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The definition of pointer arithmetic from the C++ Standard, [expr.add], paragraph 7 [ISO/IEC 14882-2014], states the following:

For addition or subtraction, if the expressions P or Q have type “pointer to cv T”, where T is different from the cv-unqualified array element type, the behavior is undefined. [Note: In particular, a pointer to a base class cannot be used for pointer arithmetic when the array contains objects of a derived class type. —end note]

Pointer arithmetic does not account for polymorphic object sizes, and attempting to perform pointer arithmetic on a polymorphic object value results in undefined behavior.

The C++ Standard, [expr.sub], paragraph 1 [ISO/IEC 14882-2014], defines array subscripting as being identical to pointer arithmetic. Specifically, it states the following:

The expression E1[E2] is identical (by definition) to *((E1)+(E2)).

Do not use pointer arithmetic, including array subscripting, on polymorphic objects.

The following code examples assume the following static variables and class definitions.

int globI;
double globD;

struct S {
  int i;
  
  S() : i(globI++) {}
};

struct T : S {
  double d;
  
  T() : S(), d(globD++) {}
};

Noncompliant Code Example (Pointer Arithmetic)

In this noncompliant code example, f() accepts an array of S objects as its first parameter. However, main() passes an array of T objects as the first argument to f(), which results in undefined behavior due to the pointer arithmetic used within the for loop.

#include <iostream>
 
// ... definitions for S, T, globI, globD ...

void f(const S *someSes, std::size_t count) { 
  for (const S *end = someSes + count; someSes != end; ++someSes) {
    std::cout << someSes->i << std::endl;
  }
}

int main() {
  T test[5];
  f(test, 5);
}

Noncompliant Code Example (Array Subscripting)

In this noncompliant code example, the for loop uses array subscripting. Since array subscripts are computed using pointer arithmetic, this code also results in undefined behavior.

#include <iostream>
 
// ... definitions for S, T, globI, globD ...

void f(const S *someSes, std::size_t count) { 
  for (std::size_t

Because pointer arithmetic does not take account of polymorphism, a major problem with arrays is that they do not interact well with polymorphism (see Stroustrup 06, Meyers 06), as the following example illustrates:

Non-Compliant Code Example

class Base {
public:
	virtual void func(void) {
		cout << "Base" << endl;
	}
};

class Derived : public Base {
public:
	int i;
	Derived() { i = 0; }

	void func(void) {
		cout << "Derived " << ++i << endl;
	}
};

void walk(class Base *bar, int count) {
	for (int i = 0; i < count; i++i) {
		bar    std::cout << someSes[i].func()i << std::endl;
	  }
}

int main(void) {
	Base dis[3  T test[5];
	Derived dat[3];

	walk(dis, 3);
	walk(dat, 3); // crashes
}

In the last call to walk(), dat[] is treated as a Base[] and the subscripting no longer works correctly when sizeof(Derived) != sizeof(Base). This is because walk() incorrectly believes that the size of each element in bar[] is sizeof(Base). To locate the second element in the array (located at bar[1]), walk() adds the sizeof(Base) to the address bar. Assuming the derived object is larger (which is often the case), the resulting pointer refers to a point within the first element and not to the start of the second element located at bar + sizeof(Derived).

Compliant Solution 1

 f(test, 5);
}

Compliant Solution (Array)

Instead of having an array of objects, an array of pointers solves the problem of the objects being of different sizes. With the Base and Derived classes as in the Non-Compliant Code Example, we can define the walk and main methods as follows, as in this compliant solution.

#include <iostream>

// ... definitions for S, T, globI, globD ...

void walkf(classconst BaseS *bar [], int const *someSes, std::size_t count) { 
	  for (int iconst S * const *end = someSes 0+ count; isomeSes <!= countend; i++someSes) {
		(bar[i])->func();
	    std::cout << (*someSes)->i << std::endl;
  }
}

int main(void) {
	Base* dis[3  S *test[] = {new BaseT, new BaseT, new Base};
	Base* dat[3] = {new DerivedT, new DerivedT, new DerivedT};

	walk(dis, 3);
	walk(dat, 3  f(test, 5);

  for (intauto iv = 0; i < 3; i++: test) {
    delete dis[i]v;
    delete dat[i];
  }
}

The elements in the arrays are now all the same size (because no longer polymorphic objects (instead, they are pointers to Base or Derived polymorphic objects), and so there is no problem no undefined behavior with the array indexingpointer arithmetic.

Compliant Solution

...

(std::vector)

Another approach is to use a standard template library (STL) container instead of an array and have f() accept iterators as parameters, as in this compliant solution. However, because STL containers require homogeneous elements, pointers are still required within the container.A better approach would be to use vectors and iterators, instead of arrays, as follows. (Note, however, that we have to have vectors of pointers because containers must be homogeneous.)

void walk(vector<Base*>bar) {
	for_each (bar.begin(), bar.end(), mem_fun(&Base::func));
}

int main(void) {
	vector<Base*> dis(3);
      #include <iostream>
#include <vector>

// ... definitions for S, T, globI, globD ...
template <typename Iter>
void f(Iter i, Iter e) {
  for (int; i !=0; i<3e; i++i) dis[i] = new Base;

	vector<Base*> dat(3){
    std::cout << (*i)->i << std::endl;
  }
}

int main() {
  std::vector<S *> test{new forT, (int i=0; i<3; i++) dat[i] = new Derived;

	walk(dis);
	walk(dat);

new T, new T, new T, new T};
  f(test.cbegin(), test.cend());
  for (intauto iv = 0; i < 3; i++: test) {
    delete dis[i]v;
    delete dat[i];
  }
}

Risk Assessment

Using arrays polymorphically can result in memory corruption, which could lead to an attacker being able to execute arbitrary code.

Bibliography

[Sutter 04] Item 100: Don't treat arrays polymorphically.

[Meyers 96] Item 3: Never treat arrays polymorphically.

[Lockheed Martin 05] AV Rule 96 Arrays shall not be treated polymorphically.

[Stroustrup 06] What's wrong with arrays?

Automated Detection

Related Vulnerabilities

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

Related Guidelines

Bibliography

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Image Added Image Added Image AddedARR37-CPP. Do not add or subtract an integer to a pointer to a non-array object      06. Arrays and the STL (ARR)      ARR40-CPP. Use a valid ordering rule