A Collection of Examples of 64-bit Errors in Real Programs

[Nytro]

[h=1]A Collection of Examples of 64-bit Errors in Real Programs[/h]

• Abstract
  
• Introduction
  
• Example 1. Buffer overflow
  
• Example 2. Unnecessary type conversions
  
• Example 3. Incorrect #ifdef's
  
• Example 4. Confusion of int and int*
  
• Example 5. Using deprecated (obsolete) functions
  
• Example 6. Truncation of values at an implicit type conversion
  
• Example 7. Undefined functions in C
  
• Example 8. Remains of dinosaurs in large and old programs
  
• Example 9. Virtual functions
  
• Example 10. Magic constants as parameters
  
• Example 11. Magic constants denoting size
  
• Example 12. Stack overflow
  
• Example 13. A function with a variable number of arguments and buffer overflow
  
• Example 14. A function with a variable number of arguments and wrong format
  
• Example 15. Storing integer values in double
  
• Example 16. Address arithmetic. A + B != A - (-
  
• Example 17. Address arithmetic. Signed and unsigned types.
  
• Example 18. Address arithmetic. Overflows.
  
• Example 19. Changing an array's type
  
• Example 20. Wrapping a pointer in a 32-bit type
  
• Example 21. Memsize-types in unions
  
• Example 22. An infinity loop
  
• Example 23. Bit operations and NOT operation
  
• Example 24. Bit operations, offsets
  
• Example 25. Bit operations and sign extension
  
• Example 26. Serialization and data exchange
  
• Example 27. Changes in type alignment
  
• Example 28. Type alignments and why you mustn't write sizeof(x) + sizeof(y)
  
• Example 29. Overloaded functions
  
• Example 30. Errors in 32-bit units working in WoW64
  
• Summary
  
• References
  

[h=2]Abstract[/h] This article is the most complete collection of examples of 64-bit errors in the C and C++ languages. The article is intended for Windows-application developers who use Visual C++, however, it will be useful for other programmers as well.

[h=2]Introduction[/h] Our company OOO "Program Verification Systems" develops a special static analyzer Viva64 that detects 64-bit errors in the code of C/C++ applications. During this development process we constantly enlarge our collection of examples of 64-bit defects, so we decided to gather the most interesting ones in this article. Here you will find examples both taken directly from the code of real applications and composed synthetically relying on real code since such errors are too "extended" throughout the native code.

The article only demonstrates various types of 64-bit errors and does not describe methods of detecting and preventing them. If you want to know how to diagnose and fix defects in 64-bit programs, please see the following sources:

• Lessons on development of 64-bit C/C++ applications [1];
  
• About size_t and ptrdiff_t [2];
  
• 20 issues of porting C++ code on the 64-bit platform [3];
  
• PVS-Studio Tutorial [4];
  
• A 64-bit horse that can count [5].
  

You may also try the demo version of the PVS-Studio tool that includes the Viva64 static code analyzer which detects almost all the errors described in this article. The demo version of the tool can be downloaded here: http://www.viva64.com/pvs-studio/download/.

Online:

http://www.viva64.com/en/a/0065/print/