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Reading previously dynamically allocated memory after it has been deallocated can lead to abnormal program termination and denial-of-service attacks. Writing memory that has been deallocated can lead to the execution of arbitrary code with the permissions of the vulnerable process.
Rule | Severity | Likelihood | Remediation Cost | Priority | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
MEM50-CPP | High | Likely | Medium | P18 | L1 |
Automated Detection
Tool | Version | Checker | Description | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Astrée |
| dangling_pointer_use | |||||||
| Axivion Bauhaus Suite |
| CertC++-MEM50 | |||||||
| Clang |
| clang-analyzer-cplusplus.NewDelete | Checked by clang-tidy, but does not catch all violations of this rule. | ||||||
| CodeSonar |
| ALLOC.UAF | Use after free | ||||||
| Compass/ROSE |
| USE_AFTER_FREE | Can detect the specific instances where memory is deallocated more than once or read/written to the target of a freed pointer | |||||||
| Helix QAC |
| C++4303, C++4304 | |||||||
| Klocwork |
| UFM.DEREF.MIGHT UFM.DEREF.MUST UFM.FFM.MIGHT UFM.FFM.MUST UFM.RETURN.MIGHT UFM.RETURN.MUST UFM.USE.MIGHT UFM.USE. |
| MUST | |||||||||
| LDRA tool suite |
| 483 S, 484 S | Partially implemented | ||||||
| Parasoft C/C++test |
|
|
|
| CERT_CPP- |
| MEM50- |
| a | Do not use resources that have been freed |
| Parasoft Insure++ |
| Runtime detection |
| Polyspace Bug Finder |
|
|
|
| CERT C++ |
| : MEM50-CPP | Checks for:
Rule partially covered. | ||||||||
| PVS-Studio |
| V586, V774 | |||||||
| Splint |
|
Related Vulnerabilities
VU#623332 describes a double-free vulnerability in the MIT Kerberos 5 function krb5_recvauth() [VU# 623332].
Search for other vulnerabilities resulting from the violation of this rule on the CERT website.
Related Guidelines
| SEI CERT C++ Coding Standard | |
| SEI CERT C Coding Standard | MEM30-C. Do not access freed memory |
| MITRE CWE |
Bibliography
| [ISO/IEC 14882-2014] | Subclause 3.7.4.1, "Allocation Functions" Subclause 3.7.4.2, "Deallocation Functions" |
| [Seacord 2013b] | Chapter 4, "Dynamic Memory Management" |
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