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Many functions accept pointers as arguments. If the function dereferences an invalid pointer (as in 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. 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]. 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 or not the pointer is valid for some definition of valid. For example, the following function declares any pointer to be valid except NULL.:

int valid(void *ptr) {
  return (ptr != NULL);
}

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void incr(int *intptr) {
  if (intptr == NULL) {
    /* Handle error */
  }
  (*intptr)++;
}

Compliant Solution

This incr() function can be improved by using the valid() function. The resulting implementation is less likely to dereference an invalid pointer or write to memory that is outside the bounds of a valid object.

void incr(int *intptr) {
  if (!valid(intptr)) {
    /* Handle error */
  }
  (*intptr)++;
}

The valid() function can be implementation dependent and perform additional, platform-dependent checks when possible. In the worst case, the valid() function may only perform the same null-pointer check as the noncompliant code example. However, on platforms where additional pointer validation is possible, the use of a valid() function can provide checks.

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A pointer validation function can be used to detect and prevent operations from being performed on some invalid pointers.

Automated Detection

Related Vulnerabilities

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

Related Guidelines

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ISO/IEC 9899:2011 Section 6.3.2.3, "Pointers"

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Bibliography

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