Обсуждение: BUG #18908: DEREF_OF_NULL: After having been assigned to a NULL value at descriptor.c:203

Поиск
Список
Период
Сортировка

BUG #18908: DEREF_OF_NULL: After having been assigned to a NULL value at descriptor.c:203

От
PG Bug reporting form
Дата:
The following bug has been logged on the website:

Bug reference:      18908
Logged by:          Eugeny Goryachev
Email address:      gorcom2012@gmail.com
PostgreSQL version: 17.4
Operating system:   Ubuntu
Description:

DEREF_OF_NULL.EX.COND After having been assigned to a NULL value at
descriptor.c:203, pointer '0' is passed as 5th parameter in call to function
'ECPGdump_a_type' at descriptor.c:203, where it is dereferenced at
type.c:332.
In the file /src/interfaces/ecpg/preproc/descriptor.c, in the function
output_get_descr(), there is a call to ECPGdump_a_type() with an explicit
NULL passed as the 5th parameter:
void
output_get_descr(char *desc_name, char *index)
{
***
    ECPGdump_a_type(base_yyout, v->name, v->type, v->brace_level,
                    NULL, NULL, -1, NULL, NULL, str_zero, NULL, NULL);
***
}
This NULL parameter is then passed to the ECPGdump_a_struct() function,
where it gets dereferenced:
static void
ECPGdump_a_struct(FILE *o, const char *name, const char *ind_name, char
*arrsize, struct ECPGtype *type, struct ECPGtype *ind_type, const char
*prefix, const char *ind_prefix)
{
***
    char *pbuf = (char *) mm_alloc(strlen(name) + ((prefix == NULL) ? 0 :
strlen(prefix)) + 3);
***
}
When name == NULL, the strlen(name) call will cause a Segmentation Fault.
To fix this issue, I propose the following patch:
diff --git a/src/interfaces/ecpg/preproc/type.c
b/src/interfaces/ecpg/preproc/type.c
index a842bb6a1fe..7ffae74bcf2 100644
--- a/src/interfaces/ecpg/preproc/type.c
+++ b/src/interfaces/ecpg/preproc/type.c
@@ -587,7 +587,7 @@ ECPGdump_a_struct(FILE *o, const char *name, const char
*ind_name, char *arrsize
     struct ECPGstruct_member *p,
                *ind_p = NULL;
     char       *pbuf = (char *) mm_alloc(strlen(name) + ((prefix == NULL) ?
0 : strlen(prefix)) + 3);
-    char       *ind_pbuf = (char *) mm_alloc(strlen(ind_name) +
((ind_prefix == NULL) ? 0 : strlen(ind_prefix)) + 3);
+    char       *ind_pbuf = (char *) mm_alloc(((ind_name == NULL) ? 0 :
strlen(ind_name)) + ((ind_prefix == NULL) ? 0 : strlen(ind_prefix)) + 3);
     if (atoi(arrsize) == 1)
         sprintf(pbuf, "%s%s.", prefix ? prefix : "", name);


Hello Eugeny!

On Wed Apr 30, 2025 at 14:25:56 GMT +03, PG Bug reporting form wrote:
> DEREF_OF_NULL.EX.COND After having been assigned to a NULL value at
> descriptor.c:203, pointer '0' is passed as 5th parameter in call to function
> 'ECPGdump_a_type' at descriptor.c:203, where it is dereferenced at
> type.c:332.

Perhaps you can provide a pgc file that triggers the bug?

Best regards,
Robin

--
Robin Haberkorn
Senior Software Engineer

B1 Systems GmbH
Osterfeldstraße 7 / 85088 Vohburg / https://www.b1-systems.de
GF: Ralph Dehner / Unternehmenssitz: Vohburg / AG: Ingolstadt, HRB 3537



Re: BUG #18908: DEREF_OF_NULL: After having been assigned to a NULL value at descriptor.c:203

От
Алена Васильева
Дата:

Hello,

This is regarding bug report BUG #18908: 18908-6531c66d23729837@postgresql.org.

I have reviewed this block of code and concluded that it does not require any fixes. This is a false positive from the static analyzer.

In the output_get_descr() function, there is a call:

```
ECPGdump_a_type(base_yyout, v->name, v->type, v->brace_level,
NULL, NULL, -1, NULL, NULL, str_zero, NULL, NULL);
```

where the 5th parameter is passed as NULL.

Then, in the ECPGdump_a_type() function, this 5th parameter is defined as ind_name and is passed as the 3rd parameter to:
```
ECPGdump_a_struct(o, name, ind_name, str_one, type, ind_type, prefix, ind_prefix);
```
In ECPGdump_a_struct(), there is a dereference of the ind_name pointer:
```
char *ind_pbuf = (char *) mm_alloc(strlen(ind_name) + ((ind_prefix == NULL) ? 0 : strlen(ind_prefix)) + 3);
```

Here, if ind_name == NULL, calling strlen(ind_name) would cause a process crash (segmentation fault).

To demonstrate that this can never happen and that the analyzer is mistaken, let’s look at the condition under which ECPGdump_a_struct() is called from ECPGdump_a_type():
```
switch (type->type)
{
    case ECPGt_struct:
```

That is, only if the processed variable is of type struct.

However, output_get_descr() never processes structs — it only works with descriptors.

The field type->type (which is v->type) comes from:
```
const struct variable *v = find_variable(results->variable);
```

But in output_get_descr(), we process descriptor fields (SQLDA), and results->value is one of the descriptor’s fields.

All these fields are primitive types, not structs:
```
/* descriptor items */
enum ECPGdtype
{
    ECPGd_count = 1,
    ECPGd_data,
    ECPGd_di_code,
    ECPGd_di_precision,
    ECPGd_indicator,
    ECPGd_key_member,
    ECPGd_length,
    ECPGd_name,
    ECPGd_nullable,
    ECPGd_octet,
    ECPGd_precision,
    ECPGd_ret_length,
    ECPGd_ret_octet,
    ECPGd_scale,
    ECPGd_type,
    ECPGd_EODT, /* End of descriptor types. */
    ECPGd_cardinality
};

```

Therefore, ECPGdump_a_struct() will never be called from output_get_descr() because:

  1. v->type->type will never be ECPGt_struct in this context;

  2. results->value refers to descriptor fields, not C structs.

Consequently, a call to strlen(ind_name) with ind_name == NULL is unreachable.

Best regards, Eugeny Goryachev