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Failing to free memory can result in the exhaustion of system memory resources, which can lead to a denial-of-service attack.
Rule | Severity | Likelihood | Detectable | RepairableRemediation Cost | Priority | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
MEM31-C | Medium | Probable | No | NoMedium | P8P4 | L2L3 |
Automated Detection
Tool | Version | Checker | Description | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Astrée |
| Supported, but no explicit checker | ||||||||
| Axivion Bauhaus Suite |
| CertC-MEM31 | Can detect dynamically allocated resources that are not freed | |||||||
| CodeSonar |
| ALLOC.LEAK | Leak | |||||||
| Compass/ROSE | ||||||||||
| RESOURCE_LEAK ALLOC_FREE_MISMATCH | Finds resource leaks from variables that go out of scope while owning a resource | ||||||||
| Cppcheck |
| memleak leakReturnValNotUsed leakUnsafeArgAlloc memleakOnRealloc | Doesn't use return value of memory allocation function | |||||||
| Cppcheck Premium |
| memleak leakReturnValNotUsed leakUnsafeArgAlloc memleakOnReallocDoesn't use return value of memory allocation function | ||||||||
| Helix QAC |
| DF2706, DF2707, DF2708 C++3337, C++3338 | ||||||||
| Klocwork |
| CL.FFM.ASSIGN CL.FFM.COPY CL.SHALLOW.ASSIGN CL.SHALLOW.COPY FMM.MIGHT FMM.MUST | ||||||||
| LDRA tool suite |
| 50 D | Partially implemented | |||||||
| Parasoft C/C++test |
| CERT_C-MEM31-a | Ensure resources are freed | |||||||
| Parasoft Insure++ | Runtime analysis | |||||||||
| PC-lint Plus |
| 429 | Fully supported | |||||||
| Polyspace Bug Finder |
| CERT C: Rule MEM31-C | Checks for memory leak (rule fully covered) | |||||||
| PVS-Studio |
| V773 | ||||||||
| SonarQube C/C++ Plugin |
| S3584 | ||||||||
| Splint |
| |||||||||
| TrustInSoft Analyzer |
| malloc | Exhaustively verified. |
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CWE-404 = Union( FIO42-C, MEM31-C list) where list =
- Failure to free resources besides files or memory chunks, such as mutexes)
Bibliography
| [ISO/IEC 9899:2024] | Subclause 7.24.3, "Memory Management Functions" |
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