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Wiki MarkupMany functions accept pointers as arguments. If the function dereferences an invalid pointer (as in rule [EXP34-C. Do not dereference null pointers]) or reads or writes to a pointer that does not refer to an object, the results are [undefined|BB. Definitions#undefined]. Typically, the program will terminate abnormally when an invalid pointer is dereferenced, but it is possible for an invalid pointer to be dereferenced, and its memory changed, without abnormal termination \ [[Jack 2007|AA. Bibliography#Jack 07]\]. Such programs can be difficult to debug because of the difficulty in determining if a pointer is valid.

One way to eliminate invalid pointers is to define a function that accepts a pointer argument and indicates whether the pointer is valid or not, for some definition of valid. For example, the following function declares any pointer to be valid except NULL.

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MITRE CWE: CWE-20, "Insufficient Input Validation"

Bibliography

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\[[Jack 2007|AA. Bibliography#Jack 07]\] \[[van Sprundel 2006|AA. Bibliography#van Sprundel 06]\]
[van Sprundel 2006]

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MEM09-C. Do not assume memory allocation functions initialize memory      08. Memory Management (MEM)