gssacceptseccontext

gssacceptseccontext is a function within the Generic Security Services Application Program Interface (GSSAPI). GSSAPI is a standard API for accessing security services in a way that is independent of the underlying security mechanisms. The gssacceptseccontext function is specifically used by the *acceptor* in a GSSAPI security context establishment.

The purpose of gssacceptseccontext is to process security tokens sent by the *initiator* to establish a security context. When an initiator calls gssinitseccontext to start a security context, it receives tokens that it then sends to the acceptor. The acceptor uses gssacceptseccontext to process these tokens, validate the initiator's identity and security credentials, and negotiate the security parameters for the session.

This function typically takes several arguments, including the security context handle, the input token received from the initiator, and flags that control the behavior of the context establishment process. It returns a status code indicating the success or failure of the operation, and potentially an output token that the acceptor needs to send back to the initiator to continue the negotiation. The process of establishing a security context often involves multiple calls to both gssinitseccontext and gssacceptseccontext, exchanging tokens until the context is fully established. Once established, the context can be used to secure subsequent application-level communications.