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Alternatively, input character data as a null-terminated byte string and convert to an integer value using strtol() or a related function. (See guideline INT06ERR34-C. Use strtol() or a related function to convert a string token to an integerDetect errors when converting a string to a number.)

Noncompliant Code Example

This noncompliant code example uses the scanf() function to read a string from stdin and convert it to a long. The scanf() and fscanf() functions have undefined behavior if the value of the result of this operation cannot be represented as an integer.

long slnum_long;

if (scanf("%ld", &slnum_long) != 1) {
  /* handleHandle error */
}

In general, do not use scanf() to parse integers or floating-point numbers from input strings because the input could contain numbers not representable by the argument type.

Compliant Solution (Linux)

Wiki MarkupThis compliant example uses the Linux {{scanf()}} implementation's built -in error handling to validate input. On Linux platforms, {{scanf()}} sets {{errno}} to {{ERANGE}} if the result of integer conversion cannot be represented within the size specified by the format string \[ [Linux 2008|AA. Bibliography#Linux 08]\]. Note that this solution is a platform dependent solution. Therefore, this should only be used where portability is not a , so it should be used only where portability is not a concern.

long slnum_long;
errno = 0;

if (scanf("%ld", &slnum_long) != 1) {
  /* handleHandle error */
}
else if (ERANGE == errno) {
  if (puts("number out of range\n") == EOF) {
      /* Handle error */
  }
}

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This compliant example uses fgets() to input a string and strtol() to convert the string to an integer. Error checking is provided to make sure that the value is a valid integer in the range of long.

char buff[25];
char *end_ptr;
long slnum_long;

if (fgets(buff, sizeof(buff), stdin) == NULL) {
  if (puts("EOF or read error\n") == EOF) {
    /* Handle error */
  }
} else {
  errno = 0;

  slnum_long = strtol(buff, &end_ptr, 10);

  if (ERANGE == errno) {
    if (puts("number out of range\n") == EOF) {
      /* Handle error */
    }
  }
  else if (end_ptr == buff) {
    if (puts("not valid numeric input\n") == EOF) {
      /* Handle error */
    }
  }
  else if ('\n' != *end_ptr && '\0' != *end_ptr) {
    if (puts("extra characters on input line\n") == EOF) {
      /* Handle error */
    }
  }
}

Note that this solution treats any trailing characters, including white-space whitespace characters, as an error condition.

Risk Assessment

While it Although it is relatively rare for a violation of this recommendation to result in a security vulnerability, it can easily result in lost or misinterpreted data.

Automated Detection

Related Vulnerabilities

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

Related Guidelines

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Bibliography

\[[Klein 2002|AA. Bibliography#Klein 02]\]
\[[ISO/IEC 9899:1999|AA. Bibliography#ISO/IEC 9899-1999]\] Section 7.20.1.4, "The strtol, strtoll, strtoul, and strtoull functions," and Section 7.19.6, "Formatted input/output functions"
\[[MITRE 2007|AA. Bibliography#MITRE 07]\] [CWE ID 192|http://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/192.html], "Integer Coercion Error"; and [CWE ID 197|http://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/197.html], "Numeric Truncation Error"
\[[Linux 2008|AA. Bibliography#Linux 08]\] [{{scanf(3)}}|http://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/online/pages/man3/scanf.3.html]

Bibliography

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Image Added Image Added Image AddedINT04-C. Enforce limits on integer values originating from untrusted sources      04. Integers (INT)      INT06-C. Use strtol() or a related function to convert a string token to an integer