Buffer overflows
Buffer overflows are a common type of software vulnerability that occurs when a program writes more data to a buffer (temporary data storage area) than allocated for. This can lead to unpredictable behavior, crashes, and, in some cases, exploitation by attackers to execute malicious code. Defenses against buffer overflows are essential to enhance the security of software applications. Here are some key defenses:
- Use safe string functions - Replace standard, non-bounds-checked string functions (for example,
strcpy,sprintf) with their safer counterparts (for example,strncpy,snprintf) that allow specifying the maximum number of characters to copy. - Bounds checking - Perform explicit bounds checking before copying data into buffers. Ensure that the input data length does not exceed the allocated buffer size.
- Memory-safe languages - Choose programming languages that provide memory safety, such as Rust, or languages with memory management mechanisms such...
