Page Information

Title:	MSC30-C. Do not use the rand() function for generating pseudorandom numbers
Author:	Fred Long	Dec 15, 2006
Last Changed by:	Francesco Mariani	Aug 31, 2025
Tiny Link: (useful for email)	https://wiki.sei.cmu.edu/confluence/x/UNcxBQ
Export As:	Word · PDF

SEI CERT Oracle Coding Standard for Java (1)     Page: MSC02-J. Generate strong random numbers

SEI CERT C++ Coding Standard (1)     Page: MSC50-CPP. Do not use std::rand() for generating pseudorandom numbers

SEI CERT C Coding Standard (1)     Page: CON33-C. Avoid race conditions when using library functions

Parent Page     Page: Rule 48. Miscellaneous (MSC)

• ldra
• fortify
• compass/rose
• android-applicable
• ptc
• crypto
• windows
• rose-complete
• rule
• msc
• cwe-330
• cwe-327
• in-cpp

Time	Editor
Aug 31, 2025 04:36	Francesco Mariani	View Changes
May 06, 2025 10:47	David Svoboda	View Changes
May 05, 2025 09:42	Swasti Shrivastava	View Changes
REM Cost Reform
Dec 12, 2024 01:53	Swasti Shrivastava	View Changes
Sep 30, 2024 12:47	Swasti Shrivastava

External Links (17)
    https://cwe.mitre.org/data/index.html
    https://www.mathworks.com/help/bugfinder/ref/certcrulemsc30…
    https://wiki.sei.cmu.edu/confluence/display/java/SEI+CERT+O…
    https://wiki.sei.cmu.edu/confluence/pages/viewpage.action?p…
    https://wiki.sei.cmu.edu/confluence/pages/viewpage.action?p…
    www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=arc4random
    https://wiki.sei.cmu.edu/confluence/display/cplusplus/MSC50…
    https://wiki.sei.cmu.edu/confluence/pages/viewpage.action?p…
    https://cwe.mitre.org/data/index.html676.html
    https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/338.html
    cwe.mitre.org/
    https://wiki.sei.cmu.edu/confluence/display/java/MSC02-J.+G…
    https://wiki.sei.cmu.edu/confluence/pages/viewpage.action?p…
    https://www.kb.cert.org/vulnotes/bymetric?searchview&query=…
    https://wiki.sei.cmu.edu/confluence/display/c/How+this+Codi…
    cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/327.html
    https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/desktop/api/bcrypt…

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