Page History

...

#include <signal.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

enum { MAXLINE = 1024 };
char *info = NULL;

void log_message(void) {
  fprintf(stderr, info);
}

void handler(int signum) {
  log_message();
  free(info);
  info = NULL;
}

int main(void) {
  if (signal(SIGINT, handler) == SIG_ERR) {
    /* Handle error */
  }
  info = (char*)malloc(MAXLINE);
  if (info == NULL) {
    /* Handle Error */
  }

  while (1) {
    /* Main loop program code */

    log_message();

    /* More program code */
  }
  return 0;
}

This program's signal handler has four problems. The first is that it is unsafe to call the fprintf() function from within a signal handler because the handler may be called when global data (such as stderr) is in an inconsistent state. In general, it is not safe to invoke I/O functions within a signal handler.

...

The third problem is if SIGINT occurs after the call to free(), resulting in the memory referenced by info being freed twice. This is a violation of rules MEM31-C. Free dynamically allocated memory exactly once and SIG31-C. Do not access or modify shared objects in signal handlers.

The fourth and final problem is that the signal handler reads the variable info, which is not declared to be of type volatile sig_atomic_t. This is a violation of rule SIG31-C. Do not access or modify shared objects in signal handlers.

Furthermore, there are problems in the {[main()}} function as well, such as the possibility that the signal handler might get invoked during the call to malloc() in main().

Implementation Details

POSIX

...