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Code Block

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char *improved_strncpy(char * restrict s1, size_t s1count, const char * restrict s2, size_t s2count, size_t n);
char *improved_strncat(char * restrict s1, size_t s1count, const char * restrict s2, size_t s2count, size_t n);

The n parameter is used to specify a number of elements to copy that is less than the total number of elements in the source string.

Compliant Solution (C11 Annex K)

The C Standard, Annex K (normative) Bounds-checking interfaces, defines bounds-checking versions of standard C library string-handling functions:

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There are two notable differences between the compliant solution and the secure versions from Annex K. First, the Annex K versions use rsize_t instead of size_t, which allows the size to be compared against the reasonable limit for a single object, RSIZE_MAX. Second, the Annex K versions do not require an element count for the second array. Consequently, these functions have limited ability to validate the input for s2. However, a size value for s1 is required, so memory outside of the range for s1 should not be overwritten.

Exceptions

API02-C-EX1: Functions that can guarantee via their runtime-constraint handlers that no out-of-bounds read or write occurs may omit the maximum-elements argument. For instance, the s2 parameter to strcat_s() needs no max parameter.

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Failure to follow this recommendation can result in improper memory accesses and buffer overflows that are detrimental to the correct and continued execution of the program.