Page History

Enumerations in C++ come in two forms: scoped enumerations in which the underlying type is fixed and unscoped enumerations in which the underlying type may or may not be fixed. The range of values that can be represented by either form of enumeration may include enumerator values not specified by the enumeration itself. The range of valid enumeration values for an enumeration type is defined by the C++ Standard, [dcl.enum], in paragraph 8 [ISO/IEC 14882-20142020]:

 For an enumeration whose underlying type is fixed, the values of the enumeration are the values of the underlying the underlying type. Otherwise, for an enumeration where e_min is the smallest enumerator and e_max is the largest, the values of the enumeration are the values in the range b_min to b_max, defined as follows: Let K be 1 for a two’s complement representation and 0 for a one’s complement or sign-magnitude representation. b_max is the smallest value greater than or equal to max(|e_min| − K, |e_max|) and equal to 2^M − 1, where M is a non-negative integer. b_min is zero if e_min is non-negative and −(b_max + K) otherwise. The size of the representable by a hypothetical integer type with minimal width M such that all enumerators can be represented. The width of the smallest bit-field large enough to hold all the values of the enumeration type is max(M, 1) if b_min is zero and M + 1 otherwise. It is possible to define an enumeration that has values not defined by any of its enumeratorsits enumerators. If the enumerator-list is empty, the values of the enumeration are as if the enumeration had a single a single enumerator with value 0.

The C++ Standard, [expr.static.cast], paragraph 10, states the following:

A value of integral or enumeration type can be explicitly converted to an enumeration type. The value is unchanged converted to a complete enumeration type. If the enumeration type has a fixed underlying type, the value is first converted to that type by integral conversion, if necessary, and then to the enumeration type. If the enumeration type does not have a fixed underlying type, the value is unchanged if the original value is within the range of the enumeration values (9.7.2). Otherwise1), and otherwise, the resulting value is unspecified (and might not be in that range)behavior is undefined. A value of floating-point type can also be explicitly converted explicitly converted to an enumeration type. The resulting value is the same as converting the original value to the underlying the underlying type of the enumeration (47.3.910), and subsequently to the enumeration type.

To avoid operating on unspecified values, the arithmetic value being cast must be within the range of values the enumeration can represent. When dynamically checking for out-of-range values, checking must be performed before the cast expression.

...

enum EnumType {
  First,
  Second,
  Third
};

void f(int intVar) {
  if (intVar < First || intVar > Third) {
    // Handle error
  }
  EnumType enumVar = static_cast<EnumType>(intVar);
}

...

Compliant Solution (Scoped Enumeration)

...

It is possible for unspecified values to result in a buffer overflow, leading to the execution of arbitrary code by an attacker. However, because enumerators are rarely used for indexing into arrays or other forms of pointer arithmetic, it is more likely that this scenario will result in data integrity violations rather than arbitrary code execution.

Automated Detection

Related Vulnerabilities

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

Bibliography

...

...