Local, automatic variables assume unexpected values if they are read before they are initialized. The The C Standard, 6.7.911, paragraph 1011, specifies [ISO/IEC 9899:20112024]
If an object that has automatic storage duration is not initialized explicitly, its value representation is indeterminate.
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| Tool | Version | Checker | Description | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Astrée |
| uninitialized-local-read uninitialized-variable-use | Fully checked | ||||||
| Axivion Bauhaus Suite |
| CertC-EXP33 | |||||||
| CodeSonar |
| LANG.MEM.UVAR | Uninitialized variable | ||||||
| Compass/ROSE | Automatically detects simple violations of this rule, although it may return some false positives. It may not catch more complex violations, such as initialization within functions taking uninitialized variables as arguments. It does catch the second noncompliant code example, and can be extended to catch the first as well | ||||||||
| Coverity |
| UNINIT | Implemented | ||||||
| Cppcheck |
| uninitvar | Detects uninitialized variables, uninitialized pointers, uninitialized struct members, and uninitialized array elements (However, if one element is initialized, then cppcheck assumes the array is initialized.) | ||||||
| Cppcheck Premium |
| uninitvar uninitdata uninitstring uninitMemberVar uninitStructMember | Detects uninitialized variables, uninitialized pointers, uninitialized struct members, and uninitialized array elements (However, if one element is initialized, then cppcheck assumes the array is initialized.) There are FN compared to some other tools because Cppcheck tries to avoid FP in impossible paths. | ||||||
| GCC | 4.3.5 | Can detect some violations of this rule when the | |||||||
| Helix QAC |
| DF2726, DF2727, DF2728, DF2961, DF2962, DF2963, DF2966, DF2967, DF2968, DF2971, DF2972, DF2973, DF2976, DF2977, DF2978 | Fully implemented | ||||||
| Klocwork |
| UNINIT.HEAP.MIGHT | Fully implemented | ||||||
| LDRA tool suite |
| 53 D, 69 D, 631 S, 652 S | Fully implemented | ||||||
| Parasoft C/C++test |
| CERT_C-EXP33-a | Avoid use before initialization | ||||||
| Parasoft Insure++ |
| Runtime analysis | |||||||
| PC-lint Plus |
| 530, 603, 644, 901 | Fully supported | ||||||
| Polyspace Bug Finder |
| Checks for:
Rule partially covered | |||||||
| PVS-Studio |
| V573, V614, V670, V679, V1050 | |||||||
| RuleChecker |
| uninitialized-local-read | Partially checked | ||||||
| Splint | 3.1.1 | ||||||||
| TrustInSoft Analyzer |
| initialisation | Exhaustively verified (see one compliant and one non-compliant example). |
Related Vulnerabilities
CVE-2009-1888 results from a violation of this rule. Some versions of SAMBA (up to 3.3.5) call a function that takes in two potentially uninitialized variables involving access rights. An attacker can exploit these coding errors to bypass the access control list and gain access to protected files [xorl 2009].
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| [Flake 2006] | |
| [ISO/IEC 9899:20112024] | Subclause 6.7.911, "Initialization" Subclause 6.2.6.1, "General" Subclause 6.3.2.1, "Lvalues, Arrays, and Function Designators" |
| [Mercy 2006] | |
| [VU#925211] | |
| [Wang 2012] | "More Randomness or Less" |
| [xorl 2009] | "CVE-2009-1888: SAMBA ACLs Uninitialized Memory Read" |
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