OCSF provides error management through the functions CSSM_InitError, CSSM_SetError, CSSM_GetError and CSSM_ClearError. When an application receives an API return code of CSSM_FAIL, it should call CSSM_GetError to determine the error code. CSSM_ClearError should be used to remove the current error code after processing the error. CSSM_InitError may be used to initialize the error structure and CSSM_SetError may also be used by an application if appropriate.

There is an error code for each application thread. The error APIs only affect the error code for the calling thread.