Re: [PATCH v6] checkpatch: add check for snprintf to scnprintf

Kees Cook
2024-04-29T19:49:50Z

On Mon, Apr 29, 2024 at 06:39:28PM +0000, Justin Stitt wrote:
> I am going to quote Lee Jones who has been doing some snprintf ->
> scnprintf refactorings:
>
> "There is a general misunderstanding amongst engineers that
> {v}snprintf() returns the length of the data *actually* encoded into the
> destination array. However, as per the C99 standard {v}snprintf()
> really returns the length of the data that *would have been* written if
> there were enough space for it. This misunderstanding has led to
> buffer-overruns in the past. It's generally considered safer to use the
> {v}scnprintf() variants in their place (or even sprintf() in simple
> cases). So let's do that."
>
> To help prevent new instances of snprintf() from popping up, let's add a
> check to checkpatch.pl.
>
> Suggested-by: Finn Thain <fthain@linux-m68k.org>
> Signed-off-by: Justin Stitt <justinstitt@google.com>

Thanks!

Reviewed-by: Kees Cook <keescook@chromium.org>

--
Kees Cook