Skip site navigation (1)Skip section navigation (2)
Date:      Wed, 27 Jul 2011 22:44:45 +1000
From:      Sean <sean@gothic.net.au>
To:        grarpamp <grarpamp@gmail.com>
Cc:        freebsd-security@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: Malloc -Z
Message-ID:  <CAF3EE36-98E2-4265-A1C9-DA9671AB89C5@gothic.net.au>
In-Reply-To: <CAD2Ti2_xCSzjB6eC0pUU6DHj7OSsmE_E4ikgDRx=CU3un64LoA@mail.gmail.com>
References:  <CAD2Ti2_xCSzjB6eC0pUU6DHj7OSsmE_E4ikgDRx=CU3un64LoA@mail.gmail.com>

next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help

On 27/07/2011, at 4:49 PM, grarpamp wrote:

> Was reading malloc(3) while chasing corruption suspects.
> Does the presence of -Z imply that without it, programs
> can be allocated dirty (non-zeroed) memory?
> If so, it seems running with -Z would be prudent if one cares.
> Therefore, what is the rough percent performance
> impact of -Z compared to default malloc?
>=20

malloc(3) has never provided zeroed memory. If you need zeroed memory in =
C, you either need to zero it yourself using memset(3), or use =
calloc(3).

It's been part of the language standard for over 20 years now, and is =
the same in that regard on every platform that provides malloc(3).

What would be prudent as a developer (and is the default in CURRENT I =
believe) is to use J - it enforces the "memory from malloc(3) is not =
guaranteed to be zeroed." by specifically setting it to non-zero.


> Bonus:
> What would be needed to make the useful streams:
> /dev/one
> /dev/10
> /dev/01
> In addition to /dev/zero.
> _______________________________________________
> freebsd-security@freebsd.org mailing list
> http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-security
> To unsubscribe, send any mail to =
"freebsd-security-unsubscribe@freebsd.org"




Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?CAF3EE36-98E2-4265-A1C9-DA9671AB89C5>