Missed warning (-Wuse-after-free)

Missed warning (-Wuse-after-free)

[Alejandro Colomar]

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Hi!

I was preparing an example program of a use-after-realloc bug,
when I found that GCC doesn't warn in a case where it should.


alx@debian:~/tmp$ cat realloc.c
#include <stdint.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <unistd.h>

static inline char *
xstrdup(const char *s)
{
	char  *p;

	p = strdup(s);
	if (p == NULL)
		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
	return p;
}

static inline char *
strnul(const char *s)
{
	return (char *) s + strlen(s);
}

int
main(void)
{
	char  *p, *q;

	p = xstrdup("");
	q = strnul(p);

	if (p == q)
		puts("equal before");
	else
		exit(EXIT_FAILURE); // It's an empty string; this won't happen

	printf("p = %p; q = %p\n", p, q);

	p = realloc(p, UINT16_MAX);
	if (p == NULL)
		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
	puts("realloc()");

	if (p == q) {  // Use after realloc.  I'd expect a warning here.
		puts("equal after");
	} else {
		/* Can we get here?
		   Let's see the options:

			- realloc(3) fails:
				We exit immediately.  We don't arrive here.

			- realloc(3) doesn't move the memory:
				p == q, as before

			- realloc(3) moved the memory:
				p is guaranteed to be a unique pointer,
				and q is now an invalid pointer.  It is
				Undefined Behavior to read `q`, so `p == q`
				is UB.

		   As we see, there's no _defined_ path where this can happen
		 */
		printf("PID = %i\n", (int) getpid());
	}

	printf("p = %p; q = %p\n", p, q);
}
alx@debian:~/tmp$ cc -Wall -Wextra realloc.c -O3 -fanalyzer
realloc.c: In function ‘main’:
realloc.c:67:9: warning: pointer ‘p’ may be used after ‘realloc’ [-Wuse-after-free]
   67 |         printf("p = %p; q = %p\n", p, q);
      |         ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
realloc.c:39:13: note: call to ‘realloc’ here
   39 |         p = realloc(p, UINT16_MAX);
      |             ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
alx@debian:~/tmp$ ./a.out 
equal before
p = 0x55bff80802a0; q = 0x55bff80802a0
realloc()
PID = 25222
p = 0x55bff80806d0; q = 0x55bff80802a0


Did I miss anything?

Cheers,

Alex

-- 
<http://www.alejandro-colomar.es/>
GPG key fingerprint: A9348594CE31283A826FBDD8D57633D441E25BB5

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Re: Missed warning (-Wuse-after-free)

[David Malcolm]

On Thu, 2023-02-16 at 15:35 +0100, Alejandro Colomar via Gcc wrote:
> Hi!
> 
> I was preparing an example program of a use-after-realloc bug,
> when I found that GCC doesn't warn in a case where it should.
> 
> 
> alx@debian:~/tmp$ cat realloc.c
> #include <stdint.h>
> #include <stdlib.h>
> #include <stdio.h>
> #include <string.h>
> #include <unistd.h>
> 
> static inline char *
> xstrdup(const char *s)
> {
>         char  *p;
> 
>         p = strdup(s);
>         if (p == NULL)
>                 exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
>         return p;
> }
> 
> static inline char *
> strnul(const char *s)
> {
>         return (char *) s + strlen(s);
> }
> 
> int
> main(void)
> {
>         char  *p, *q;
> 
>         p = xstrdup("");
>         q = strnul(p);
> 
>         if (p == q)
>                 puts("equal before");
>         else
>                 exit(EXIT_FAILURE); // It's an empty string; this
> won't happen
> 
>         printf("p = %p; q = %p\n", p, q);
> 
>         p = realloc(p, UINT16_MAX);
>         if (p == NULL)
>                 exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
>         puts("realloc()");
> 
>         if (p == q) {  // Use after realloc.  I'd expect a warning
> here.
>                 puts("equal after");
>         } else {
>                 /* Can we get here?
>                    Let's see the options:
> 
>                         - realloc(3) fails:
>                                 We exit immediately.  We don't arrive
> here.
> 
>                         - realloc(3) doesn't move the memory:
>                                 p == q, as before
> 
>                         - realloc(3) moved the memory:
>                                 p is guaranteed to be a unique
> pointer,
>                                 and q is now an invalid pointer.  It
> is
>                                 Undefined Behavior to read `q`, so `p
> == q`
>                                 is UB.
> 
>                    As we see, there's no _defined_ path where this
> can happen
>                  */
>                 printf("PID = %i\n", (int) getpid());
>         }
> 
>         printf("p = %p; q = %p\n", p, q);
> }
> alx@debian:~/tmp$ cc -Wall -Wextra realloc.c -O3 -fanalyzer
> realloc.c: In function ‘main’:
> realloc.c:67:9: warning: pointer ‘p’ may be used after ‘realloc’ [-
> Wuse-after-free]
>    67 |         printf("p = %p; q = %p\n", p, q);
>       |         ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> realloc.c:39:13: note: call to ‘realloc’ here
>    39 |         p = realloc(p, UINT16_MAX);
>       |             ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> alx@debian:~/tmp$ ./a.out 
> equal before
> p = 0x55bff80802a0; q = 0x55bff80802a0
> realloc()
> PID = 25222
> p = 0x55bff80806d0; q = 0x55bff80802a0
> 
> 
> Did I miss anything?

GCC's -fanalyzer will warn if you dereference q, so e.g. adding:
 printf("*q = %i\n", *q);
gives a warning:
  https://godbolt.org/z/6qx4afb3E

<source>: In function 'main':
<source>:65:29: warning: use after 'free' of 'q' [CWE-416] [-Wanalyzer-use-after-free]
   65 |         printf("*q = %i\n", *q);
      |                             ^~
  'main': events 1-2
    |
    |   25 | main(void)
    |      | ^~~~
    |      | |
    |      | (1) entry to 'main'
    |......
    |   29 |         p = xstrdup("");
    |      |             ~~~~~~~~~~~
    |      |             |
    |      |             (2) calling 'xstrdup' from 'main'
    |
    +--> 'xstrdup': events 3-5
           |
           |    8 | xstrdup(const char *s)
           |      | ^~~~~~~
           |      | |
           |      | (3) entry to 'xstrdup'
           |......
           |   13 |         if (p == NULL)
           |      |            ~
           |      |            |
           |      |            (4) following 'false' branch (when 'p' is non-NULL)...
           |   14 |                 exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
           |   15 |         return p;
           |      |                ~
           |      |                |
           |      |                (5) ...to here
           |
    <------+
    |
  'main': events 6-15
    |
    |   29 |         p = xstrdup("");
    |      |             ^~~~~~~~~~~
    |      |             |
    |      |             (6) returning to 'main' from 'xstrdup'
    |......
    |   32 |         if (p == q)
    |      |            ~ 
    |      |            |
    |      |            (7) following 'true' branch (when 'p == q')...
    |   33 |                 puts("equal before");
    |      |                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    |      |                 |
    |      |                 (8) ...to here
    |......
    |   39 |         p = realloc(p, UINT16_MAX);
    |      |             ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    |      |             |
    |      |             (9) freed here
    |      |             (10) when 'realloc' succeeds, moving buffer
    |   40 |         if (p == NULL)
    |      |            ~ 
    |      |            |
    |      |            (11) following 'false' branch (when 'p' is non-NULL)...
    |   41 |                 exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
    |   42 |         puts("realloc()");
    |      |         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    |      |         |
    |      |         (12) ...to here
    |   43 | 
    |   44 |         if (p == q) {  // Use after realloc.  I'd expect a warning here.
    |      |            ~ 
    |      |            |
    |      |            (13) following 'false' branch (when 'p != q')...
    |......
    |   64 |                 printf("PID = %i\n", (int) getpid());
    |      |                                            ~~~~~~~~
    |      |                                            |
    |      |                                            (14) ...to here
    |   65 |         printf("*q = %i\n", *q);
    |      |                             ~~
    |      |                             |
    |      |                             (15) use after 'free' of 'q'; freed at (9)
    |

I'm not convinced that it's useful to the end-user to warn about the
"use of q itself" case.

Dave

Re: Missed warning (-Wuse-after-free)

[Alejandro Colomar]

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[CC: Added those who contributed to the discussion in linux-man@,
     and also the authors of N2861 for C2x]

Hi David,

On 2/16/23 16:15, David Malcolm wrote:
> On Thu, 2023-02-16 at 15:35 +0100, Alejandro Colomar via Gcc wrote:
>> Hi!
>>
>> I was preparing an example program of a use-after-realloc bug,
>> when I found that GCC doesn't warn in a case where it should.
>>
>>
>> alx@debian:~/tmp$ cat realloc.c
>> #include <stdint.h>
>> #include <stdlib.h>
>> #include <stdio.h>
>> #include <string.h>
>> #include <unistd.h>
>>
>> static inline char *
>> xstrdup(const char *s)
>> {
>>         char  *p;
>>
>>         p = strdup(s);
>>         if (p == NULL)
>>                 exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
>>         return p;
>> }
>>
>> static inline char *
>> strnul(const char *s)
>> {
>>         return (char *) s + strlen(s);
>> }
>>
>> int
>> main(void)
>> {
>>         char  *p, *q;
>>
>>         p = xstrdup("");
>>         q = strnul(p);
>>
>>         if (p == q)
>>                 puts("equal before");
>>         else
>>                 exit(EXIT_FAILURE); // It's an empty string; this
>> won't happen
>>
>>         printf("p = %p; q = %p\n", p, q);
>>
>>         p = realloc(p, UINT16_MAX);
>>         if (p == NULL)
>>                 exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
>>         puts("realloc()");
>>
>>         if (p == q) {  // Use after realloc.  I'd expect a warning
>> here.
>>                 puts("equal after");
>>         } else {
>>                 /* Can we get here?
>>                    Let's see the options:
>>
>>                         - realloc(3) fails:
>>                                 We exit immediately.  We don't arrive
>> here.
>>
>>                         - realloc(3) doesn't move the memory:
>>                                 p == q, as before
>>
>>                         - realloc(3) moved the memory:
>>                                 p is guaranteed to be a unique
>> pointer,
>>                                 and q is now an invalid pointer.  It
>> is
>>                                 Undefined Behavior to read `q`, so `p
>> == q`
>>                                 is UB.
>>
>>                    As we see, there's no _defined_ path where this
>> can happen
>>                  */
>>                 printf("PID = %i\n", (int) getpid());
>>         }
>>
>>         printf("p = %p; q = %p\n", p, q);
>> }
>> alx@debian:~/tmp$ cc -Wall -Wextra realloc.c -O3 -fanalyzer
>> realloc.c: In function ‘main’:
>> realloc.c:67:9: warning: pointer ‘p’ may be used after ‘realloc’ [-
>> Wuse-after-free]
>>    67 |         printf("p = %p; q = %p\n", p, q);
>>       |         ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>> realloc.c:39:13: note: call to ‘realloc’ here
>>    39 |         p = realloc(p, UINT16_MAX);
>>       |             ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>> alx@debian:~/tmp$ ./a.out 
>> equal before
>> p = 0x55bff80802a0; q = 0x55bff80802a0
>> realloc()
>> PID = 25222
>> p = 0x55bff80806d0; q = 0x55bff80802a0
>>
>>
>> Did I miss anything?
> 
> GCC's -fanalyzer will warn if you dereference q, so e.g. adding:
>  printf("*q = %i\n", *q);
> gives a warning:
>   https://godbolt.org/z/6qx4afb3E
> 
> <source>: In function 'main':
> <source>:65:29: warning: use after 'free' of 'q' [CWE-416] [-Wanalyzer-use-after-free]
>    65 |         printf("*q = %i\n", *q);
>       |                             ^~

[...]

> 
> I'm not convinced that it's useful to the end-user to warn about the
> "use of q itself" case.

I didn't quote the standard because I couldn't find it.  I was searching in C11,
and it seems that it was only implicitly Undefined Behavior, without explicit
spelling (the value of the pointer was indeterminate, according to C11).
Now C23 will better clarify that reading such a pointer value (not even
dereferencing) is Undefined Behavior.

There was a discussion in linux-man@ some years ago, which now I realize it
didn't end up being applied (I thought we had applied a patch, but it seems we
didn't).  I'll check if we still need such a patch (and I guess we do, since
we're having this conversation).

Using the pointer is _wrong_.  And by wrong, I mean that it's Undefined Behavior.
I think that alone is enough to issue a warning.  Especially, since the compiler
already has that information; otherwise, it couldn't have warned about line 67
of my example program.  I could understand if due to optimizations the compiler
lost that information, so it couldn't warn, but in this case, there's no excuse.

The benefit for users?  They'll realize that the code they wrote is bad.  Not even
suspicious, as some warnings warn about suspicious code.  This case is
uncontroversially wrong.  That code has no valid reason to be written that way,
under ISO C.

Cheers,

Alex

> 
> Dave

-- 
<http://www.alejandro-colomar.es/>
GPG key fingerprint: A9348594CE31283A826FBDD8D57633D441E25BB5

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Re: Missed warning (-Wuse-after-free)

[Alejandro Colomar]

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On 2/17/23 02:04, Alejandro Colomar wrote:
> [CC: Added those who contributed to the discussion in linux-man@,
>      and also the authors of N2861 for C2x]

[...]

> 
> There was a discussion in linux-man@ some years ago, which now I realize it
> didn't end up being applied (I thought we had applied a patch, but it seems we
> didn't).  I'll check if we still need such a patch (and I guess we do, since
> we're having this conversation).

I forgot to link:
<https://lore.kernel.org/linux-man/87lf4im6sf.fsf@oldenburg.str.redhat.com/T/>

-- 
<http://www.alejandro-colomar.es/>
GPG key fingerprint: A9348594CE31283A826FBDD8D57633D441E25BB5

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Re: Missed warning (-Wuse-after-free)

[Sam James]

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> On 17 Feb 2023, at 01:05, Alejandro Colomar via Gcc <gcc@gcc.gnu.org> wrote:
> 
> On 2/17/23 02:04, Alejandro Colomar wrote:
>> [CC: Added those who contributed to the discussion in linux-man@,
>>     and also the authors of N2861 for C2x]
> 
> [...]
> 
>> 
>> There was a discussion in linux-man@ some years ago, which now I realize it
>> didn't end up being applied (I thought we had applied a patch, but it seems we
>> didn't).  I'll check if we still need such a patch (and I guess we do, since
>> we're having this conversation).
> 
> I forgot to link:
> <https://lore.kernel.org/linux-man/87lf4im6sf.fsf@oldenburg.str.redhat.com/T/>
> 

See also https://siddhesh.in/posts/that-is-not-a-number-that-is-a-freed-object.html.

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Re: Missed warning (-Wuse-after-free)

[Martin Uecker]

Am Freitag, dem 17.02.2023 um 02:04 +0100 schrieb Alejandro Colomar


> 
> [...]
> 
> > 
> > I'm not convinced that it's useful to the end-user to warn about
> > the
> > "use of q itself" case.
> 
> I didn't quote the standard because I couldn't find it.  I was
> searching in C11,
> and it seems that it was only implicitly Undefined Behavior, without
> explicit
> spelling (the value of the pointer was indeterminate, according to
> C11).

The value becomes indeterminate according to 6.2.4p2 in C11.
An indeterminate value may be a trap representation 3.19.2
If such a trap representation is read (the pointer, not
just the pointed-to object), the behavior is undefined
according to 6.2.6.1p5. So it is explitely UB and was
already in C99 or even before.


> Now C23 will better clarify that reading such a pointer value (not
> ever dereferencing) is Undefined Behavior.

We did not change this for C23.

Only the terminology regarding trap representation
(now: non-value representation) and indeterminate
values (now: indeterminate representation) was revised.


There are proposal to define bevahior for such
pointers, but I think this would be a mistake.
(although somehow I ended up being a co-author 
of this paper),

The reason is that every use of such a pointer 
risks running into sublte issues related to pointer 
provenance.

So in my opinion it would be very useful to warn about
all uses of invalid pointers, because fixing this is
much easier than understanding and fixing provenance
issues which might arise from incorrect use of such
pointers.


Martin



> There was a discussion in linux-man@ some years ago, which now I
> realize it
> didn't end up being applied (I thought we had applied a patch, but it
> seems we
> didn't).  I'll check if we still need such a patch (and I guess we
> do, since
> we're having this conversation).
> 
> Using the pointer is _wrong_.  And by wrong, I mean that it's
> Undefined Behavior.
> I think that alone is enough to issue a warning.  Especially, since
> the compiler
> already has that information; otherwise, it couldn't have warned
> about line 67
> of my example program.  I could understand if due to optimizations
> the compiler
> lost that information, so it couldn't warn, but in this case, there's
> no excuse.
> 
> The benefit for users?  They'll realize that the code they wrote is
> bad.  Not even
> suspicious, as some warnings warn about suspicious code.  This case
> is
> uncontroversially wrong.  That code has no valid reason to be written
> that way,
> under ISO C.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Alex
> 
> > 
> > Dave
> 
> -- 
> <http://www.alejandro-colomar.es/>
> GPG key fingerprint: A9348594CE31283A826FBDD8D57633D441E25BB5

Re: Missed warning (-Wuse-after-free)

[Alejandro Colomar]

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Hi Martin,

On 2/17/23 09:12, Martin Uecker wrote:
> Am Freitag, dem 17.02.2023 um 02:04 +0100 schrieb Alejandro Colomar
> 
> 
>>
>> [...]
>>
>>>
>>> I'm not convinced that it's useful to the end-user to warn about
>>> the
>>> "use of q itself" case.
>>
>> I didn't quote the standard because I couldn't find it.  I was
>> searching in C11,
>> and it seems that it was only implicitly Undefined Behavior, without
>> explicit
>> spelling (the value of the pointer was indeterminate, according to
>> C11).
> 
> The value becomes indeterminate according to 6.2.4p2 in C11.
> An indeterminate value may be a trap representation 3.19.2
> If such a trap representation is read (the pointer, not
> just the pointed-to object), the behavior is undefined
> according to 6.2.6.1p5. So it is explitely UB and was
> already in C99 or even before.

What if the comparison is performed as uintptr_t?
You wouldn't have trap representations, would you?
Or we could even go to memcmp(3) to compare as char,
if paranoic enough :)

> 
> 
>> Now C23 will better clarify that reading such a pointer value (not
>> ever dereferencing) is Undefined Behavior.
> 
> We did not change this for C23.

C11:

The value of a pointer becomes indeterminate when
the object it points to (or just past)
reaches the end of its lifetime.
<https://port70.net/%7Ensz/c/c11/n1570.html#6.2.4p2>

C2x (N3054 is the latest I know):

If a pointer value is used in an evaluation after
the object the pointer points to (or just past)
reaches the end of its lifetime,
the behavior is undefined.
<https://www.open-std.org/JTC1/SC22/WG14/www/docs/n3054.pdf#subsection.6.2.4>


This new wording doesn't even allow one to use memcmp(3);
just reading the pointer value, however you do it, is UB.


> 
> Only the terminology regarding trap representation
> (now: non-value representation) and indeterminate
> values (now: indeterminate representation) was revised.
> 
> 
> There are proposal to define bevahior for such
> pointers, but I think this would be a mistake.
> (although somehow I ended up being a co-author 
> of this paper),
> 
> The reason is that every use of such a pointer 
> risks running into sublte issues related to pointer 
> provenance.
> 
> So in my opinion it would be very useful to warn about
> all uses of invalid pointers, because fixing this is
> much easier than understanding and fixing provenance
> issues which might arise from incorrect use of such
> pointers.

Agree; making this defined behavior doesn't seem a good idea.

Cheers,

Alex

> 
> 
> Martin

-- 
<http://www.alejandro-colomar.es/>
GPG key fingerprint: A9348594CE31283A826FBDD8D57633D441E25BB5

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Re: Missed warning (-Wuse-after-free)

[Andreas Schwab]

On Feb 17 2023, Alejandro Colomar via Gcc wrote:

> C2x (N3054 is the latest I know):
>
> If a pointer value is used in an evaluation after
> the object the pointer points to (or just past)
> reaches the end of its lifetime,
> the behavior is undefined.
> <https://www.open-std.org/JTC1/SC22/WG14/www/docs/n3054.pdf#subsection.6.2.4>
>
>
> This new wording doesn't even allow one to use memcmp(3);
> just reading the pointer value, however you do it, is UB.

But memcmp does not read the value, it reads the object representation,
and reading the representation is never UB.

-- 
Andreas Schwab, schwab@linux-m68k.org
GPG Key fingerprint = 7578 EB47 D4E5 4D69 2510  2552 DF73 E780 A9DA AEC1
"And now for something completely different."

Re: Missed warning (-Wuse-after-free)

[Martin Uecker]

Am Freitag, dem 17.02.2023 um 12:35 +0100 schrieb Alejandro Colomar:
> Hi Martin,
> 
> On 2/17/23 09:12, Martin Uecker wrote:
> > Am Freitag, dem 17.02.2023 um 02:04 +0100 schrieb Alejandro Colomar
> > 
> > 
> > > 
> > > [...]
> > > 
> > > > 
> > > > I'm not convinced that it's useful to the end-user to warn about
> > > > the
> > > > "use of q itself" case.
> > > 
> > > I didn't quote the standard because I couldn't find it.  I was
> > > searching in C11,
> > > and it seems that it was only implicitly Undefined Behavior, without
> > > explicit
> > > spelling (the value of the pointer was indeterminate, according to
> > > C11).
> > 
> > The value becomes indeterminate according to 6.2.4p2 in C11.
> > An indeterminate value may be a trap representation 3.19.2
> > If such a trap representation is read (the pointer, not
> > just the pointed-to object), the behavior is undefined
> > according to 6.2.6.1p5. So it is explitely UB and was
> > already in C99 or even before.
> 
> What if the comparison is performed as uintptr_t?

According to the standard, it is allowed to convert a valid
pointer to uintptr_t and then compare it after the object
is freed.  Unfortunately, many compilers will miscompile
such comparisons.  This does not only affect C/C++ but
also happens in "safe" Rust:
https://godbolt.org/z/e53b5a53q

But conversion to uintptr_t after the object is freed
is undefined behavior.


> You wouldn't have trap representations, would you?
> Or we could even go to memcmp(3) to compare as char,
> if paranoic enough :)

We renamed "trap representations" to 
"non-value representation" in C2X because people tend
to misunderstand this term.  It does not necessarily
imply a trap. It simply means that the object
representation does not correspond to a valid value
of the type.

A pointer that is not NULL but also does not
point to an object would have a trap representation
(now: "non-value representation").

A boolean that stores a representation that does
not correspond to true or false is also a non-value 
representation.  In such cases already a load 
(lvalue conversion) of such a value causes
undefined behavior.

Existing (correct) compiler optimizations can break
code which does comparisons of pointers to dead
objects.  So it is not really safe to use such
pointers even if the architecture does not trap
on load of such pointers.

For pointers, there is also the subtle issue that the
representation might be the same in memory as a new
valid pointer to a new object, but it is still
considered a trap representation due to provenance.

> > 
> > 
> > > Now C23 will better clarify that reading such a pointer value (not
> > > ever dereferencing) is Undefined Behavior.
> > 
> > We did not change this for C23.
> 
> C11:
> 
> The value of a pointer becomes indeterminate when
> the object it points to (or just past)
> reaches the end of its lifetime.
> <https://port70.net/%7Ensz/c/c11/n1570.html#6.2.4p2>
> 
> C2x (N3054 is the latest I know):
> 
> If a pointer value is used in an evaluation after
> the object the pointer points to (or just past)
> reaches the end of its lifetime,
> the behavior is undefined.
> <https://www.open-std.org/JTC1/SC22/WG14/www/docs/n3054.pdf#subsection.6.2.4>
> 
> 
> This new wording doesn't even allow one to use memcmp(3);
> just reading the pointer value, however you do it, is UB.

memcmp would not use the pointer value but work
on the representation bytes and is still allowed.


Martin


> > 
> > Only the terminology regarding trap representation
> > (now: non-value representation) and indeterminate
> > values (now: indeterminate representation) was revised.
> > 
> > 
> > There are proposal to define bevahior for such
> > pointers, but I think this would be a mistake.
> > (although somehow I ended up being a co-author 
> > of this paper),
> > 
> > The reason is that every use of such a pointer 
> > risks running into sublte issues related to pointer 
> > provenance.
> > 
> > So in my opinion it would be very useful to warn about
> > all uses of invalid pointers, because fixing this is
> > much easier than understanding and fixing provenance
> > issues which might arise from incorrect use of such
> > pointers.
> 
> Agree; making this defined behavior doesn't seem a good idea.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Alex
> 
> > 
> > 
> > Martin
> 

Re: Missed warning (-Wuse-after-free)

[Alex Colomar]

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Hi Martin,

On 2/17/23 14:48, Martin Uecker wrote:
>> This new wording doesn't even allow one to use memcmp(3);
>> just reading the pointer value, however you do it, is UB.
> 
> memcmp would not use the pointer value but work
> on the representation bytes and is still allowed.

Hmm, interesting.  It's rather unspecified behavior.  Still 
unpredictable: (memcmp(&p, &p, sizeof(p) == 0) might evaluate to true or 
false randomly; the compiler may compile out the call to memcmp(3), 
since it knows it won't produce any observable behavior.

<https://software.codidact.com/posts/287905>

Cheers!

Alex

-- 
<http://www.alejandro-colomar.es/>
GPG key fingerprint: A9348594CE31283A826FBDD8D57633D441E25BB5


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Re: Missed warning (-Wuse-after-free)

[Martin Uecker]

Am Donnerstag, dem 23.02.2023 um 20:23 +0100 schrieb Alex Colomar:
> Hi Martin,
> 
> On 2/17/23 14:48, Martin Uecker wrote:
> > > This new wording doesn't even allow one to use memcmp(3);
> > > just reading the pointer value, however you do it, is UB.
> > 
> > memcmp would not use the pointer value but work
> > on the representation bytes and is still allowed.
> 
> Hmm, interesting.  It's rather unspecified behavior. Still 
> unpredictable: (memcmp(&p, &p, sizeof(p) == 0) might evaluate to true or 
> false randomly; the compiler may compile out the call to memcmp(3), 
> since it knows it won't produce any observable behavior.
> 
> <https://software.codidact.com/posts/287905>

No, I think several things get mixed up here.

The representation of a pointer that becomes invalid
does not change.  

So (0 === memcmp(&p, &p, sizeof(p)) always
evaluates to true.

Also in general, an unspecified value is simply unspecified
but does not change anymore.

Reading an uninitialized value of automatic storage whose
address was not taken is undefined behavior, so everything
is possible afterwards.

An uninitialized variable whose address was taken has a
representation which can represent an unspecified value
or a no-value (trap) representation. Reading the 
representation itself is always ok and gives consistent
results. Reading the variable can be undefined behavior
iff it is a trap representation, otherwise you get
the unspecified value which is stored there.

At least this is my reading of the C standard. Compilers
are not full conformant.


Martin

Re: Missed warning (-Wuse-after-free)

[Alex Colomar]

[-- Attachment #1.1: Type: text/plain, Size: 2380 bytes --]

Hi Martin,

On 2/23/23 20:57, Martin Uecker wrote:
> Am Donnerstag, dem 23.02.2023 um 20:23 +0100 schrieb Alex Colomar:
>> Hi Martin,
>>
>> On 2/17/23 14:48, Martin Uecker wrote:
>>>> This new wording doesn't even allow one to use memcmp(3);
>>>> just reading the pointer value, however you do it, is UB.
>>>
>>> memcmp would not use the pointer value but work
>>> on the representation bytes and is still allowed.
>>
>> Hmm, interesting.  It's rather unspecified behavior. Still
>> unpredictable: (memcmp(&p, &p, sizeof(p) == 0) might evaluate to true or
>> false randomly; the compiler may compile out the call to memcmp(3),
>> since it knows it won't produce any observable behavior.
>>
>> <https://software.codidact.com/posts/287905>
> 
> No, I think several things get mixed up here.
> 
> The representation of a pointer that becomes invalid
> does not change.
> 
> So (0 === memcmp(&p, &p, sizeof(p)) always
> evaluates to true.
> 
> Also in general, an unspecified value is simply unspecified
> but does not change anymore.
> 
> Reading an uninitialized value of automatic storage whose
> address was not taken is undefined behavior, so everything
> is possible afterwards.
> 
> An uninitialized variable whose address was taken has a
> representation which can represent an unspecified value
> or a no-value (trap) representation. Reading the
> representation itself is always ok and gives consistent
> results. Reading the variable can be undefined behavior
> iff it is a trap representation, otherwise you get
> the unspecified value which is stored there.
> 
> At least this is my reading of the C standard. Compilers
> are not full conformant.

Does all this imply that the following is well defined behavior (and 
shall print what one would expect)?

   free(p);

   (void) &p;  // take the address
   // or maybe we should (void) memcmp(&p, &p, sizeof(p)); ?

   printf("%p\n", p);  // we took previously its address,
                       // so now it has to hold consistently
                       // the previous value


This feels weird.  And a bit of a Schroedinger's pointer.  I'm not 
entirely convinced, but might be.

Cheers,

Alex

> 
> 
> Martin
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 

-- 
<http://www.alejandro-colomar.es/>
GPG key fingerprint: A9348594CE31283A826FBDD8D57633D441E25BB5


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Re: Missed warning (-Wuse-after-free)

[Serge E. Hallyn]

On Fri, Feb 24, 2023 at 01:02:54AM +0100, Alex Colomar wrote:
> Hi Martin,
> 
> On 2/23/23 20:57, Martin Uecker wrote:
> > Am Donnerstag, dem 23.02.2023 um 20:23 +0100 schrieb Alex Colomar:
> > > Hi Martin,
> > > 
> > > On 2/17/23 14:48, Martin Uecker wrote:
> > > > > This new wording doesn't even allow one to use memcmp(3);
> > > > > just reading the pointer value, however you do it, is UB.
> > > > 
> > > > memcmp would not use the pointer value but work
> > > > on the representation bytes and is still allowed.
> > > 
> > > Hmm, interesting.  It's rather unspecified behavior. Still
> > > unpredictable: (memcmp(&p, &p, sizeof(p) == 0) might evaluate to true or
> > > false randomly; the compiler may compile out the call to memcmp(3),
> > > since it knows it won't produce any observable behavior.
> > > 
> > > <https://software.codidact.com/posts/287905>
> > 
> > No, I think several things get mixed up here.
> > 
> > The representation of a pointer that becomes invalid
> > does not change.
> > 
> > So (0 === memcmp(&p, &p, sizeof(p)) always
> > evaluates to true.
> > 
> > Also in general, an unspecified value is simply unspecified
> > but does not change anymore.

Right.  p is its own thing - n bytes on the stack containing some value.
Once it comes into scope, it doesn't change on its own.  And if I do
free(p) or o = realloc(p), then the value of p itself - the n bytes on
the stack - does not change.

I realize C11 appears to have changed that.  I fear that in doing so it
actually risks increasing the confusion about pointers.  IMO it's much
easier to reason about

	o = realloc(p, X);

(and more baroque constructions) when keeping in mind that o, p, and the
object pointed to by either one are all different things.

> > Reading an uninitialized value of automatic storage whose
> > address was not taken is undefined behavior, so everything
> > is possible afterwards.
> > 
> > An uninitialized variable whose address was taken has a
> > representation which can represent an unspecified value
> > or a no-value (trap) representation. Reading the
> > representation itself is always ok and gives consistent
> > results. Reading the variable can be undefined behavior
> > iff it is a trap representation, otherwise you get
> > the unspecified value which is stored there.
> > 
> > At least this is my reading of the C standard. Compilers
> > are not full conformant.
> 
> Does all this imply that the following is well defined behavior (and shall
> print what one would expect)?
> 
>   free(p);
> 
>   (void) &p;  // take the address
>   // or maybe we should (void) memcmp(&p, &p, sizeof(p)); ?
> 
>   printf("%p\n", p);  // we took previously its address,
>                       // so now it has to hold consistently
>                       // the previous value
> 
> 
> This feels weird.  And a bit of a Schroedinger's pointer.  I'm not entirely
> convinced, but might be.

Again, p is just an n byte variable which happens to have (one hopes)
pointed at a previously malloc'd address.

And I'd argue that pre-C11, this was not confusing, and would not have
felt weird to you.

But I am most grateful to you for having brought this to my attention.
I may not agree with it and not like it, but it's right there in the
spec, so time for me to adjust :)

-serge

Re: Missed warning (-Wuse-after-free)

[Alex Colomar]

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Hi Serge, Martin,

On 2/24/23 02:21, Serge E. Hallyn wrote:
>> Does all this imply that the following is well defined behavior (and shall
>> print what one would expect)?
>>
>>    free(p);
>>
>>    (void) &p;  // take the address
>>    // or maybe we should (void) memcmp(&p, &p, sizeof(p)); ?
>>
>>    printf("%p\n", p);  // we took previously its address,
>>                        // so now it has to hold consistently
>>                        // the previous value
>>
>>
>> This feels weird.  And a bit of a Schroedinger's pointer.  I'm not entirely
>> convinced, but might be.
> 
> Again, p is just an n byte variable which happens to have (one hopes)
> pointed at a previously malloc'd address.
> 
> And I'd argue that pre-C11, this was not confusing, and would not have
> felt weird to you.
> 
> But I am most grateful to you for having brought this to my attention.
> I may not agree with it and not like it, but it's right there in the
> spec, so time for me to adjust :)

I'll try to show why this feels weird to me (even in C89):


alx@dell7760:~/tmp$ cat pointers.c
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>


int
main(void)
{
	char  *p, *q;

	p = malloc(42);
	if (p == NULL)
		exit(1);

	q = realloc(p, 42);
	if (q == NULL)
		exit(1);

	(void) &p;  // If we remove this, we get -Wuse-after-free

	printf("(%p == %p) = %i\n", p, q, (p == q));
}
alx@dell7760:~/tmp$ cc -Wall -Wextra pointers.c  -Wuse-after-free=3
alx@dell7760:~/tmp$ ./a.out
(0x5642cd9022a0 == 0x5642cd9022a0) = 1


This pointers point to different objects (actually, one of them doesn't 
even point to an object anymore), so they can't compare equal, according 
to both:

<http://port70.net/%7Ensz/c/c11/n1570.html#6.5.9p6>

<http://port70.net/~nsz/c/c89/c89-draft.html#3.3.9>

(I believe C89 already had the concept of lifetime well defined as it is 
now, so the object had finished it's lifetime after realloc(3)).

How can we justify that true, if the pointer don't point to the same 
object?  And how can we justify a hypothetical false (which compilers 
don't implement), if compilers will really just read the value?  To 
implement this as well defined behavior, it could result in no other 
than false, and it would require heavy overhead for the compilers to 
detect that the seemingly-equal values are indeed different, don't you 
think?  The easiest solution is for the standard to just declare this 
outlaw, IMO.

Maybe it could do an exception for printing, that is, reading a pointer 
is not a problem in itself, a long as you don't compare it, but I'm not 
such an expert about this.

Cheers,

Alex

> 
> -serge

-- 
<http://www.alejandro-colomar.es/>
GPG key fingerprint: A9348594CE31283A826FBDD8D57633D441E25BB5


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Re: Missed warning (-Wuse-after-free)

[Peter Lafreniere]

If I may add my thoughts here,

On Thursday, February 23rd, 2023 at 20:42, Alex Colomar wrote:
> I'll try to show why this feels weird to me (even in C89):
>
>
> alx@dell7760:~/tmp$ cat pointers.c
> #include <stdio.h>
>
> #include <stdlib.h>
>
>
>
> int
> main(void)
> {
> char *p, *q;
>
> p = malloc(42);
> if (p == NULL)
> exit(1);
>
> q = realloc(p, 42);
> if (q == NULL)
> exit(1);
>
> (void) &p; // If we remove this, we get -Wuse-after-free
>
> printf("(%p == %p) = %i\n", p, q, (p == q));
> }
> alx@dell7760:~/tmp$ cc -Wall -Wextra pointers.c -Wuse-after-free=3
> alx@dell7760:~/tmp$ ./a.out
> (0x5642cd9022a0 == 0x5642cd9022a0) = 1
>
>
> This pointers point to different objects (actually, one of them doesn't
> even point to an object anymore), so they can't compare equal, according
> to both:

In this case p and q both _do_ point to the same object, which is valid.
As per [https://port70.net/~nsz/c/c11/n1570.html#3.15], if the pointers both
refer to the same storage region *[1] then they, by definition, refer to the
same object and so should compare as true.

This equality is entirely up to the implementation of your libc's realloc and
cannot be depended upon, so the warning is absolutely warranted *[2]. I don't
believe that it's correct for gcc to do more based off of external
implementation-defined behavior.

*[1]: Which may or may not need to be sized. I'm not an expert at reading specs,
and besides, in this case the pointer is of the same type and value. This point
seems more related to aliasing rules than lifetimes.

*[2]: There are, however, genuine cases where the reuse could be valid. Namely
that if q is null, then p is guaranteed to still point to a valid allocation.
Fortunately, I can't get gcc to trigger a false warning in this case.

>
> http://port70.net/~nsz/c/c11/n1570.html#6.5.9p6
>
>
> http://port70.net/~nsz/c/c89/c89-draft.html#3.3.9

Just to be transparent, I'm working exclusively off of the first link.
Also, this is just a passing interpretation of the c11 spec.

>
>
> (I believe C89 already had the concept of lifetime well defined as it is
> now, so the object had finished it's lifetime after realloc(3)).
>
> How can we justify that true, if the pointer don't point to the same
> object? And how can we justify a hypothetical false (which compilers
> don't implement), if compilers will really just read the value? To
> implement this as well defined behavior, it could result in no other
> than false, and it would require heavy overhead for the compilers to
> detect that the seemingly-equal values are indeed different, don't you
> think? The easiest solution is for the standard to just declare this
> outlaw, IMO.

Again, this is an issue with defining an object.

> Maybe it could do an exception for printing, that is, reading a pointer
> is not a problem in itself, a long as you don't compare it, but I'm not
> such an expert about this.

One last thought: with the above strict interpretation of the c standard,
it would become nigh on impossible to implement the malloc(3) family of
functions in c themselves. I vote for the "shared storage" interpretation
of the c11 standard that is actually implemented rather than this abstract
liveness oriented interpretation.

--

Cheers,
Peter Lafreniere <n8pjl.ca>

"Who malloc()'s for malloc()?" - Myself, 2023-02-24

Re: Missed warning (-Wuse-after-free)

[Martin Uecker]

Am Freitag, dem 24.02.2023 um 03:01 +0000 schrieb Peter Lafreniere:

...
> 
> > Maybe it could do an exception for printing, that is, reading a pointer
> > is not a problem in itself, a long as you don't compare it, but I'm not
> > such an expert about this.
> 
> One last thought: with the above strict interpretation of the c standard,
> it would become nigh on impossible to implement the malloc(3) family of
> functions in c themselves. I vote for the "shared storage" interpretation
> of the c11 standard that is actually implemented rather than this abstract
> liveness oriented interpretation.

This is a bit of a misunderstanding about what "undefined behavior" means
in ISO C. It simply means that ISO C does not specify the behavior.  This
does not mean it is illegal to do something which has undefined behavior.

Instead, it means you can not rely on the ISO C standard for portable
behavior.  So if you implement "malloc" in C itself you will probably
rely on "undefined behavior", but this is perfectly fine.  The C standard
specifies behavior of "malloc", but does not care how it is implemented.


Martin

Re: Missed warning (-Wuse-after-free)

[Martin Uecker]

Am Freitag, dem 24.02.2023 um 02:42 +0100 schrieb Alex Colomar:
> Hi Serge, Martin,
> 
> On 2/24/23 02:21, Serge E. Hallyn wrote:
> > > Does all this imply that the following is well defined behavior (and shall
> > > print what one would expect)?
> > > 
> > >    free(p);
> > > 
> > >    (void) &p;  // take the address
> > >    // or maybe we should (void) memcmp(&p, &p, sizeof(p)); ?
> > > 
> > >    printf("%p\n", p);  // we took previously its address,
> > >                        // so now it has to hold consistently
> > >                        // the previous value
> > > 
> > > 
> > > This feels weird.  And a bit of a Schroedinger's pointer.  I'm not entirely
> > > convinced, but might be.
> > 
> > Again, p is just an n byte variable which happens to have (one hopes)
> > pointed at a previously malloc'd address.
> > 
> > And I'd argue that pre-C11, this was not confusing, and would not have
> > felt weird to you.
> > 
> > But I am most grateful to you for having brought this to my attention.
> > I may not agree with it and not like it, but it's right there in the
> > spec, so time for me to adjust :)
> 
> I'll try to show why this feels weird to me (even in C89):
> 
> 
> alx@dell7760:~/tmp$ cat pointers.c
> #include <stdio.h>
> #include <stdlib.h>
> 
> 
> int
> main(void)
> {
> 	char  *p, *q;
> 
> 	p = malloc(42);
> 	if (p == NULL)
> 		exit(1);
> 
> 	q = realloc(p, 42);
> 	if (q == NULL)
> 		exit(1);
> 
> 	(void) &p;  // If we remove this, we get -Wuse-after-free
> 
> 	printf("(%p == %p) = %i\n", p, q, (p == q));
> }
> alx@dell7760:~/tmp$ cc -Wall -Wextra pointers.c  -Wuse-after-free=3
> alx@dell7760:~/tmp$ ./a.out
> (0x5642cd9022a0 == 0x5642cd9022a0) = 1
> 

No, you can't do the comparison or use the value of 'p'
because 'p' is not a valid pointer. (The address taken
makes no difference here, but it may confuse the
compiler so that it does not warn.)

> 
> This pointers point to different objects (actually, one of them doesn't 
> even point to an object anymore), so they can't compare equal, according 
> to both:
> 
> <http://port70.net/%7Ensz/c/c11/n1570.html#6.5.9p6>
> 
> <http://port70.net/~nsz/c/c89/c89-draft.html#3.3.9>
> 
> (I believe C89 already had the concept of lifetime well defined as it is 
> now, so the object had finished it's lifetime after realloc(3)).
> 
> How can we justify that true, if the pointer don't point to the same 
> object?  And how can we justify a hypothetical false (which compilers 
> don't implement), if compilers will really just read the value?  To 
> implement this as well defined behavior, it could result in no other 
> than false, and it would require heavy overhead for the compilers to 
> detect that the seemingly-equal values are indeed different, don't you 
> think?  The easiest solution is for the standard to just declare this 
> outlaw, IMO.

This is undefined behavior, so the comparison can return false
or true or crash or whatever.  

Martin

> 
> Maybe it could do an exception for printing, that is, reading a pointer 
> is not a problem in itself, a long as you don't compare it, but I'm not 
> such an expert about this.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Alex
> 
> > 
> > -serge
> 
> -- 
> <http://www.alejandro-colomar.es/>
> GPG key fingerprint: A9348594CE31283A826FBDD8D57633D441E25BB5
> 

Re: Missed warning (-Wuse-after-free)

[Serge E. Hallyn]

On Fri, Feb 24, 2023 at 02:42:32AM +0100, Alex Colomar wrote:
> Hi Serge, Martin,
> 
> On 2/24/23 02:21, Serge E. Hallyn wrote:
> > > Does all this imply that the following is well defined behavior (and shall
> > > print what one would expect)?
> > > 
> > >    free(p);
> > > 
> > >    (void) &p;  // take the address
> > >    // or maybe we should (void) memcmp(&p, &p, sizeof(p)); ?
> > > 
> > >    printf("%p\n", p);  // we took previously its address,
> > >                        // so now it has to hold consistently
> > >                        // the previous value
> > > 
> > > 
> > > This feels weird.  And a bit of a Schroedinger's pointer.  I'm not entirely
> > > convinced, but might be.
> > 
> > Again, p is just an n byte variable which happens to have (one hopes)
> > pointed at a previously malloc'd address.
> > 
> > And I'd argue that pre-C11, this was not confusing, and would not have
> > felt weird to you.
> > 
> > But I am most grateful to you for having brought this to my attention.
> > I may not agree with it and not like it, but it's right there in the
> > spec, so time for me to adjust :)
> 
> I'll try to show why this feels weird to me (even in C89):
> 
> 
> alx@dell7760:~/tmp$ cat pointers.c
> #include <stdio.h>
> #include <stdlib.h>
> 
> 
> int
> main(void)
> {
> 	char  *p, *q;
> 
> 	p = malloc(42);
> 	if (p == NULL)
> 		exit(1);
> 
> 	q = realloc(p, 42);
> 	if (q == NULL)
> 		exit(1);
> 
> 	(void) &p;  // If we remove this, we get -Wuse-after-free

(which I would argue is a bug in the compiler)

> 	printf("(%p == %p) = %i\n", p, q, (p == q));
> }
> alx@dell7760:~/tmp$ cc -Wall -Wextra pointers.c  -Wuse-after-free=3
> alx@dell7760:~/tmp$ ./a.out
> (0x5642cd9022a0 == 0x5642cd9022a0) = 1
> 
> 
> This pointers point to different objects (actually, one of them doesn't even
> point to an object anymore), so they can't compare equal, according to both:
> 
> <http://port70.net/%7Ensz/c/c11/n1570.html#6.5.9p6>
> 
> <http://port70.net/~nsz/c/c89/c89-draft.html#3.3.9>
> 
> (I believe C89 already had the concept of lifetime well defined as it is
> now, so the object had finished it's lifetime after realloc(3)).
> 
> How can we justify that true, if the pointer don't point to the same object?

Because what's pointed to does not matter.

You are comparing the memory address p, not the contents of the memory address.

By way of analogy, if I do

   mkdir -p /tmp/1/a
   ln -s /tmp/1 /tmp/2
   rm -rf /tmp/1

then /tmp/2 is still a symlink.  'stat /tmp/2' still works and is well
defined.  And if I create a new /tmp/1, then /tmp/2 starts pointing to
that.  Yes, re-useing p like that is a very bad idea, in many cases :)

> And how can we justify a hypothetical false (which compilers don't
> implement), if compilers will really just read the value?  To implement this
> as well defined behavior, it could result in no other than false, and it
> would require heavy overhead for the compilers to detect that the
> seemingly-equal values are indeed different, don't you think?  The easiest
> solution is for the standard to just declare this outlaw, IMO.
> 
> Maybe it could do an exception for printing, that is, reading a pointer is
> not a problem in itself, a long as you don't compare it, but I'm not such an
> expert about this.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Alex
> 
> > 
> > -serge
> 
> -- 
> <http://www.alejandro-colomar.es/>
> GPG key fingerprint: A9348594CE31283A826FBDD8D57633D441E25BB5
> 

Re: Missed warning (-Wuse-after-free)

[Martin Uecker]

Am Donnerstag, dem 23.02.2023 um 19:21 -0600 schrieb Serge E. Hallyn:
> On Fri, Feb 24, 2023 at 01:02:54AM +0100, Alex Colomar wrote:
> > Hi Martin,
> > 
> > On 2/23/23 20:57, Martin Uecker wrote:
> > > Am Donnerstag, dem 23.02.2023 um 20:23 +0100 schrieb Alex Colomar:
> > > > Hi Martin,
> > > > 
> > > > On 2/17/23 14:48, Martin Uecker wrote:
> > > > > > This new wording doesn't even allow one to use memcmp(3);
> > > > > > just reading the pointer value, however you do it, is UB.
> > > > > 
> > > > > memcmp would not use the pointer value but work
> > > > > on the representation bytes and is still allowed.
> > > > 
> > > > Hmm, interesting.  It's rather unspecified behavior. Still
> > > > unpredictable: (memcmp(&p, &p, sizeof(p) == 0) might evaluate to true or
> > > > false randomly; the compiler may compile out the call to memcmp(3),
> > > > since it knows it won't produce any observable behavior.
> > > > 
> > > > <https://software.codidact.com/posts/287905>
> > > 
> > > No, I think several things get mixed up here.
> > > 
> > > The representation of a pointer that becomes invalid
> > > does not change.
> > > 
> > > So (0 === memcmp(&p, &p, sizeof(p)) always
> > > evaluates to true.
> > > 
> > > Also in general, an unspecified value is simply unspecified
> > > but does not change anymore.
> 
> Right.  p is its own thing - n bytes on the stack containing some value.
> Once it comes into scope, it doesn't change on its own.  And if I do
> free(p) or o = realloc(p), then the value of p itself - the n bytes on
> the stack - does not change.

Yes, but one comment about terminology:. The C standard
differentiates between the representation, i.e. the bytes on
the stack, and the value.  The representation is converted to
a value during lvalue conversion.  For an invalid pointer
the representation is indeterminate because it now does not
point to a valid object anymore.  So it is not possible to
convert the representation to a value during lvalue conversion.
In other words, it does not make sense to speak of the value
of the pointer anymore.

> I realize C11 appears to have changed that.  I fear that in doing so it
> actually risks increasing the confusion about pointers.  IMO it's much
> easier to reason about
> 
> 	o = realloc(p, X);
> 
> (and more baroque constructions) when keeping in mind that o, p, and the
> object pointed to by either one are all different things.
> 

What did change in C11? As far as I know, the pointer model
did not change in C11.

> > > Reading an uninitialized value of automatic storage whose
> > > address was not taken is undefined behavior, so everything
> > > is possible afterwards.
> > > 
> > > An uninitialized variable whose address was taken has a
> > > representation which can represent an unspecified value
> > > or a no-value (trap) representation. Reading the
> > > representation itself is always ok and gives consistent
> > > results. Reading the variable can be undefined behavior
> > > iff it is a trap representation, otherwise you get
> > > the unspecified value which is stored there.
> > > 
> > > At least this is my reading of the C standard. Compilers
> > > are not full conformant.
> > 
> > Does all this imply that the following is well defined behavior (and shall
> > print what one would expect)?
> > 
> >   free(p);
> > 
> >   (void) &p;  // take the address
> >   // or maybe we should (void) memcmp(&p, &p, sizeof(p)); ?
> > 
> >   printf("%p\n", p);  // we took previously its address,
> >                       // so now it has to hold consistently
> >                       // the previous value
> > 
> > 

No, the printf is not well defined, because the lvalue conversion
of the pointer with indeterminate representation may lead to
undefined behavior.


Martin


> > This feels weird.  And a bit of a Schroedinger's pointer.  I'm not entirely
> > convinced, but might be.
> 
> Again, p is just an n byte variable which happens to have (one hopes)
> pointed at a previously malloc'd address.
> 
> And I'd argue that pre-C11, this was not confusing, and would not have
> felt weird to you.
> 
> But I am most grateful to you for having brought this to my attention.
> I may not agree with it and not like it, but it's right there in the
> spec, so time for me to adjust :)
> 

Re: Missed warning (-Wuse-after-free)

[Serge E. Hallyn]

On Fri, Feb 24, 2023 at 09:36:45AM +0100, Martin Uecker wrote:
> Am Donnerstag, dem 23.02.2023 um 19:21 -0600 schrieb Serge E. Hallyn:
> > On Fri, Feb 24, 2023 at 01:02:54AM +0100, Alex Colomar wrote:
> > > Hi Martin,
> > > 
> > > On 2/23/23 20:57, Martin Uecker wrote:
> > > > Am Donnerstag, dem 23.02.2023 um 20:23 +0100 schrieb Alex Colomar:
> > > > > Hi Martin,
> > > > > 
> > > > > On 2/17/23 14:48, Martin Uecker wrote:
> > > > > > > This new wording doesn't even allow one to use memcmp(3);
> > > > > > > just reading the pointer value, however you do it, is UB.
> > > > > > 
> > > > > > memcmp would not use the pointer value but work
> > > > > > on the representation bytes and is still allowed.
> > > > > 
> > > > > Hmm, interesting.  It's rather unspecified behavior. Still
> > > > > unpredictable: (memcmp(&p, &p, sizeof(p) == 0) might evaluate to true or
> > > > > false randomly; the compiler may compile out the call to memcmp(3),
> > > > > since it knows it won't produce any observable behavior.
> > > > > 
> > > > > <https://software.codidact.com/posts/287905>
> > > > 
> > > > No, I think several things get mixed up here.
> > > > 
> > > > The representation of a pointer that becomes invalid
> > > > does not change.
> > > > 
> > > > So (0 === memcmp(&p, &p, sizeof(p)) always
> > > > evaluates to true.
> > > > 
> > > > Also in general, an unspecified value is simply unspecified
> > > > but does not change anymore.
> > 
> > Right.  p is its own thing - n bytes on the stack containing some value.
> > Once it comes into scope, it doesn't change on its own.  And if I do
> > free(p) or o = realloc(p), then the value of p itself - the n bytes on
> > the stack - does not change.
> 
> Yes, but one comment about terminology:. The C standard
> differentiates between the representation, i.e. the bytes on
> the stack, and the value.  The representation is converted to
> a value during lvalue conversion.  For an invalid pointer
> the representation is indeterminate because it now does not
> point to a valid object anymore.  So it is not possible to
> convert the representation to a value during lvalue conversion.
> In other words, it does not make sense to speak of the value
> of the pointer anymore.

I'm sure there are, especially from an implementer's point of view,
great reasons for this.

However, as just a user, the "value" of 'void *p' should absolutely
not be tied to whatever is at that address.  I'm given a simple
linear memory space, under which sits an entirely different view
obfuscated by page tables, but that doesn't concern me.  if I say
void *p = -1, then if I print p, then I expect to see that value.

Since I'm complaining about standards I'm picking and choosing here,
but I'll still point at the printf(3) manpage :)  :

       p      The  void * pointer argument is printed in hexadecimal (as if by %#x
              or %#lx).

> > I realize C11 appears to have changed that.  I fear that in doing so it
> > actually risks increasing the confusion about pointers.  IMO it's much
> > easier to reason about
> > 
> > 	o = realloc(p, X);
> > 
> > (and more baroque constructions) when keeping in mind that o, p, and the
> > object pointed to by either one are all different things.
> > 
> 
> What did change in C11? As far as I know, the pointer model
> did not change in C11.

I haven't looked in more detail, and don't really plan to, but my
understanding is that the text of:

  The lifetime of an object is the portion of program execution during which storage is
  guaranteed to be reserved for it. An object exists, has a constant address, and retains
  its last-stored value throughout its lifetime. If an object is referred to outside of its
  lifetime, the behavior is undefined. The value of a pointer becomes indeterminate when
  the object it points to (or just past) reaches the end of its lifetime.

(especially the last sentence) was new.

Maybe the words "value of a pointer" don't mean what I think they
mean.  But that's the phrase to which I object.  The n bytes on
the stack, p, are not changed just because something happened with
the accounting for the memory at the address represented by that
value.  If they do, then that's not 'C' any more.

> > > > Reading an uninitialized value of automatic storage whose
> > > > address was not taken is undefined behavior, so everything
> > > > is possible afterwards.
> > > > 
> > > > An uninitialized variable whose address was taken has a
> > > > representation which can represent an unspecified value
> > > > or a no-value (trap) representation. Reading the
> > > > representation itself is always ok and gives consistent
> > > > results. Reading the variable can be undefined behavior
> > > > iff it is a trap representation, otherwise you get
> > > > the unspecified value which is stored there.
> > > > 
> > > > At least this is my reading of the C standard. Compilers
> > > > are not full conformant.
> > > 
> > > Does all this imply that the following is well defined behavior (and shall
> > > print what one would expect)?
> > > 
> > >   free(p);
> > > 
> > >   (void) &p;  // take the address
> > >   // or maybe we should (void) memcmp(&p, &p, sizeof(p)); ?
> > > 
> > >   printf("%p\n", p);  // we took previously its address,
> > >                       // so now it has to hold consistently
> > >                       // the previous value
> > > 
> > > 
> 
> No, the printf is not well defined, because the lvalue conversion
> of the pointer with indeterminate representation may lead to

Sorry, my eyes glaze over at 'lvalue conversion of the pointer' - is
that referring to what's at the target address?  Because to print the
hex value of p, it doesn't matter what's at *p - even if that memory
is no longer mapped, it does not affect the %x of p.

BTW I appreciate all the insight.  I'm arguing my case, but I'm quite
certain I'll walk away finally understanding why I'm wrong.

> undefined behavior.
> 
> 
> Martin
> 
> 
> > > This feels weird.  And a bit of a Schroedinger's pointer.  I'm not entirely
> > > convinced, but might be.
> > 
> > Again, p is just an n byte variable which happens to have (one hopes)
> > pointed at a previously malloc'd address.
> > 
> > And I'd argue that pre-C11, this was not confusing, and would not have
> > felt weird to you.
> > 
> > But I am most grateful to you for having brought this to my attention.
> > I may not agree with it and not like it, but it's right there in the
> > spec, so time for me to adjust :)
> > 
> 
> 
> 
> 

Re: Missed warning (-Wuse-after-free)

[Martin Uecker]

Am Freitag, dem 24.02.2023 um 10:01 -0600 schrieb Serge E. Hallyn:
> On Fri, Feb 24, 2023 at 09:36:45AM +0100, Martin Uecker wrote:
> > Am Donnerstag, dem 23.02.2023 um 19:21 -0600 schrieb Serge E. Hallyn:

...
> > 
> > Yes, but one comment about terminology:. The C standard
> > differentiates between the representation, i.e. the bytes on
> > the stack, and the value.  The representation is converted to
> > a value during lvalue conversion.  For an invalid pointer
> > the representation is indeterminate because it now does not
> > point to a valid object anymore.  So it is not possible to
> > convert the representation to a value during lvalue conversion.
> > In other words, it does not make sense to speak of the value
> > of the pointer anymore.
> 
> I'm sure there are, especially from an implementer's point of view,
> great reasons for this.
> 
> However, as just a user, the "value" of 'void *p' should absolutely
> not be tied to whatever is at that address.

Think about it in this way: The set of possible values for a pointer
is the set of objects that exist at a point in time. If one object
disappears, a pointer can not point to it anymore. So it is not that
the pointer changes, but the set of valid values.

>   I'm given a simple
> linear memory space, under which sits an entirely different view
> obfuscated by page tables, but that doesn't concern me.  if I say
> void *p = -1, then if I print p, then I expect to see that value.

If you store an integer into a pointer (you need a cast), then
this is implementation-defined and may also produce an invalid
pointer.

> 
> Since I'm complaining about standards I'm picking and choosing here,
> but I'll still point at the printf(3) manpage :)  :
> 
>        p      The  void * pointer argument is printed in hexadecimal (as if by %#x
>               or %#lx).

This is valid if the pointer is valid, but if the pointer
is invalid, this is undefined behavior.

In C one not think about pointers as addresses. They
are abstract handles that point to objects, and compilers
do exploit this for optimization.

If you need an address, you can cast it to uintptr_t
(but see below).

> 
> > > I realize C11 appears to have changed that.  I fear that in doing so it
> > > actually risks increasing the confusion about pointers.  IMO it's much
> > > easier to reason about
> > > 
> > > 	o = realloc(p, X);
> > > 
> > > (and more baroque constructions) when keeping in mind that o, p, and the
> > > object pointed to by either one are all different things.
> > > 
> > 
> > What did change in C11? As far as I know, the pointer model
> > did not change in C11.
> 
> I haven't looked in more detail, and don't really plan to, but my
> understanding is that the text of:
> 
>   The lifetime of an object is the portion of program execution during which storage is
>   guaranteed to be reserved for it. An object exists, has a constant address, and retains
>   its last-stored value throughout its lifetime. If an object is referred to outside of its
>   lifetime, the behavior is undefined. The value of a pointer becomes indeterminate when
>   the object it points to (or just past) reaches the end of its lifetime.
> 
> (especially the last sentence) was new.

This is not new.

C99 "The value of a pointer becomes indeterminate when
the object it points to reaches the end of its lifetime."

C90: "The value of a pointer that referred to an object
with automatic storage duration that is no longer
guaranteed to be reserved is indeterminate."

and

"The value of a pointer that refers to freed space is
indeterminate."

> Maybe the words "value of a pointer" don't mean what I think they
> mean.  But that's the phrase to which I object.  The n bytes on
> the stack, p, are not changed just because something happened with
> the accounting for the memory at the address represented by that
> value.  If they do, then that's not 'C' any more.

It is not about the bytes of the pointer changing. But if
the object is freed they do not represent a valid pointer
anymore.  There were CPUs that trapped when an invalid
address is loaded, e.g. because the data segment for the
object was removed from the segment tables. So this is a 
rule in portable 'C'  for more than 30 years.

Nowadays compilers exploit the knowledge that the
object is freed. So you can not reliably use such
a pointer. If you do this, your code will be broken on
most modern compilers.


> 
> > > > > Reading an uninitialized value of automatic storage whose
> > > > > address was not taken is undefined behavior, so everything
> > > > > is possible afterwards.
> > > > > 
> > > > > An uninitialized variable whose address was taken has a
> > > > > representation which can represent an unspecified value
> > > > > or a no-value (trap) representation. Reading the
> > > > > representation itself is always ok and gives consistent
> > > > > results. Reading the variable can be undefined behavior
> > > > > iff it is a trap representation, otherwise you get
> > > > > the unspecified value which is stored there.
> > > > > 
> > > > > At least this is my reading of the C standard. Compilers
> > > > > are not full conformant.
> > > > 
> > > > Does all this imply that the following is well defined behavior (and shall
> > > > print what one would expect)?
> > > > 
> > > >   free(p);
> > > > 
> > > >   (void) &p;  // take the address
> > > >   // or maybe we should (void) memcmp(&p, &p, sizeof(p)); ?
> > > > 
> > > >   printf("%p\n", p);  // we took previously its address,
> > > >                       // so now it has to hold consistently
> > > >                       // the previous value
> > > > 
> > > > 
> > 
> > No, the printf is not well defined, because the lvalue conversion
> > of the pointer with indeterminate representation may lead to
> 
> Sorry, my eyes glaze over at 'lvalue conversion of the pointer' - is
> that referring to what's at the target address? 

I meant the load of the pointer itself, not the load of
the object the pointer points to.

>  Because to print the
> hex value of p, it doesn't matter what's at *p - even if that memory
> is no longer mapped, it does not affect the %x of p.
> 
> BTW I appreciate all the insight.  I'm arguing my case, but I'm quite
> certain I'll walk away finally understanding why I'm wrong.

I hope my answers help. We thought about these questions a lot
when working on the proposed memory model for C (TS 6010)
and there is not much room for changing the rules. 

We could make it well defined to pass around such invalid
pointers (and allow printing them). But because one can
not reliably use them for anything, this would do more harm
than good.

In the proposed TS 6010 clarified that casting to uintptr_t
gives you an address that behaves as you would expect. 
But modern compilers do not yet conform to this. But I assume
this will get fixed at some point.

Martin

Re: Missed warning (-Wuse-after-free)

[Siddhesh Poyarekar]

On 2023-02-16 10:15, David Malcolm via Gcc wrote:
> I'm not convinced that it's useful to the end-user to warn about the
> "use of q itself" case.

FWIW, -Wuse-after-free=3 already should do this:

At level 3, the warning also diagnoses uses of indeterminate pointers in 
equality expressions.  All uses of indeterminate pointers are undefined 
but equality tests sometimes appear after
calls to "realloc" as an attempt to determine whether the call resulted 
in relocating the object to a different address.  They are diagnosed at 
a separate level to aid legacy code gradually
transition to safe alternatives.  For example, the equality test in the 
function below is diagnosed at this level:

Jakub and I had discussed this in the context of _FORTIFY_SOURCE=3 
(which is anal about this and can break things) and we got pr#105217, 
but that is also a best-effort thing, not really a guarantee.

IMO the analyzer should go that extra mile and warn for the use of q 
itself and maybe deprecate -Wuse-after-free=3 in its favour.

Sid

Re: Missed warning (-Wuse-after-free)

[Alejandro Colomar]

[-- Attachment #1.1: Type: text/plain, Size: 1486 bytes --]

Hi Siddhesh,

On 2/17/23 04:48, Siddhesh Poyarekar wrote:
> On 2023-02-16 10:15, David Malcolm via Gcc wrote:
>> I'm not convinced that it's useful to the end-user to warn about the
>> "use of q itself" case.
> 
> FWIW, -Wuse-after-free=3 already should do this:

Thanks!  It works.  I would have expected such a warning to be included
in -Wextra.  Does it have any false positives (or maybe too many false
negatives?) that make it unsuitable for -Wextra?

> 
> At level 3, the warning also diagnoses uses of indeterminate pointers in 
> equality expressions.  All uses of indeterminate pointers are undefined 
> but equality tests sometimes appear after
> calls to "realloc" as an attempt to determine whether the call resulted 
> in relocating the object to a different address.  They are diagnosed at 
> a separate level to aid legacy code gradually
> transition to safe alternatives.  For example, the equality test in the 
> function below is diagnosed at this level:
> 
> Jakub and I had discussed this in the context of _FORTIFY_SOURCE=3 
> (which is anal about this and can break things) and we got pr#105217, 
> but that is also a best-effort thing, not really a guarantee.
> 
> IMO the analyzer should go that extra mile and warn for the use of q 
> itself and maybe deprecate -Wuse-after-free=3 in its favour.
> 
> Sid

Cheers,

Alex

-- 
<http://www.alejandro-colomar.es/>
GPG key fingerprint: A9348594CE31283A826FBDD8D57633D441E25BB5

[-- Attachment #2: OpenPGP digital signature --]
[-- Type: application/pgp-signature, Size: 833 bytes --]

Re: Missed warning (-Wuse-after-free)

[Siddhesh Poyarekar]

On 2023-02-17 06:22, Alejandro Colomar wrote:
> Hi Siddhesh,
> 
> On 2/17/23 04:48, Siddhesh Poyarekar wrote:
>> On 2023-02-16 10:15, David Malcolm via Gcc wrote:
>>> I'm not convinced that it's useful to the end-user to warn about the
>>> "use of q itself" case.
>>
>> FWIW, -Wuse-after-free=3 already should do this:
> 
> Thanks!  It works.  I would have expected such a warning to be included
> in -Wextra.  Does it have any false positives (or maybe too many false
> negatives?) that make it unsuitable for -Wextra?

I don't know why it isn't enabled in -Wextra, it seems like the right 
thing to do.

Sid

Re: Missed warning (-Wuse-after-free)

[Mark Wielaard]

On Fri, 2023-02-17 at 08:38 -0500, Siddhesh Poyarekar wrote:
> On 2023-02-17 06:22, Alejandro Colomar wrote:
> > Hi Siddhesh,
> > 
> > On 2/17/23 04:48, Siddhesh Poyarekar wrote:
> > > On 2023-02-16 10:15, David Malcolm via Gcc wrote:
> > > > I'm not convinced that it's useful to the end-user to warn about the
> > > > "use of q itself" case.
> > > 
> > > FWIW, -Wuse-after-free=3 already should do this:
> > 
> > Thanks!  It works.  I would have expected such a warning to be included
> > in -Wextra.  Does it have any false positives (or maybe too many false
> > negatives?) that make it unsuitable for -Wextra?
> 
> I don't know why it isn't enabled in -Wextra, it seems like the right 
> thing to do.

Interesting warning flag I didn't know about. It seems to have found an
issue in some code trying to free a circular single linked list:
https://inbox.sourceware.org/elfutils-devel/20230217140027.125332-1-mark@klomp.org/

The reason people might not know about it, is that the documentation is
somewhat unclear. -Wall says it already includes -Wuse-after-free=3:
https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Warning-Options.html#index-Wall

But the -Wuse-after-free option itself says -Wall only enables -Wuse-
after-free=2:
https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/C_002b_002b-Dialect-Options.html#index-Wuse-after-free

Also note that it is listed under "Options Controlling C++ Dialect" so
it wasn't immediately clear to me that it also works for C.

Cheers,

Mark

Re: Missed warning (-Wuse-after-free)

[Siddhesh Poyarekar]

On 2023-02-17 09:01, Mark Wielaard wrote:
> The reason people might not know about it, is that the documentation is
> somewhat unclear. -Wall says it already includes -Wuse-after-free=3:
> https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Warning-Options.html#index-Wall

Yeah I posted a patch to fix it only a few minutes ago:

https://sourceware.org/pipermail/gcc-patches/2023-February/612229.html

Sid

[PATCH] Make -Wuse-after-free=3 the default one in -Wall

[Alejandro Colomar]

Link: <https://inbox.sourceware.org/gcc/3098fd18-9dbf-b4e9-bae5-62ec6fea74cd@opteya.com/T/>
Link: <https://github.com/shadow-maint/shadow/pull/649#discussion_r1108350066>
Cc: Andreas Schwab <schwab@linux-m68k.org>
Cc: David Malcolm <dmalcolm@redhat.com>
Cc: Florian Weimer <fweimer@redhat.com>
Cc: Iker Pedrosa <ipedrosa@redhat.com>
Cc: Jens Gustedt <jens.gustedt@inria.fr>
Cc: Jonathan Wakely <jwakely.gcc@gmail.com>
Cc: Mark Wielaard <mark@klomp.org>
Cc: Martin Uecker <uecker@tugraz.at>
Cc: Michael Kerrisk <mtk.manpages@gmail.com>
Cc: Paul Eggert <eggert@cs.ucla.edu>
Cc: Sam James <sam@gentoo.org>
Cc: Siddhesh Poyarekar <siddhesh@gotplt.org>
Cc: Yann Droneaud <ydroneaud@opteya.com>
Signed-off-by: Alejandro Colomar <alx@kernel.org>
---

Hi Siddhesh,

Here's a patch for it.  It is untested yet.  Please have a look at it.
I'm not used to GCC customs, so corrections are welcome :)

Cheers,

Alex


 gcc/c-family/c.opt  | 4 ++--
 gcc/doc/invoke.texi | 2 +-
 2 files changed, 3 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/gcc/c-family/c.opt b/gcc/c-family/c.opt
index c0fea56a8f5..1a3fc2c5d74 100644
--- a/gcc/c-family/c.opt
+++ b/gcc/c-family/c.opt
@@ -1411,11 +1411,11 @@ C ObjC C++ ObjC++ Joined RejectNegative UInteger Var(warn_unused_const_variable)
 Warn when a const variable is unused.
 
 ; Defining this option here in addition to common.opt is necessary
-; in order for the default -Wall setting of -Wuse-after-free=2 to take
+; in order for the default -Wall setting of -Wuse-after-free=3 to take
 ; effect.
 
 Wuse-after-free=
-LangEnabledBy(C ObjC C++ LTO ObjC++, Wall,2,0)
+LangEnabledBy(C ObjC C++ LTO ObjC++, Wall,3,0)
 ; in common.opt
 
 Wvariadic-macros
diff --git a/gcc/doc/invoke.texi b/gcc/doc/invoke.texi
index 7b308cd3c31..d910052ce0c 100644
--- a/gcc/doc/invoke.texi
+++ b/gcc/doc/invoke.texi
@@ -4720,7 +4720,7 @@ instead of pointers.  This approach obviates needing to adjust the stored
 pointers after reallocation.
 @end table
 
-@option{-Wuse-after-free=2} is included in @option{-Wall}.
+@option{-Wuse-after-free=3} is included in @option{-Wall}.
 
 @item -Wuseless-cast @r{(C++ and Objective-C++ only)}
 @opindex Wuseless-cast
-- 
2.39.1

Re: [PATCH] Make -Wuse-after-free=3 the default one in -Wall

[Siddhesh Poyarekar]

On 2023-02-17 16:20, Alejandro Colomar wrote:
> Link: <https://inbox.sourceware.org/gcc/3098fd18-9dbf-b4e9-bae5-62ec6fea74cd@opteya.com/T/>
> Link: <https://github.com/shadow-maint/shadow/pull/649#discussion_r1108350066>
> Cc: Andreas Schwab <schwab@linux-m68k.org>
> Cc: David Malcolm <dmalcolm@redhat.com>
> Cc: Florian Weimer <fweimer@redhat.com>
> Cc: Iker Pedrosa <ipedrosa@redhat.com>
> Cc: Jens Gustedt <jens.gustedt@inria.fr>
> Cc: Jonathan Wakely <jwakely.gcc@gmail.com>
> Cc: Mark Wielaard <mark@klomp.org>
> Cc: Martin Uecker <uecker@tugraz.at>
> Cc: Michael Kerrisk <mtk.manpages@gmail.com>
> Cc: Paul Eggert <eggert@cs.ucla.edu>
> Cc: Sam James <sam@gentoo.org>
> Cc: Siddhesh Poyarekar <siddhesh@gotplt.org>
> Cc: Yann Droneaud <ydroneaud@opteya.com>
> Signed-off-by: Alejandro Colomar <alx@kernel.org>
> ---
> 
> Hi Siddhesh,
> 
> Here's a patch for it.  It is untested yet.  Please have a look at it.
> I'm not used to GCC customs, so corrections are welcome :)
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Alex

You've got the customs right as far as submission is concerned; gcc 
accepts patches under DCO.  I'm not a maintainer though, so I can't 
approve the change, I can only comment on it in the hope of influencing 
maintainers' opinions.  In any case it's probably suitable as a proposal 
for gcc 14, given that 13 is in stage 4, regression fixes only.

I'm split about where -Wuse-after-free=3 should be enabled.  On the one 
hand, I'd like it to go into -Wall and alongside _FORTIFY_SOURCE=3, 
given that the latter already breaks the incorrect provenance 
assumptions in such code patterns.  However on the other hand, it may 
lead to annoyed developers, even though the usage is, strictly speaking, 
UB.  I don't know about the false positive rate of -Wuse-after-free=3 
either (specifically in the context of UB-ness of the code it warns 
about), maybe someone else may be able to chime in on that.

Maybe a good compromise here is -Wextra, but if there's consensus 
developing towards adding it to -Wall, I'll happily jump to that side.

Thanks,
Sid

> 
> 
>   gcc/c-family/c.opt  | 4 ++--
>   gcc/doc/invoke.texi | 2 +-
>   2 files changed, 3 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)
> 
> diff --git a/gcc/c-family/c.opt b/gcc/c-family/c.opt
> index c0fea56a8f5..1a3fc2c5d74 100644
> --- a/gcc/c-family/c.opt
> +++ b/gcc/c-family/c.opt
> @@ -1411,11 +1411,11 @@ C ObjC C++ ObjC++ Joined RejectNegative UInteger Var(warn_unused_const_variable)
>   Warn when a const variable is unused.
>   
>   ; Defining this option here in addition to common.opt is necessary
> -; in order for the default -Wall setting of -Wuse-after-free=2 to take
> +; in order for the default -Wall setting of -Wuse-after-free=3 to take
>   ; effect.
>   
>   Wuse-after-free=
> -LangEnabledBy(C ObjC C++ LTO ObjC++, Wall,2,0)
> +LangEnabledBy(C ObjC C++ LTO ObjC++, Wall,3,0)
>   ; in common.opt
>   
>   Wvariadic-macros
> diff --git a/gcc/doc/invoke.texi b/gcc/doc/invoke.texi
> index 7b308cd3c31..d910052ce0c 100644
> --- a/gcc/doc/invoke.texi
> +++ b/gcc/doc/invoke.texi
> @@ -4720,7 +4720,7 @@ instead of pointers.  This approach obviates needing to adjust the stored
>   pointers after reallocation.
>   @end table
>   
> -@option{-Wuse-after-free=2} is included in @option{-Wall}.
> +@option{-Wuse-after-free=3} is included in @option{-Wall}.
>   
>   @item -Wuseless-cast @r{(C++ and Objective-C++ only)}
>   @opindex Wuseless-cast

Re: [PATCH] Make -Wuse-after-free=3 the default one in -Wall

[Siddhesh Poyarekar]

On 2023-02-17 16:39, Siddhesh Poyarekar wrote:
> You've got the customs right as far as submission is concerned; gcc 

Oh, one correction: patches typically go to gcc-patches at gcc dot gnu 
dot org.

Thanks,
Sid

Re: [PATCH] Make -Wuse-after-free=3 the default one in -Wall

[Alejandro Colomar]

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Hi Siddhesh,

On 2/17/23 22:39, Siddhesh Poyarekar wrote:
> On 2023-02-17 16:20, Alejandro Colomar wrote:
>> Link: <https://inbox.sourceware.org/gcc/3098fd18-9dbf-b4e9-bae5-62ec6fea74cd@opteya.com/T/>
>> Link: <https://github.com/shadow-maint/shadow/pull/649#discussion_r1108350066>
>> Cc: Andreas Schwab <schwab@linux-m68k.org>
>> Cc: David Malcolm <dmalcolm@redhat.com>
>> Cc: Florian Weimer <fweimer@redhat.com>
>> Cc: Iker Pedrosa <ipedrosa@redhat.com>
>> Cc: Jens Gustedt <jens.gustedt@inria.fr>
>> Cc: Jonathan Wakely <jwakely.gcc@gmail.com>
>> Cc: Mark Wielaard <mark@klomp.org>
>> Cc: Martin Uecker <uecker@tugraz.at>
>> Cc: Michael Kerrisk <mtk.manpages@gmail.com>
>> Cc: Paul Eggert <eggert@cs.ucla.edu>
>> Cc: Sam James <sam@gentoo.org>
>> Cc: Siddhesh Poyarekar <siddhesh@gotplt.org>
>> Cc: Yann Droneaud <ydroneaud@opteya.com>
>> Signed-off-by: Alejandro Colomar <alx@kernel.org>
>> ---
>>
>> Hi Siddhesh,
>>
>> Here's a patch for it.  It is untested yet.  Please have a look at it.
>> I'm not used to GCC customs, so corrections are welcome :)
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Alex
> 
> You've got the customs right as far as submission is concerned; gcc 
> accepts patches under DCO.  I'm not a maintainer though, so I can't 
> approve the change, I can only comment on it in the hope of influencing 
> maintainers' opinions.

:)

>  In any case it's probably suitable as a proposal 
> for gcc 14, given that 13 is in stage 4, regression fixes only.

Sure, 14 is good.

> 
> I'm split about where -Wuse-after-free=3 should be enabled.  On the one 
> hand, I'd like it to go into -Wall and alongside _FORTIFY_SOURCE=3, 
> given that the latter already breaks the incorrect provenance 
> assumptions in such code patterns.  However on the other hand, it may 
> lead to annoyed developers, even though the usage is, strictly speaking, 
> UB.  I don't know about the false positive rate of -Wuse-after-free=3 
> either (specifically in the context of UB-ness of the code it warns 
> about), maybe someone else may be able to chime in on that.
> 
> Maybe a good compromise here is -Wextra, but if there's consensus 
> developing towards adding it to -Wall, I'll happily jump to that side.

Since -Wall already had -Wuaf=2, and to not overcomplicate it, I put it
in -Wall too.  Anyway, I don't expect it to have many false positives,
but maybe someone else can chime in.  Both are fine, IMO.  I use
-Wall -Wextra always together, so I wouldn't even notice :)

> 
> Thanks,
> Sid

On 2/17/23 22:41, Siddhesh Poyarekar wrote:
> On 2023-02-17 16:39, Siddhesh Poyarekar wrote:
>> You've got the customs right as far as submission is concerned; gcc 
> 
> Oh, one correction: patches typically go to gcc-patches at gcc dot gnu 
> dot org.

Okay, I'll take that note for next time.  For this one, should I resend,
or is it okay as is?  Both are fine for me.

Cheers,

Alex

-- 
<http://www.alejandro-colomar.es/>
GPG key fingerprint: A9348594CE31283A826FBDD8D57633D441E25BB5

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Re: [PATCH] Make -Wuse-after-free=3 the default one in -Wall

[Siddhesh Poyarekar]

On 2023-02-17 17:58, Alejandro Colomar wrote:
> On 2/17/23 22:41, Siddhesh Poyarekar wrote:
>> On 2023-02-17 16:39, Siddhesh Poyarekar wrote:
>>> You've got the customs right as far as submission is concerned; gcc
>>
>> Oh, one correction: patches typically go to gcc-patches at gcc dot gnu
>> dot org.
> 
> Okay, I'll take that note for next time.  For this one, should I resend,
> or is it okay as is?  Both are fine for me.

Probably makes sense to resend to gcc-patches.

Thanks,
Sid

Re: Missed warning (-Wuse-after-free)

[Jonathan Wakely]

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On Fri, 17 Feb 2023, 03:49 Siddhesh Poyarekar, <siddhesh@gotplt.org> wrote:

> On 2023-02-16 10:15, David Malcolm via Gcc wrote:
> > I'm not convinced that it's useful to the end-user to warn about the
> > "use of q itself" case.
>
> FWIW, -Wuse-after-free=3 already should do this:
>
> At level 3, the warning also diagnoses uses of indeterminate pointers in
> equality expressions.  All uses of indeterminate pointers are undefined
> but equality tests sometimes appear after
> calls to "realloc" as an attempt to determine whether the call resulted
> in relocating the object to a different address.  They are diagnosed at
> a separate level to aid legacy code gradually
> transition to safe alternatives.  For example, the equality test in the
> function below is diagnosed at this level:
>
> Jakub and I had discussed this in the context of _FORTIFY_SOURCE=3
> (which is anal about this and can break things) and we got pr#105217,
> but that is also a best-effort thing, not really a guarantee.
>
> IMO the analyzer should go that extra mile and warn for the use of q
> itself and maybe deprecate -Wuse-after-free=3 in its favour.
>


Please be aware that in C++ it's implementation-defined, not undefined.

That means that an implementation without trap representations for pointers
can choose to make it behave just like using (uintptr_t)p.

https://cplusplus.github.io/CWG/issues/1438.html
https://cplusplus.github.io/CWG/issues/623.html
https://cplusplus.github.io/CWG/issues/616.html
https://cplusplus.github.io/CWG/issues/312.html

We could still warn in C++ (because the code isn't portable) but I would
strongly suggest we don't influence C++ codegen based on deallocated
pointers being undefined. I don't think gcc supports any targets with
trapping pointers, and there are quite enough sources of UB already. We
don't need to create traps for users where there are no traps for pointers
:-)

Re: Missed warning (-Wuse-after-free)

[Alejandro Colomar]

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Hi Jonathan,

On 2/17/23 12:24, Jonathan Wakely wrote:
> Please be aware that in C++ it's implementation-defined, not undefined.
> 
> That means that an implementation without trap representations for pointers
> can choose to make it behave just like using (uintptr_t)p.

(uintptr_t)p is defined (I believe) for C <= C17.  However, as noted in my
last email, even that is UB for C2x.  Of course, UB means that the compiler
might make it defined, but as Martin suggested, that's might have its own issues.

> 
> https://cplusplus.github.io/CWG/issues/1438.html
> https://cplusplus.github.io/CWG/issues/623.html
> https://cplusplus.github.io/CWG/issues/616.html
> https://cplusplus.github.io/CWG/issues/312.html
> 
> We could still warn in C++ (because the code isn't portable) but I would
> strongly suggest we don't influence C++ codegen based on deallocated
> pointers being undefined. I don't think gcc supports any targets with
> trapping pointers, and there are quite enough sources of UB already. We
> don't need to create traps for users where there are no traps for pointers
> :-)

I would warn in C++ too, as some of that code might be in interfaces that
should be compatible with C.  Maybe not include it in -Wextra in C++ (but
include it in C's -Wextra)...

Cheers,

Alex

-- 
<http://www.alejandro-colomar.es/>
GPG key fingerprint: A9348594CE31283A826FBDD8D57633D441E25BB5

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Re: Missed warning (-Wuse-after-free)

[Jonathan Wakely]

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On Fri, 17 Feb 2023, 11:43 Alejandro Colomar, <alx.manpages@gmail.com>
wrote:

> Hi Jonathan,
>
> On 2/17/23 12:24, Jonathan Wakely wrote:
> > Please be aware that in C++ it's implementation-defined, not undefined.
> >
> > That means that an implementation without trap representations for
> pointers
> > can choose to make it behave just like using (uintptr_t)p.
>
> (uintptr_t)p is defined (I believe) for C <= C17.  However, as noted in my
> last email, even that is UB for C2x.  Of course, UB means that the compiler
> might make it defined, but as Martin suggested, that's might have its own
> issues.
>

Yes, I just meant in C++, and C++ has no such rules.



> >
> > https://cplusplus.github.io/CWG/issues/1438.html
> > https://cplusplus.github.io/CWG/issues/623.html
> > https://cplusplus.github.io/CWG/issues/616.html
> > https://cplusplus.github.io/CWG/issues/312.html
> >
> > We could still warn in C++ (because the code isn't portable) but I would
> > strongly suggest we don't influence C++ codegen based on deallocated
> > pointers being undefined. I don't think gcc supports any targets with
> > trapping pointers, and there are quite enough sources of UB already. We
> > don't need to create traps for users where there are no traps for
> pointers
> > :-)
>
> I would warn in C++ too, as some of that code might be in interfaces that
> should be compatible with C.  Maybe not include it in -Wextra in C++ (but
> include it in C's -Wextra)...
>

I agree with warning in C++, just not optimizing based on the assumption
that any use of an invalid pointer implies unreachable code (as in your
original example).

Re: Missed warning (-Wuse-after-free)

[Siddhesh Poyarekar]

On 2023-02-17 06:24, Jonathan Wakely wrote:
> Please be aware that in C++ it's implementation-defined, not undefined.
> 
> That means that an implementation without trap representations for 
> pointers can choose to make it behave just like using (uintptr_t)p.
> 
> https://cplusplus.github.io/CWG/issues/1438.html 
> <https://cplusplus.github.io/CWG/issues/1438.html>
> https://cplusplus.github.io/CWG/issues/623.html 
> <https://cplusplus.github.io/CWG/issues/623.html>
> https://cplusplus.github.io/CWG/issues/616.html 
> <https://cplusplus.github.io/CWG/issues/616.html>
> https://cplusplus.github.io/CWG/issues/312.html 
> <https://cplusplus.github.io/CWG/issues/312.html>
> 
> We could still warn in C++ (because the code isn't portable) but I would 
> strongly suggest we don't influence C++ codegen based on deallocated 
> pointers being undefined. I don't think gcc supports any targets with 
> trapping pointers, and there are quite enough sources of UB already. We 
> don't need to create traps for users where there are no traps for 
> pointers :-)

The codegen problem is a pointer provenance issue and AFAICT, 
-Wuse-after-free=3 is also framed in that context and not as a problem 
with simply taking the numeric value of the pointer to, e.g. log it 
somewhere.

More concretely, something like this is what causes problems:

Foo *old = malloc (sz);
...
Foo *new = realloc (old, newsz);

if (new != old)
   {
     old = new;
     /* Adjust references.  */
   }

/* Otherwise continue using old unchanged */
...

The problem is the assumption that the old pointer continues to be valid 
because it has the same numeric value as the new one.  This is not an 
uncommon code pattern in C, what about C++?

On a fat pointer-like scheme such as the Arm Morello cpu, this won't 
work at all because even though old and new have the same numeric 
values, old will have been invalidated.

Sid

Re: Missed warning (-Wuse-after-free)

[Jonathan Wakely]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 2255 bytes --]

On Fri, 17 Feb 2023, 12:53 Siddhesh Poyarekar, <siddhesh@gotplt.org> wrote:

> On 2023-02-17 06:24, Jonathan Wakely wrote:
> > Please be aware that in C++ it's implementation-defined, not undefined.
> >
> > That means that an implementation without trap representations for
> > pointers can choose to make it behave just like using (uintptr_t)p.
> >
> > https://cplusplus.github.io/CWG/issues/1438.html
> > <https://cplusplus.github.io/CWG/issues/1438.html>
> > https://cplusplus.github.io/CWG/issues/623.html
> > <https://cplusplus.github.io/CWG/issues/623.html>
> > https://cplusplus.github.io/CWG/issues/616.html
> > <https://cplusplus.github.io/CWG/issues/616.html>
> > https://cplusplus.github.io/CWG/issues/312.html
> > <https://cplusplus.github.io/CWG/issues/312.html>
> >
> > We could still warn in C++ (because the code isn't portable) but I would
> > strongly suggest we don't influence C++ codegen based on deallocated
> > pointers being undefined. I don't think gcc supports any targets with
> > trapping pointers, and there are quite enough sources of UB already. We
> > don't need to create traps for users where there are no traps for
> > pointers :-)
>
> The codegen problem is a pointer provenance issue and AFAICT,
> -Wuse-after-free=3 is also framed in that context and not as a problem
> with simply taking the numeric value of the pointer to, e.g. log it
> somewhere.
>
> More concretely, something like this is what causes problems:
>
> Foo *old = malloc (sz);
> ...
> Foo *new = realloc (old, newsz);
>
> if (new != old)
>    {
>      old = new;
>      /* Adjust references.  */
>    }
>
> /* Otherwise continue using old unchanged */
> ...
>
> The problem is the assumption that the old pointer continues to be valid
> because it has the same numeric value as the new one.  This is not an
> uncommon code pattern in C, what about C++?
>

Nobody uses realloc in C++. It's only safe for trivial types, because
anything with user-defined construction/assignment/destruction can't be
copied to a new location if the memory is reallocated.





> On a fat pointer-like scheme such as the Arm Morello cpu, this won't
> work at all because even though old and new have the same numeric
> values, old will have been invalidated.
>
> Sid
>

Re: Missed warning (-Wuse-after-free)

[David Malcolm]

On Thu, 2023-02-16 at 22:48 -0500, Siddhesh Poyarekar wrote:
> On 2023-02-16 10:15, David Malcolm via Gcc wrote:
> > I'm not convinced that it's useful to the end-user to warn about
> > the
> > "use of q itself" case.
> 
> FWIW, -Wuse-after-free=3 already should do this:
> 
> At level 3, the warning also diagnoses uses of indeterminate pointers
> in 
> equality expressions.  All uses of indeterminate pointers are
> undefined 
> but equality tests sometimes appear after
> calls to "realloc" as an attempt to determine whether the call
> resulted 
> in relocating the object to a different address.  They are diagnosed
> at 
> a separate level to aid legacy code gradually
> transition to safe alternatives.

This is possibly a silly question, but what *are* these safe
alternatives? [1] How does one test to see if an object has been
reallocated?

Dave
[1] Would suggesting "rust" here be too snarky? :-P

>   For example, the equality test in the 
> function below is diagnosed at this level:
> 
> Jakub and I had discussed this in the context of _FORTIFY_SOURCE=3 
> (which is anal about this and can break things) and we got pr#105217,
> but that is also a best-effort thing, not really a guarantee.
> 
> IMO the analyzer should go that extra mile and warn for the use of q 
> itself and maybe deprecate -Wuse-after-free=3 in its favour.
> 
> Sid
> 

Re: Missed warning (-Wuse-after-free)

[Siddhesh Poyarekar]

On 2023-02-17 08:44, David Malcolm wrote:
> This is possibly a silly question, but what *are* these safe
> alternatives? [1] How does one test to see if an object has been
> reallocated?

Oops sorry, I snipped off that part when pasting from the man page. 
Typically such conditionals are used to update pointers within structs 
(and in some overly adventurous cases, continue using the old pointer!) 
and the alternative is to save offsets in structs and not pointers.

The text I missed quoting here:

"""
         void adjust_pointers (int**, int);

         void grow (int **p, int n)
         {
           int **q = (int**)realloc (p, n *= 2);
           if (q == p)
             return;
           adjust_pointers ((int**)q, n);
         }

To avoid the warning at this level, store offsets into allocated memory 
instead of pointers.  This approach obviates needing to adjust the 
stored pointers after reallocation.
"""

Sid

> Dave
> [1] Would suggesting "rust" here be too snarky? :-P

I think the equivalent American expression is "lets take this outside" ;)

Re: Missed warning (-Wuse-after-free)

[Yann Droneaud]

Hi,

Le 16/02/2023 à 15:35, Alejandro Colomar via Gcc a écrit :
> Hi!
>
> I was preparing an example program of a use-after-realloc bug,
> when I found that GCC doesn't warn in a case where it should.
>
>
> alx@debian:~/tmp$ cat realloc.c
> #include <stdint.h>
> #include <stdlib.h>
> #include <stdio.h>
> #include <string.h>
> #include <unistd.h>
>
> static inline char *
> xstrdup(const char *s)
> {
> 	char  *p;
>
> 	p = strdup(s);
> 	if (p == NULL)
> 		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
> 	return p;
> }
>
> static inline char *
> strnul(const char *s)
> {
> 	return (char *) s + strlen(s);
> }
>
> int
> main(void)
> {
> 	char  *p, *q;
>
> 	p = xstrdup("");
> 	q = strnul(p);
>
> 	if (p == q)
> 		puts("equal before");
> 	else
> 		exit(EXIT_FAILURE); // It's an empty string; this won't happen
>
> 	printf("p = %p; q = %p\n", p, q);
>
> 	p = realloc(p, UINT16_MAX);
> 	if (p == NULL)
> 		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
> 	puts("realloc()");
>
> 	if (p == q) {  // Use after realloc.  I'd expect a warning here.
> 		puts("equal after");
> 	} else {
> 		/* Can we get here?
> 		   Let's see the options:
>
> 			- realloc(3) fails:
> 				We exit immediately.  We don't arrive here.
>
> 			- realloc(3) doesn't move the memory:
> 				p == q, as before
>
> 			- realloc(3) moved the memory:
> 				p is guaranteed to be a unique pointer,
> 				and q is now an invalid pointer.  It is
> 				Undefined Behavior to read `q`, so `p == q`
> 				is UB.
>
> 		   As we see, there's no _defined_ path where this can happen
> 		 */
> 		printf("PID = %i\n", (int) getpid());
> 	}
>
> 	printf("p = %p; q = %p\n", p, q);
> }
> alx@debian:~/tmp$ cc -Wall -Wextra realloc.c -O3 -fanalyzer
> realloc.c: In function ‘main’:
> realloc.c:67:9: warning: pointer ‘p’ may be used after ‘realloc’ [-Wuse-after-free]
>     67 |         printf("p = %p; q = %p\n", p, q);
>        |         ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> realloc.c:39:13: note: call to ‘realloc’ here
>     39 |         p = realloc(p, UINT16_MAX);
>        |             ^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> alx@debian:~/tmp$ ./a.out
> equal before
> p = 0x55bff80802a0; q = 0x55bff80802a0
> realloc()
> PID = 25222
> p = 0x55bff80806d0; q = 0x55bff80802a0
>
>
> Did I miss anything?

-Wuse-after-free=3

Regards.

-- 
Yann Droneaud
OPTEYA