Kingdom: API Abuse

An API is a contract between a caller and a callee. The most common forms of API abuse are caused by the caller failing to honor its end of this contract. For example, if a program fails to call chdir() after calling chroot(), it violates the contract that specifies how to change the active root directory in a secure fashion. Another good example of library abuse is expecting the callee to return trustworthy DNS information to the caller. In this case, the caller abuses the callee API by making certain assumptions about its behavior (that the return value can be used for authentication purposes). One can also violate the caller-callee contract from the other side. For example, if a coder subclasses SecureRandom and returns a non-random value, the contract is violated.

Often Misused: Exception Handling

C/C++

Abstract

The _alloca() function can throw a stack overflow exception, potentially causing the program to crash.

Explanation

The _alloca() function allocates memory on the stack. If an allocation request is too large for the available stack space, _alloca() throws an exception. If the exception is not caught, the program will crash, potentially enabling a denial of service attack.
_alloca() has been deprecated as of Microsoft Visual Studio 2005(R). It has been replaced with the more secure _alloca_s().

References

[1] Standards Mapping - Common Weakness Enumeration CWE ID 248

[2] Standards Mapping - DISA Control Correlation Identifier Version 2 CCI-001094

[3] Standards Mapping - General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Indirect Access to Sensitive Data

[4] Standards Mapping - Motor Industry Software Reliability Association (MISRA) C Guidelines 2012 Rule 1.3

[5] Standards Mapping - Motor Industry Software Reliability Association (MISRA) C Guidelines 2023 Rule 1.3

[6] Standards Mapping - Motor Industry Software Reliability Association (MISRA) C++ Guidelines 2023 Rule 4.1.3

[7] Standards Mapping - NIST Special Publication 800-53 Revision 4 SC-5 Denial of Service Protection (P1)

[8] Standards Mapping - NIST Special Publication 800-53 Revision 5 SC-5 Denial of Service Protection

[9] Standards Mapping - OWASP Top 10 2004 A7 Improper Error Handling

[10] Standards Mapping - OWASP Top 10 2007 A6 Information Leakage and Improper Error Handling

[11] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 1.1 Requirement 6.5.7

[12] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 1.2 Requirement 6.3.1.2, Requirement 6.5.6

[13] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 2.0 Requirement 6.5.5

[14] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 3.0 Requirement 6.5.5

[15] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 3.1 Requirement 6.5.5

[16] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 3.2 Requirement 6.5.5

[17] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 3.2.1 Requirement 6.5.5

[18] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 4.0 Requirement 6.2.4

[19] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 4.0.1 Requirement 6.2.4

[20] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Software Security Framework 1.0 Control Objective 3.6 - Sensitive Data Retention

[21] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Software Security Framework 1.1 Control Objective 3.6 - Sensitive Data Retention, Control Objective B.3.2 - Terminal Software Attack Mitigation

[22] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Software Security Framework 1.2 Control Objective 3.6 - Sensitive Data Retention, Control Objective B.3.2 - Terminal Software Attack Mitigation

[23] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 3.1 APP3120 CAT II

[24] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 3.4 APP3120 CAT II

[25] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 3.5 APP3120 CAT II

[26] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 3.6 APP3120 CAT II

[27] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 3.7 APP3120 CAT II

[28] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 3.9 APP3120 CAT II

[29] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 3.10 APP3120 CAT II

[30] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.2 APSC-DV-002400 CAT II

[31] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.3 APSC-DV-002400 CAT II

[32] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.4 APSC-DV-002400 CAT II

[33] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.5 APSC-DV-002400 CAT II

[34] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.6 APSC-DV-002400 CAT II

[35] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.7 APSC-DV-002400 CAT II

[36] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.8 APSC-DV-002400 CAT II

[37] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.9 APSC-DV-002400 CAT II

[38] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.10 APSC-DV-002400 CAT II

[39] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.11 APSC-DV-002400 CAT II

[40] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 4.1 APSC-DV-002400 CAT II

[41] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 5.1 APSC-DV-002400 CAT II

[42] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 5.2 APSC-DV-002400 CAT II

[43] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 5.3 APSC-DV-002400 CAT II

[44] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 6.1 APSC-DV-002400 CAT II

desc.semantic.cpp.often_misused_exception_handling._alloca