Operations | Definition |
Allocate | Reserve space in memory for an object; defines its initial boundaries and size. |
Extend | Reserve additional memory for an object in the same space; changes its boundaries and size. |
Reallocate-Extend | Reserve a new larger piece of memory for an object at a new address, copy the object content there, reassign its pointer, and deallocate the previous piece of memory. |
Deallocate | Release the allocated memory of an object. |
Reduce | Deallocates part of the object memory; redefines its boundaries and size. |
Reallocate-Reduce | Reserve a new smaller space in memory for an object at a new address, copy part of the object content there, reassign the pointer, and deallocate the previous piece of memory. |
Operands | Definition |
Data | The data value of an object -- stored in object's memory. |
Address | The memory address for an object. Its value is data of another object, the object's pointer, used to reference and traverce the object. |
Causes | Definition |
Code Defect Bug | The operation has a bug, which is the first cause for the chain of weaknesses underlying a software security vulnerability. The bug must be fixed to resolve the vulnerability. |
Missing Code | The entire operation implementation or a part of its specification is absent. |
Mismatched Operation | The deallocation function does not match the allocation function used for the same object. |
Erroneous Code | The operation implementation has a bug. |
Data Fault | The object data has harmed semantics or inconsistent or wrong value |
Hardcoded Address | The pointer points a wrong specific address. |
Forbidden Address | The pointer points to an OS protected or non-existing address. |
Single Owned Address | Exactly one pointer owns the object. |
Wrong Size | The value used as size does not match the actual size of the object. |
Address Fault | The object address in use is wrong. |
Wild Pointer | Points to an arbitrary address, because it has not been initialized or an erroneous allocation routine is used. |
Dangling Pointer | Still points to the address of its successfully deallocated object. |
Wrong Position Pointer | Points to a miscalculated position inside its object bounds. |
Size Fault | The object size in use is wrong. |
Not Enough Memory | The allocated memory is too little for the data it should store. |
Consequences | Definition |
Address Error | The object address in use is wrong. |
NULL Pointer | Points to the zero address, a specific invalid address. |
Wild Pointer | Points to an arbitrary address, because it has not been initialized or an erroneous allocation routine is used. |
Dangling Pointer | Still points to the address of its successfully deallocated object. |
Size Error | The object size in use is wrong. |
Not Enough Memory | The allocated memory is too little for the data it should store. |
Memory Corruption/Disclosure Final Error | An exploitable or undefined system behavior caused by memory addressing, allocation, use, and deallocation bugs. |
Memory Overflow | More memory is requested than available. |
Memory Leak | An object has no pointer pointing to it. |
Double Free | An attempt to deallocate a deallocated object or via an uninitialized pointer. |
Object Corruption | An object's data value is unintentionally altered. |
Operations Attributes | Definition |
Mechanism | Shows how the buggy/faulty operation code is performed. |
Implicit | The operation is performed without a function/method call. |
Explicit | The operation is performed by a function/method call. |
Source Code | Shows where the buggy/faulty operation code is in the program -- in what kind of software. |
Codebase | The operation is in the programmer's code - in the application itself. |
Third-Party | The operation is in a third-party software. |
Standard Library | The operation is in the standard library for a particular programming language. |
Compiler/Interpreter | The operation is in the language processor that allows execution or creates executables (compiler, assembler, interpreter). |
Execution Space | Shows where the buggy/faulty operation code is running or with what privilege level). |
Userland | The bugged code runs in an environment with privilege levels, but in unprivileged mode (e.g., ring 3 in x86 architecture). |
Kernel | The bugged code runs in an environment with privilege levels with access privileged instructions (e.g., ring 0 in x86 architecture). |
Bare-Metal | The bugged code runs in an environment without privilege control. Usually, the program is the only software running and has total access to the hardware. |
Operands Attributes | Definition |
Address State | Shows where the address is in the memory layout. |
Stack | The object is a non-static local variable (defined in a function, a passed parameter, or a function return address). |
Heap | The object is a dynamically allocated data structure (e.g., via malloc() and new). |
/other/ | Other kinds of memory layout (e.g. Uninitialized Data Segment, Data Segment, and Code Segment could be used for C). |