An apparatus and method for performing cryptographic operations is provided. The apparatus includes a cryptographic instruction, CBC block pointer logic, and execution logic. The cryptographic instruction is received by a pipeline microprocessor as part of an application program executing on the pipeline microprocessor. The cryptographic instruction prescribes one of the cryptographic operations. The one of the cryptographic operations includes a plurality of CBC block cryptographic operations performed on a corresponding plurality of input text blocks. The CBC block pointer logic is operatively coupled to the cryptographic instruction. The CBC block pointer logic directs the pipeline microprocessor to update pointer registers and intermediate results for each of the plurality of CBC block cryptographic operations. The execution logic is operatively coupled to the CBC block pointer logic. The execution logic executes the one of the cryptographic operations.