Install wolfssl with Homebrew, apk, apt, MacPorts, pacman

Project links

• Homepage
• Repository
• Upstream docs
• Package manager page

Commands and aliases

• wolfssl-config

Project history

wolfSSL traces its company and product lineage to 2004, when Larry Stefonic and Todd Ouska identified a market need for an open-source, dual-licensed embedded SSL library that was smaller, more portable, commercially licensable, and easier to support than the alternatives. The company describes wolfSSL as born from that need with an OpenSSL compatibility layer.

The library was formerly known as CyaSSL. In March 2015 the company announced that CyaSSL would change its name to wolfSSL, while retaining the same structure and licensing and keeping a CyaSSL compatibility layer for users who needed the older API. The deprecated cyassl/cyassl repository now points users to wolfSSL/wolfssl and notes the compatibility layer for CyaSSL/CTaoCrypt.

The GitHub wolfSSL/wolfssl repository was created in January 2015, near the naming transition, and release metadata shows a continuing stable-release line through wolfSSL 5.x, including 5.9.x releases in 2026.

Adoption history

wolfSSL's adoption history is tied to embedded systems and to dual licensing. The company's About page says the first major user of its SSL library was MySQL and that bundling with projects such as MySQL, OpenWRT, Mongoose, cURL, and Ubuntu produced high distribution volumes and user adoption. A 2015 wolfSSL post separately described work to move MySQL from yaSSL toward the newer wolfSSL library, formerly CyaSSL.

The product page emphasizes standards coverage and certification-oriented use: wolfSSL supports TLS 1.3 and DTLS 1.3, uses wolfCrypt underneath, and notes FIPS 140-3 validation for versions of wolfCrypt while continuing historical FIPS 140-2 support. That combination explains why the package appears in both security and embedded package sets rather than only in general-purpose TLS stacks.

How it is used

Developers use wolfSSL as an embedded TLS client and server library, as a wolfCrypt-backed cryptography provider, or as a smaller OpenSSL-compatible substitute when porting C applications. Typical package consumers are firmware, gateways, routers, printers, IoT devices, RTOS applications, and applications that need TLS with a tunable footprint or commercial support path.

Why package nerds care

wolfSSL is package-nerd significant because it is one of the major OpenSSL alternatives that package managers can offer without abandoning C, TLS standards, FIPS-oriented workflows, or embedded portability. It anchors a family of related packages, including wolfMQTT, wolfSSH, wolfBoot, wolfTPM, and wolfCrypt-focused integrations.

Timeline

• 2004: wolfSSL company/product lineage begins around the need for a dual-licensed embedded SSL library.
• 2015: CyaSSL name-change announcement states the library is becoming wolfSSL and keeps a compatibility layer.
• 2015: wolfSSL/wolfssl GitHub repository created.
• 2015: wolfSSL describes work to move MySQL from yaSSL toward wolfSSL.
• 2020s: wolfSSL product page documents TLS 1.3, DTLS 1.3, wolfCrypt, and FIPS 140-3 validated module status.
• 2026: wolfSSL 5.9.x stable releases published.

Related projects

• CyaSSL is the former name and API lineage for wolfSSL.
• yaSSL is part of the older company/product history and was used by MySQL before the wolfSSL transition work.
• wolfCrypt, wolfMQTT, wolfSSH, wolfBoot, wolfTPM, and wolfCLU are related wolfSSL-family packages built around the same embedded-security ecosystem.
• OpenSSL is both a compatibility target and the common comparison point for users evaluating wolfSSL.

Sources

• https://api.github.com/repos/wolfSSL/wolfssl
• https://api.github.com/repos/wolfSSL/wolfssl/releases?per_page=100
• https://github.com/cyassl/cyassl
• https://github.com/wolfSSL/wolfssl
• https://www.wolfssl.com/about/
• https://www.wolfssl.com/cyassl-name-is-changing-to-wolfssl-2/
• https://www.wolfssl.com/products/wolfssl/
• https://www.wolfssl.com/wolfssl-in-mysql/