1 .. title:: clang-tidy - bugprone-suspicious-realloc-usage
3 bugprone-suspicious-realloc-usage
4 =================================
6 This check finds usages of ``realloc`` where the return value is assigned to the
7 same expression as passed to the first argument:
8 ``p = realloc(p, size);``
9 The problem with this construct is that if ``realloc`` fails it returns a
10 null pointer but does not deallocate the original memory. If no other variable
11 is pointing to it, the original memory block is not available any more for the
12 program to use or free. In either case ``p = realloc(p, size);`` indicates bad
13 coding style and can be replaced by ``q = realloc(p, size);``.
15 The pointer expression (used at ``realloc``) can be a variable or a field member
16 of a data structure, but can not contain function calls or unresolved types.
18 In obvious cases when the pointer used at realloc is assigned to another
19 variable before the ``realloc`` call, no warning is emitted. This happens only
20 if a simple expression in form of ``q = p`` or ``void *q = p`` is found in the
21 same function where ``p = realloc(p, ...)`` is found. The assignment has to be
22 before the call to realloc (but otherwise at any place) in the same function.
23 This suppression works only if ``p`` is a single variable.
35 void foo(void *p, A *a, int new_size) {
36 p = realloc(p, new_size); // warning: 'p' may be set to null if 'realloc' fails, which may result in a leak of the original buffer
37 a->p = realloc(a->p, new_size); // warning: 'a->p' may be set to null if 'realloc' fails, which may result in a leak of the original buffer
38 getA().p = realloc(getA().p, new_size); // no warning
41 void foo1(void *p, int new_size) {
43 p = realloc(p, new_size); // no warning