ISO/IEC TS 17961 [accfree]

Accessing freed memory

Description

Rule Definition

Accessing freed memory.¹

Polyspace Implementation

This checker checks for these issues:

• Use of previously freed pointer.

• Invalid use of standard library string routine.

Examples

Use of previously freed pointer

Issue

Use of previously freed pointer occurs when you access a block of memory after freeing the block using the free function.

Risk

When a pointer is allocated dynamic memory with malloc, calloc or realloc, it points to a memory location on the heap. When you use the free function on this pointer, the associated block of memory is freed for reallocation. Trying to access this block of memory can result in unpredictable behavior or even a segmentation fault.

Fix

The fix depends on the root cause of the defect. See if you intended to free the memory later or allocate another memory block to the pointer before access.

As a good practice, after you free a memory block, assign the corresponding pointer to NULL. Before dereferencing pointers, check them for NULL values and handle the error. In this way, you are protected against accessing a freed block.

Example - Use of Previously Freed Pointer Error

#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>
 int increment_content_of_address(int base_val, int shift)
   { 
    int j;
    int* pi = (int*)malloc(sizeof(int));
    if (pi == NULL) return 0;

    *pi = base_val;
    free(pi);

    j = *pi + shift;
    /* Defect: Reading a freed pointer */
 
    return j;
   }

The free statement releases the block of memory that pi refers to. Therefore, dereferencingpi after the free statement is not valid.

Correction — Free Pointer After Use

One possible correction is to free the pointer pi only after the last instance where it is accessed.

#include <stdlib.h>

int increment_content_of_address(int base_val, int shift)
{
    int j;
    int* pi = (int*)malloc(sizeof(int));
    if (pi == NULL) return 0;

    *pi = base_val;

    j = *pi + shift;
    *pi = 0;

    /* Fix: The pointer is freed after its last use */
    free(pi);               
    return j;
}

Invalid use of standard library string routine

Issue

Invalid use of standard library string routine occurs when a string library function is called with invalid arguments.

Risk

The risk depends on the type of invalid arguments. For instance, using the strcpy function with a source argument larger than the destination argument can result in buffer overflows.

Fix

The fix depends on the standard library function involved in the defect. In some cases, you can constrain the function arguments before the function call. For instance, if the strcpy function:

char * strcpy(char * destination, const char* source);

tries to copy too many bytes into the destination argument compared to the available buffer, constrain the source argument before the call to strcpy. In some cases, you can use an alternative function to avoid the error. For instance, instead of strcpy, you can use strncpy to control the number of bytes copied. See also Interpret Bug Finder Results in Polyspace Desktop User Interface.

See examples of fixes below.

If you do not want to fix the issue, add comments to your result or code to avoid another review. See:

• Address Results in Polyspace User Interface Through Bug Fixes or Justifications if you review results in the Polyspace user interface.

• Address Results in Polyspace Access Through Bug Fixes or Justifications (Polyspace Access) if you review results in a web browser.

• Annotate Code and Hide Known or Acceptable Results if you review results in an IDE.

Example - Invalid Use of Standard Library String Routine Error

 #include <string.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
 
 char* Copy_String(void)
 {
  char *res;
  char gbuffer[5],text[20]="ABCDEFGHIJKL";

  res=strcpy(gbuffer,text); 
  /* Error: Size of text is less than gbuffer */

  return(res);
 }

The string text is larger in size than gbuffer. Therefore, the function strcpy cannot copy text into gbuffer.

Correction — Use Valid Arguments

One possible correction is to declare the destination string gbuffer with equal or larger size than the source string text.

#include <string.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
 
 char* Copy_String(void)
 {
  char *res;
  /*Fix: gbuffer has equal or larger size than text */
  char gbuffer[20],text[20]="ABCDEFGHIJKL";

  res=strcpy(gbuffer,text);

  return(res);
 }

Check Information

Decidability: Undecidable

Version History

Introduced in R2019a