WCU / Cybersecurity
~/CSC 472/Class 06/KP 15
Class 06 · KP 15 / 18

Defenses: Write Correct Code

  • Never pass user data as the format argument. printf(user_input); /* NO */ printf("
  • Enable compiler diagnostics:
  • -Wformat —- checks format/argument type mismatches.
  • -Wformat-security —- flags non-literal formats with no args.
  • -Werror=format-security —- make it a hard build error.
  • Static analyzers and code review specifically hunt the "non-literal format" pattern.