---
title: Miscellaneous APIs
author: rick-anderson
description: This document outlines the ASP.NET Core data protection ISecret interface.
ms.author: riande
manager: wpickett
ms.date: 10/14/2016
ms.topic: article
ms.technology: aspnet
ms.prod: asp.net-core
uid: security/data-protection/extensibility/misc-apis
---
# Miscellaneous APIs

<a name="data-protection-extensibility-mics-apis"></a>

>[!WARNING]
> Types that implement any of the following interfaces should be thread-safe for multiple callers.

## ISecret

The `ISecret` interface represents a secret value, such as cryptographic key material. It contains the following API surface:

* `Length`: `int`

* `Dispose()`: `void`

* `WriteSecretIntoBuffer(ArraySegment<byte> buffer)`: `void`

The `WriteSecretIntoBuffer` method populates the supplied buffer with the raw secret value. The reason this API takes the buffer as a parameter rather than returning a `byte[]` directly is that this gives the caller the opportunity to pin the buffer object, limiting secret exposure to the managed garbage collector.

The `Secret` type is a concrete implementation of `ISecret` where the secret value is stored in in-process memory. On Windows platforms, the secret value is encrypted via [CryptProtectMemory](https://msdn.microsoft.com/library/windows/desktop/aa380262(v=vs.85).aspx).