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Failure to correctly determine the size of a structure can lead to subtle logic errors and incorrect calculations, the effects of which can lead to abnormal program termination, memory corruption, or execution of arbitrary code.
Recommendation | Severity | Likelihood | Remediation Cost | Priority | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
EXP03-C | High | Unlikely | High | P3 | L3 |
Automated Detection
Tool | Version | Checker | Description | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Astrée |
|
| Supported: Astrée reports accesses outside the bounds of allocated memory. | |||||||||
| LDRA tool suite |
| 578 S | Enhanced enforcement | ||||||
| PRQA QA-C |
| 0697 | Partially implemented |
Related Vulnerabilities
Search for vulnerabilities resulting from the violation of this rule on the CERT website.
Related Guidelines
| SEI CERT C++ Coding Standard | VOID EXP03-CPP. Do not assume the size of a class or struct is the sum of the sizes of its members |
Bibliography
| [Dowd 2006] | Chapter 6, "C Language Issues" ("Structure Padding," pp. 284–287) |
| [ISO/IEC 9899:2011] | Subclause 6.7.2.1, "Structure and Union Specifiers" |
| [Sloss 2004] | Section 5.7, "Structure Arrangement" |
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