An object that is accessed through a restrict-qualified pointer has a special association with that pointer. This association requires that all accesses to that object use, directly or indirectly, the value of that particular pointer. The intended use of the restrict qualifier is to promote optimization, and deleting all instances of the qualifier from a program does not change its meaning (that is, observable behavior). In the absence of this qualifier, other pointers can alias this object. Cacheing the value in an object designated through a  restrict-qualified pointer is safe at the beginning of the block in which the pointer is declared, because no pre-existing aliases may also be used to reference that object. The cached value must be restored to the object by the end of the block, where pre-existing aliases again become available. New aliases may be formed within the block, but these must all depend on the value of the restrict-qualified pointer, so that they can be identified and adjusted to refer to the cached value. For a  restrict-qualified pointer at file scope, the block is the body of each function in the file [Douglas Walls 2006]. 

Overlapping Objects

Noncompliant Code Example

In this noncompliant code example, the file scope declarations assert that if an object is accessed using one of a, b, or c, and that object is modified anywhere in the program, then it is never accessed using either of the other two.

int * restrict a;
int * restrict b;

extern int c[];
 
int main(void) {
  a = c[0] = 17; 
  b = c[1] = 18;
  *a = *b; /* undefined behavior */
}

Compliant Solution

One compliant solution is to simply remove the restrict-qualification from the affected pointers. 

int * a;
int * b;

extern int c[];
 
int main(void) {
  a = c[0] = 17; 
  b = c[1] = 18;
  *a = *b; /* undefined behavior */
}

restrict-qualified pointers Function Parameters

Noncompliant Code Example

In this noncompliant code example, the function f() accepts three parameters.  The function copies n integers from the int arrray referenced by the restrict-qualified pointer p to the int array referenced by the restrict-qualified pointer q.   Because the object is modified during each execution of the function (for which n is nonzero), if an object is accessed through one of the pointer parameters it cannot also be accessed through the other.  Declaring these function parameters as restrict-qualified pointers allows aggressive optimization by the compiler but can also result in undefined behavior if these pointers refer to overlapping objects.

void f(size_t n, int * restrict p, int * restrict q) {
  while (n-- > 0)
    *p++ = *q++;
}
 
void g(void) {
  extern int d[100];

  /* ... */
  f(50, d + 1, d); /* undefined behavior */
}

The function g() declares an array d consisting of 100 int values and then invokes f() to copy memory from one area of the array to another. This call has undefined behavior because each of d[1]  through d[49]  is accessed through both p  and q .

Compliant Solution

In this compliant solution, the function f() is unchanged but the programmer has ensured that none of the calls to f() result in undefined behavior.

void f(int n, int * restrict p, int * restrict q) {
   while (n-- > 0)
     *p++ = *q++; 
}
 
void g(void) {
   extern int d[100];
   f(50, d + 50, d); //  valid 
}

Invoking Library Functions with restrict-qualified Pointers

Ensure that restrict-qualified source and destination pointers do not reference overlapping objects when invoking library functions. The standard library functions shown below copy memory from a source object referenced by a restrict-qualified pointer to a destination object that is also referenced by a restrict-qualified pointer: 

void *memcpy(
  void * restrict s1,
  const void * restrict s2,
  size_t n
);

 
char *strcpy(
  char * restrict s1,
  const char * restrict s2
);

 
char *strncpy(
  char * restrict s1,
  const char * restrict s2,
  size_t n
);

char *strcat(
  char * restrict s1,
  const char * restrict s2
);

 
char *strncat(
  char * restrict s1,
  const char * restrict s2, 
  size_t n
);

The Annex K Bounds-checking interfaces functions shown below also copy memory from a source object referenced by a restrict-qualified pointer to a destination object that is also referenced by a restrict-qualified pointer:

errno_t memcpy_s(
  void * restrict s1, 
  rsize_t s1max,
  const void * restrict s2, 
  rsize_t n
);
 
errno_t strcpy_s(
  char * restrict s1,
  rsize_t s1max,
  const char * restrict s2
);

 
errno_t strncpy_s(
  char * restrict s1,
  rsize_t s1max,
  const char * restrict s2,
  rsize_t n
);

errno_t strcat_s(
  char * restrict s1,
  rsize_t s1max,
  const char * restrict s2
);

 
errno_t strncat_s(
  char * restrict s1,
  rsize_t s1max,
  const char * restrict s2,
  rsize_t n
);

 
char *strtok_s(
  char * restrict s1,
  rsize_t * restrict s1max,
  const char * restrict s2,
  char ** restrict ptr
);

If the objects referenced by arguments to functions overlap (meaning the objects share some common memory addresses), the behavior is undefined. See also undefined behavior 68 in Appendix J of the C Standard. The result of the functions is unknown and data may be corrupted. As a result, these functions must never be passed pointers to overlapping objects. If data must be copied between objects that share common memory addresses, a copy function guaranteed to work on overlapping memory, such as memmove(), should be used.

Noncompliant Code Example

In this noncompliant code example, the values of objects referenced by ptr1 and ptr2 become unpredictable after the call to memcpy() because their memory areas overlap:

#include <string.h>
 
void func(void) {
  char c_str[]= "test string";
  char *ptr1 = c_str;
  char *ptr2;

  ptr2 = ptr1 + 3;
  memcpy(ptr2, ptr1, 6);

  /* ... */
}

Compliant Solution

In this compliant solution, the call to memcpy() is replaced with a call to memmove(). The memmove() function performs the same operation as memcpy(), but copying takes place as if the n characters from the object pointed to by the source (ptr1) are first copied into a temporary array of n characters that does not overlap the objects pointed to by the destination (ptr2) or the source. The n characters from the temporary array are then copied into the object pointed to by the destination.

#include <string.h>

void func(void) {char c_str[]= "test string";
  char *ptr1 = c_str;
  char *ptr2;

  ptr2 = ptr1 + 3;
  memmove(ptr2, ptr1, 6);  /* Replace call to memcpy() */

  /* ... */
}

Similar solutions using memmove() can replace the string functions as long as care is taken regarding the byte size of the characters and proper null-termination of the copied string.

Calling Functions with restrict-qualified Pointer Parameters to a const-qualified Type 

functions define parameters that use the restrict qualification. The following is a list of the most common:

int printf(
  const char * restrict format,
  /* ... */
);
int scanf(
  const char * restrict format,
  /* ... */
);
int sprintf(
  char * restrict s,
  const char * restrict format,
  /* ... */
);
int snprintf(
  char * restrict s,
  size_t n,
  const char * restrict format,
  /* ... */
);

If any of the prece

Risk Assessment

Using functions such as memcpy(), strcpy(), strncpy(), sscanf(), sprintf(), snprintf(), mbstowcs(), and wcstombs() to copy overlapping objects results in undefined behavior that can be exploited to cause data integrity violations.

Related Vulnerabilities

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

Automated Detection

Related Guidelines

Bibliography

Douglas Walls.  How to Use the Qualifier in C.  Sun ONE Tools Group, Sun Microsystems, July 2003 (revised March 2006)