gin server. Some hostnames may be inaccessible if SNI is not sent.
DEFAULT
2
PROTOCOLS
This functionality affects all TLS based protocols: HTTPS, FTPS, IMAPS,
POP3S, SMTPS etc.
All TLS backends support this option.
EXAMPLE
int main(void)
{
CURL *curl = curl_easy_init();
if(curl) {
curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_URL, "https://example.com");
/* Set the default value: strict name check please */
curl_easy_setopt(curl, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST, 2L);
curl_easy_perform(curl);
}
}
AVAILABILITY
Added in curl 7.8.1
HISTORY
In 7.28.0 and earlier: the value 1 was treated as a debug option of some
sorts, not supported anymore due to frequently leading to programmer
mistakes.
From 7.28.1 to 7.65.3: setting it to 1 made curl_easy_setopt(3) return
an error and leaving the flag untouched.
From 7.66.0: libcurl treats 1 and 2 to this option the same.
RETURN VALUE
curl_easy_setopt(3) returns a CURLcode indicating success or error.
CURLE_OK (0) means everything was OK, non-zero means an error occurred,
see libcurl-errors(3).
SEE ALSO
CURLOPT_CAINFO(3), CURLOPT_PINNEDPUBLICKEY(3), CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER(3)
libcurl 2026-07-12 CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST(3)
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