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Android Secure Coding Standard
4 By Language
C Coding Language

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Applicable to Android (C Rules/Recomendations)

Created by Sandy Shrum, last updated on May 07, 2015 1 minute read

Rules

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DCL30-C. Declare objects with appropriate storage durations
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DCL31-C. Declare identifiers before using them
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DCL36-C. Do not declare an identifier with conflicting linkage classifications
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DCL37-C. Do not declare or define a reserved identifier
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DCL39-C. Avoid information leakage when passing a structure across a trust boundary
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DCL40-C. Do not create incompatible declarations of the same function or object
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DCL41-C. Do not declare variables inside a switch statement before the first case label
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ENV30-C. Do not modify the object referenced by the return value of certain functions
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ENV31-C. Do not rely on an environment pointer following an operation that may invalidate it
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ENV32-C. All exit handlers must return normally
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ENV33-C. Do not call system()
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ENV34-C. Do not store pointers returned by certain functions
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ERR30-C. Take care when reading errno
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ERR32-C. Do not rely on indeterminate values of errno
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ERR33-C. Detect and handle standard library errors
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ERR34-C. Detect errors when converting a string to a number
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EXP30-C. Do not depend on the order of evaluation for side effects
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EXP32-C. Do not access a volatile object through a nonvolatile reference
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EXP33-C. Do not read uninitialized memory
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EXP34-C. Do not dereference null pointers
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EXP37-C. Call functions with the correct number and type of arguments
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EXP39-C. Do not access a variable through a pointer of an incompatible type
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EXP40-C. Do not modify constant objects
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EXP42-C. Do not compare padding data
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EXP43-C. Avoid undefined behavior when using restrict-qualified pointers
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EXP44-C. Do not rely on side effects in operands to sizeof, _Alignof, or _Generic
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EXP45-C. Do not perform assignments in selection statements
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EXP46-C. Do not use a bitwise operator with a Boolean-like operand
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FLP30-C. Do not use floating-point variables as loop counters
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INT30-C. Ensure that unsigned integer operations do not wrap
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INT31-C. Ensure that integer conversions do not result in lost or misinterpreted data
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INT32-C. Ensure that operations on signed integers do not result in overflow
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INT33-C. Ensure that division and remainder operations do not result in divide-by-zero errors
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INT34-C. Do not shift an expression by a negative number of bits or by greater than or equal to the number of bits that exist in the operand
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MEM30-C. Do not access freed memory
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MEM31-C. Free dynamically allocated memory when no longer needed
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MEM34-C. Only free memory allocated dynamically
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MEM35-C. Allocate sufficient memory for an object
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MEM36-C. Do not modify the alignment of objects by calling realloc()
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MSC30-C. Do not use the rand() function for generating pseudorandom numbers
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MSC32-C. Properly seed pseudorandom number generators
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MSC33-C. Do not pass invalid data to the asctime() function
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MSC37-C. Ensure that control never reaches the end of a non-void function
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MSC38-C. Do not treat a predefined identifier as an object if it might only be implemented as a macro
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MSC39-C. Do not call va_arg() on a va_list that has an indeterminate value
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MSC40-C. Do not violate constraints
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PRE30-C. Do not create a universal character name through concatenation
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PRE31-C. Avoid side effects in arguments to unsafe macros
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PRE32-C. Do not use preprocessor directives in invocations of function-like macros
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STR30-C. Do not attempt to modify string literals
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STR31-C. Guarantee that storage for strings has sufficient space for character data and the null terminator
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STR32-C. Do not pass a non-null-terminated character sequence to a library function that expects a string
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STR34-C. Cast characters to unsigned char before converting to larger integer sizes
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STR37-C. Arguments to character-handling functions must be representable as an unsigned char
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STR38-C. Do not confuse narrow and wide character strings and functions

Recommendations

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API00-C. Functions should validate their parameters
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API03-C. Create consistent interfaces and capabilities across related functions
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API04-C. Provide a consistent and usable error-checking mechanism
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API07-C. Enforce type safety
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DCL00-C. Const-qualify immutable objects
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DCL01-C. Do not reuse variable names in subscopes
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DCL02-C. Use visually distinct identifiers
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DCL03-C. Use a static assertion to test the value of a constant expression
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DCL04-C. Do not declare more than one variable per declaration
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DCL05-C. Use typedefs of non-pointer types only
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DCL06-C. Use meaningful symbolic constants to represent literal values
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DCL07-C. Include the appropriate type information in function declarators
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DCL08-C. Properly encode relationships in constant definitions
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DCL09-C. Declare functions that return errno with a return type of errno_t
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DCL10-C. Maintain the contract between the writer and caller of variadic functions
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DCL11-C. Understand the type issues associated with variadic functions
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DCL12-C. Implement abstract data types using opaque types
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DCL13-C. Declare function parameters that are pointers to values not changed by the function as const
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DCL15-C. Declare file-scope objects or functions that do not need external linkage as static
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DCL16-C. Use "L," not "l," to indicate a long value
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DCL17-C. Beware of miscompiled volatile-qualified variables
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DCL18-C. Do not begin integer constants with 0 when specifying a decimal value
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DCL19-C. Minimize the scope of variables and functions
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DCL20-C. Explicitly specify void when a function accepts no arguments
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DCL21-C. Understand the storage of compound literals
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DCL22-C. Use volatile for data that cannot be cached
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DCL23-C. Guarantee that mutually visible identifiers are unique
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ENV01-C. Do not make assumptions about the size of an environment variable
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ENV02-C. Beware of multiple environment variables with the same effective name
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ENV03-C. Sanitize the environment when invoking external programs
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ERR00-C. Adopt and implement a consistent and comprehensive error-handling policy
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ERR01-C. Use ferror() rather than errno to check for FILE stream errors
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ERR02-C. Avoid in-band error indicators
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ERR04-C. Choose an appropriate termination strategy
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ERR05-C. Application-independent code should provide error detection without dictating error handling
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ERR06-C. Understand the termination behavior of assert() and abort()
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ERR07-C. Prefer functions that support error checking over equivalent functions that don't
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EXP00-C. Use parentheses for precedence of operation
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EXP02-C. Be aware of the short-circuit behavior of the logical AND and OR operators
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EXP03-C. Do not assume the size of a structure is the sum of the sizes of its members
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EXP05-C. Do not cast away a const qualification
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EXP07-C. Do not diminish the benefits of constants by assuming their values in expressions
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EXP08-C. Ensure pointer arithmetic is used correctly
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EXP09-C. Use sizeof to determine the size of a type or variable
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EXP10-C. Do not depend on the order of evaluation of subexpressions or the order in which side effects take place
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EXP11-C. Do not make assumptions regarding the layout of structures with bit-fields
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EXP12-C. Do not ignore values returned by functions
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EXP13-C. Treat relational and equality operators as if they were nonassociative
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EXP14-C. Beware of integer promotion when performing bitwise operations on integer types smaller than int
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EXP15-C. Do not place a semicolon on the same line as an if, for, or while statement
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EXP16-C. Do not compare function pointers to constant values
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EXP19-C. Use braces for the body of an if, for, or while statement
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EXP20-C. Perform explicit tests to determine success, true and false, and equality
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FLP00-C. Understand the limitations of floating-point numbers
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FLP01-C. Take care in rearranging floating-point expressions
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FLP02-C. Avoid using floating-point numbers when precise computation is needed
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FLP03-C. Detect and handle floating-point errors
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INT00-C. Understand the data model used by your implementation(s)
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INT01-C. Use size_t or rsize_t for all integer values representing the size of an object
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INT02-C. Understand integer conversion rules
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INT04-C. Enforce limits on integer values originating from tainted sources
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INT05-C. Do not use input functions to convert character data if they cannot handle all possible inputs
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INT07-C. Use only explicitly signed or unsigned char type for numeric values
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INT08-C. Verify that all integer values are in range
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INT09-C. Ensure enumeration constants map to unique values
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INT10-C. Do not assume a positive remainder when using the % operator
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INT12-C. Do not make assumptions about the type of a plain int bit-field when used in an expression
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INT13-C. Use bitwise operators only on unsigned operands
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INT14-C. Avoid performing bitwise and arithmetic operations on the same data
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INT15-C. Use intmax_t or uintmax_t for formatted IO on programmer-defined integer types
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INT16-C. Do not make assumptions about representation of signed integers
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INT17-C. Define integer constants in an implementation-independent manner
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INT18-C. Evaluate integer expressions in a larger size before comparing or assigning to that size
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MEM00-C. Allocate and free memory in the same module, at the same level of abstraction
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MEM01-C. Store a new value in pointers immediately after free()
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MEM02-C. Immediately cast the result of a memory allocation function call into a pointer to the allocated type
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MEM03-C. Clear sensitive information stored in reusable resources
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MEM04-C. Beware of zero-length allocations
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MEM05-C. Avoid large stack allocations
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MEM06-C. Ensure that sensitive data is not written out to disk
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MEM07-C. Ensure that the arguments to calloc(), when multiplied, do not wrap
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MEM10-C. Define and use a pointer validation function
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MEM11-C. Do not assume infinite heap space
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MEM12-C. Consider using a goto chain when leaving a function on error when using and releasing resources
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MSC00-C. Compile cleanly at high warning levels
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MSC01-C. Strive for logical completeness
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MSC04-C. Use comments consistently and in a readable fashion
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MSC05-C. Do not manipulate time_t typed values directly
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MSC06-C. Beware of compiler optimizations
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MSC07-C. Detect and remove dead code
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MSC09-C. Character encoding: Use subset of ASCII for safety
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MSC10-C. Character encoding: UTF8-related issues
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MSC11-C. Incorporate diagnostic tests using assertions
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MSC12-C. Detect and remove code that has no effect or is never executed
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MSC13-C. Detect and remove unused values
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MSC14-C. Do not introduce unnecessary platform dependencies
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MSC15-C. Do not depend on undefined behavior
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MSC17-C. Finish every set of statements associated with a case label with a break statement
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MSC18-C. Be careful while handling sensitive data, such as passwords, in program code

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