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Re: [bug #64551] Possible null pointer dereference on the function get_b


From: Martin Dorey
Subject: Re: [bug #64551] Possible null pointer dereference on the function get_buffer
Date: Sat, 20 Jan 2024 16:02:25 +0000


Indeed, but that's because, as Paul noted, you're testing code that's even older.

  • `fmtbuf.size`, defined in ..., was increased after the previous innovation of `get_buffer`), and then the execution of `fmtbuf.buffer[need-1] = '\0';`

There's a nice catch there - where, in that recursive failure, the writing of that terminator overflows a buffer that wasn't actually reallocated yet.


From: Paul Smith <psmith@gnu.org>
Sent: Saturday, January 20, 2024 07:51
To: Haoxin Tu <haoxintu@gmail.com>; Martin Dorey <Martin.Dorey@hitachivantara.com>
Cc: bug-make@gnu.org <bug-make@gnu.org>
Subject: Re: [bug #64551] Possible null pointer dereference on the function get_buffer
 
***** EXTERNAL EMAIL *****

On Sat, 2024-01-20 at 23:37 +0800, Haoxin Tu wrote:
> But I don't understand why the second invocation of `xrealloc` can
> not return zero, I apologize for any imprecise information I provided
> in the previous emails.

Because of what I said in my original reply:

> the entire point of xrealloc is that it never returns 0.

Look at the implementation of xrealloc():

  void *result = malloc (size ? size : 1);
  if (result == 0)
    OUT_OF_MEM();
  return result;

We know that OUT_OF_MEM() never returns.  So there's no way this
function can return 0.

It will, as Martin suggests, recurse infinitely (one assumes) because
fatal() calls xrealloc() again, and malloc() will return 0, so it will
call fatal(), which calls xrealloc() again, and malloc will return 0,
so it will call fatal(), etc. etc.--this is what I meant by my
imprecise comment "infinite loop" I should have said "infinite
recursion".

As a reminder this is moot: this code has been rewritten and even the
infinite recursion problem was removed from the code back in 2017.

--
Paul D. Smith <psmith@gnu.org>            Find some GNU make tips at:
https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url="">                       https://nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url="">
"Please remain calm...I may be mad, but I am a professional." --Mad
Scientist

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