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The C Standard, 6.3.2.3, paragraph 7 [ISO/IEC 9899:20112024], states

A pointer to an object or incomplete type may be converted to a pointer to a different object or incomplete type. If the resulting pointer is not correctly aligned for the referenced the referenced type, the behavior is undefined.

See undefined behavior 25.

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If a developer wishes to violate this rule and use undefined behavior, they must not only ensure that the hardware guarantees the behavior of the object code, but they must also ensure that their compiler and compiler optimizations , along with its optimizer, also respect these guarantees.

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Supported, but no explicit checkerPTR.UNRELATED
MISRA.CAST.INT
PORTING.CAST.PTR.FLTPNT
PORTING.CAST.PTR
PORTING.CAST.PTR.SIZE
PORTING.CAST.SIZE

Pointer implicitly cast to different data type

Allocated memory does not match destination pointer

Conversions shall not be performed between a pointer to a function and any other type

Conversions shall not be performed between a pointer to an incomplete type and any other type

A cast shall not be performed between a pointer to object type and a pointer to a different object type

A conversion should not be performed from pointer to void into pointer to object

A cast shall not be performed between pointer to object and a non-integer arithmetic type

Tool

Version

Checker

Description

Astrée

Include Page

	Astrée_V
	Astrée_V

pointer-cast-alignment

Fully checked

Axivion Bauhaus Suite

Include Page

	Axivion Bauhaus Suite_V
	Axivion Bauhaus Suite_V

CertC-EXP36

CodeSonar

Include Page

	CodeSonar_V
	CodeSonar_V

LANG.CAST.PC.OBJ

Cast: Object Pointers

Compass/ROSE

Can detect violations of this rule. However, it does not flag explicit casts to void * and then back to another pointer type

Coverity

Include Page

	Coverity_V
	Coverity_V

MISRA C 2004 Rule 11.4

MISRA C 2012 Rule 11.1

MISRA C 2012 Rule 11.2

MISRA C 2012 Rule 11.5

MISRA C 2012 Rule 11.7

Implemented

Cppcheck Premium

Include Page

	Cppcheck Premium_V
	Cppcheck Premium_V

premium-cert-exp36-c

Partially implemented

ECLAIR

Include Page

	ECLAIR_V
	ECLAIR_V

CC2.EXP36

Fully implemented

EDG

GCC

Include Page

	GCC_V
	GCC_V

Can detect some violations of this rule when the -Wcast-align flag is used

Helix QAC

Include Page

	Helix QAC_V
	Helix QAC_V

C0326, C3305

C++3033, C++3038

Klocwork

Include Page

	Klocwork_V
	Klocwork_V

MISRA.CAST.

OBJ_PTR_TO_

OBJ_PTR.2012

LDRA tool suite

Include Page

	LDRA_V
	LDRA_V

94 S, 606 S

Partially implemented

Parasoft C/C++test

Include Page

	Parasoft_V
	Parasoft_V

CERT_C-EXP36-a

A cast should not be performed between a pointer to object type and a different pointer to object type

Polyspace Bug Finder

Include Page

Polyspace Bug Finder_V

Unreliable cast of pointer

Wrong allocated object size for cast

MISRA C:2012 Rule 11.1

MISRA C:2012 Rule 11.2

MISRA C:2012 Rule 11.3

MISRA C:2012 Rule 11.5

MISRA C:2012 Rule 11.7

Do not cast pointers into more strictly aligned pointer types

PC-lint Plus

Include Page

	PC-lint Plus_V
	PC-lint Plus_V

2445

Partially supported: reports casts directly from a pointer to a less strictly aligned type to a pointer to a more strictly aligned type

Polyspace Bug Finder

Include Page

	Polyspace Bug Finder_V
	Polyspace Bug Finder_V

CERT C: Rule EXP36-C

Checks for source buffer misaligned with destination buffer (rule fully covered)

PRQA QA-C

Include Page

PRQA QA-C_v PRQA QA-C_v 3305 Fully implemented PRQA QA-C++

Include Page

cplusplus:PRQA QA-C++_V

3033, 3038

PVS-Studio

Include Page

	PVS-Studio_V
	PVS-Studio_V

V548, V641, V1032

RuleChecker

Include Page

	RuleChecker_V
	RuleChecker_V

pointer-cast-alignment

Fully checked

Related Vulnerabilities

Search for vulnerabilities resulting from the violation of this rule on the CERT website.

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[Bryant 2003]
[ISO/IEC 9899:20112024]	6.3.2.3, "Pointers"
[Walfridsson 2003]	Aliasing, Pointer Casts and GCC 3.3

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