DCL12-A. Create and use abstract data types

Abstract data types, private data types, and information hiding are not restricted to object-oriented languages like C++ and Java. These concepts can and should be implemented in C language programs as well.

Non-Compliant Code Example

This non-compliant code example is based on the managed string library developed by CERT [[Burch 06]]. In this non-compliant example, the managed string type is defined in the include file "string_m.h" as follows:

struct string_mx {
    size_t size;
    size_t maxsize;
    unsigned char strtype;
    char *cstr;
};

typedef struct string_mx *string_m;

The implementation of the string_m type is fully visible to the user of the data type after including the "string_m.h" file. Programmers are consequently more likely to directly manipulate the fields within the structure, violating the software engineering principles of information hiding and data encapsulation and increasing the probability of developing incorrect or non-portable code.

Compliant Solution

This compliant solution reimplements the string_m type as a private type, hiding the implementation of the data type from the user of the managed string library. To accomplish this, the developer of the private data type creates two include files: an external "string_m.h" include file that is included by the user of the data type and an internal file that is only included in files that implement the managed string abstract data type.

In the external "string_m.h" the string_m type is declared as a pointer to a struct string_mx, which in turn is declared as an incomplete type.

struct string_mx;
typedef struct string_mx *string_m;

In the internal include file struct string_mx is fully defined, but not visible to a user of the data abstraction.

struct string_mx {
    size_t size;
    size_t maxsize;
    unsigned char strtype;
    char *cstr;
};

Modules that implement the abstract data type include both the external and internal definitions, while users of the data abstraction include only the external "string_m.h" file. This allows the implementation of the string_m to remain private.

Risk Assessment

The use of abstract data types, while not essential to secure programming, can significantly reduce the number of defects and vulnerabilities introduced in code, particularly during on-going maintenance.

Related Vulnerabilities

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

References

[[Burch 06]]
[[ISO/IEC 9899-1999]] Section 6.2.5, "Types"

DCL11-A. Understand the type issues associated with variadic functions      02. Declarations and Initialization (DCL)