Aren't many of the constructs used as examples in the paper are commonly used in c programming. For example it is very common to see a function that has a pointer as a parameter defined as:int func(void *ptr){if(!ptr) return SOME_ERROR;/* rest of function*/return 1;}Isn't it interesting that their one example will potentially dereference the null pointer even before compiler optimizations (from the paper):struct tun_struct *tun=....;struct sock *sk = tun->sk;if(*tun) return POLLERR;The check to see that tun is non-null should occur before use, as in - quite frankly it is useless to check after as tun cannot be the null pointer (the program hasn't crashed):
struct tun_struct *tun=....;if(*tun) return POLLERR;struct sock *sk = tun->sk;I am under the impression that these problems are rather widely known among c programmers (perhaps not the kids fresh out of college). But this is why teams need to have experienced people.Furthermore, it is very common to find code that works before optimization, and fails at certain optimization levels. Recently, I was compiling a library that failed its own tests under the optimization level set in the makefile but passed its own test at a lower level of optimization.PS: I liked their first example, as it appears to be problematic.On Sat, Nov 23, 2013 at 8:17 AM, Joel Rees <joel.rees@gmail.com> wrote:
Deja gnu?
I seem to remember discussing the strange optimizations that optimized
On Sat, Nov 23, 2013 at 10:34 AM, Andrew McGlashan
<andrew.mcglashan@affinityvision.com.au> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> The following link shows the issue in a nutshell:
>
> http://www.securitycurrent.com/en/research/ac_research/mot-researchers-uncover-security-flaws-in-c
>
> [it refers to the PDF that I mentioned]
>
> --
> Kind Regards
> AndrewM
away range checks because the code that was being firewalled "had to
be correct".
Ten years ago, it was engineers that understood pointers but didn't
understand logic. This time around, maybe it's a new generation of
sophomoric programmers, or maybe we have moles in our ranks.
The sky is not falling, but it sounds like I don't want to waste my
time with Clang yet. And I probably need to go make myself persona
non-grata again in some C language forums
--
Joel Rees
Be careful where you see conspiracy.
Look first in your own heart.
Archive: [🔎] CAAr43iO_4L7+ViL8VqzPZro+fDm1VhpPHePOmp88hiwbn+FWXg@mail.gmail.com" target="_blank">http://lists.debian.org/[🔎] CAAr43iO_4L7+ViL8VqzPZro+fDm1VhpPHePOmp88hiwbn+FWXg@mail.gmail.com
--
To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-REQUEST@lists.debian.org
with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmaster@lists.debian.org