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What is a segmentation fault? Is it different in C and C++? How are segmentation faults and dangling pointers related?

asked Feb 27, 2010 at 9:23

Rajendra UppalRajendra Uppal

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Segmentation fault is a specific kind of error caused by accessing memory that “does not belong to you.” It’s a helper mechanism that keeps you from corrupting the memory and introducing hard-to-debug memory bugs. Whenever you get a segfault you know you are doing something wrong with memory – accessing a variable that has already been freed, writing to a read-only portion of the memory, etc. Segmentation fault is essentially the same in most languages that let you mess with memory management, there is no principal difference between segfaults in C and C++.

There are many ways to get a segfault, at least in the lower-level languages such as C(++). A common way to get a segfault is to dereference a null pointer:

int *p = NULL;
*p = 1;

Another segfault happens when you try to write to a portion of memory that was marked as read-only:

char *str = "Foo"; // Compiler marks the constant string as read-only
*str = 'b'; // Which means this is illegal and results in a segfault

Dangling pointer points to a thing that does not exist anymore, like here:

char *p = NULL;
{
    char c;
    p = &c;
}
// Now p is dangling

The pointer p dangles because it points to the character variable c that ceased to exist after the block ended. And when you try to dereference dangling pointer (like *p='A'), you would probably get a segfault.

answered Feb 27, 2010 at 9:36

It would be worth noting that segmentation fault isn’t caused by directly accessing another process memory (this is what I’m hearing sometimes), as it is simply not possible. With virtual memory every process has its own virtual address space and there is no way to access another one using any value of pointer. Exception to this can be shared libraries which are same physical address space mapped to (possibly) different virtual addresses and kernel memory which is even mapped in the same way in every process (to avoid TLB flushing on syscall, I think). And things like shmat — these are what I count as ‘indirect’ access. One can, however, check that they are usually located long way from process code and we are usually able to access them (this is why they are there, nevertheless accessing them in a improper way will produce segmentation fault).

Still, segmentation fault can occur in case of accessing our own (process) memory in improper way (for instance trying to write to non-writable space). But the most common reason for it is the access to the part of the virtual address space that is not mapped to physical one at all.

And all of this with respect to virtual memory systems.

answered Jul 3, 2011 at 23:22

A segmentation fault is caused by a request for a page that the process does not have listed in its descriptor table, or an invalid request for a page that it does have listed (e.g. a write request on a read-only page).

A dangling pointer is a pointer that may or may not point to a valid page, but does point to an «unexpected» segment of memory.

answered Feb 27, 2010 at 9:27

To be honest, as other posters have mentioned, Wikipedia has a very good article on this so have a look there. This type of error is very common and often called other things such as Access Violation or General Protection Fault.

They are no different in C, C++ or any other language that allows pointers. These kinds of errors are usually caused by pointers that are

Used before being properly initialised
Used after the memory they point to has been realloced or deleted.
Used in an indexed array where the index is outside of the array bounds. This is generally only when you’re doing pointer math on traditional arrays or c-strings, not STL / Boost based collections (in C++.)

answered Feb 27, 2010 at 20:35

Component 10Component 10

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According to Wikipedia:

A segmentation fault occurs when a
program attempts to access a memory
location that it is not allowed to
access, or attempts to access a memory
location in a way that is not allowed
(for example, attempting to write to a
read-only location, or to overwrite
part of the operating system).

answered Feb 27, 2010 at 9:30

Orhan CinarOrhan Cinar

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Segmentation fault is also caused by hardware failures, in this case the RAM memories. This is the less common cause, but if you don’t find an error in your code, maybe a memtest could help you.

The solution in this case, change the RAM.

edit:

Here there is a reference: Segmentation fault by hardware

answered Jun 24, 2014 at 16:59

Wikipedia’s Segmentation_fault page has a very nice description about it, just pointing out the causes and reasons. Have a look into the wiki for a detailed description.

In computing, a segmentation fault (often shortened to segfault) or access violation is a fault raised by hardware with memory protection, notifying an operating system (OS) about a memory access violation.

The following are some typical causes of a segmentation fault:

Dereferencing NULL pointers – this is special-cased by memory management hardware
Attempting to access a nonexistent memory address (outside process’s address space)
Attempting to access memory the program does not have rights to (such as kernel structures in process context)
Attempting to write read-only memory (such as code segment)

These in turn are often caused by programming errors that result in invalid memory access:

Dereferencing or assigning to an uninitialized pointer (wild pointer, which points to a random memory address)
Dereferencing or assigning to a freed pointer (dangling pointer, which points to memory that has been freed/deallocated/deleted)
A buffer overflow.
A stack overflow.
Attempting to execute a program that does not compile correctly. (Some compilers will output an executable file despite the presence of compile-time errors.)

Jamal

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answered Oct 14, 2014 at 10:05

iampranabroyiampranabroy

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Segmentation fault occurs when a process (running instance of a program) is trying to access read-only memory address or memory range which is being used by other process or access the non-existent (invalid) memory address.
Dangling Reference (pointer) problem means that trying to access an object or variable whose contents have already been deleted from memory, e.g:

int *arr = new int[20];
delete arr;
cout<<arr[1];  //dangling problem occurs here

answered Dec 10, 2013 at 22:34

Sohail xIN3NSohail xIN3N

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In simple words: segmentation fault is the operating system sending a signal to the program
saying that it has detected an illegal memory access and is prematurely terminating the program to prevent
memory from being corrupted.

answered Jul 19, 2017 at 13:43

There are several good explanations of «Segmentation fault» in the answers, but since with segmentation fault often there’s a dump of the memory content, I wanted to share where the relationship between the «core dumped» part in Segmentation fault (core dumped) and memory comes from:

From about 1955 to 1975 — before semiconductor memory — the dominant technology in computer memory used tiny magnetic doughnuts strung on copper wires. The doughnuts were known as «ferrite cores» and main memory thus known as «core memory» or «core».

Taken from here.

answered Oct 13, 2018 at 18:39

Viktor NonovViktor Nonov

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In computing, a segmentation fault or access violation is a fault, or failure condition, raised by hardware with memory protection,
notifying an operating system the software has attempted to access a
restricted area of memory. -WIKIPEDIA

You might be accessing the computer memory with the wrong data type. Your case might be like the code below:

#include <stdio.h>

int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
    
    char A = 'asd';
    puts(A);
    
    return 0;
    
}

‘asd’ -> is a character chain rather than a single character char data type. So, storing it as a char causes the segmentation fault. Stocking some data at the wrong position.

Storing this string or character chain as a single char is trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.

Terminated due to signal: SEGMENTATION FAULT (11)

Segm. Fault is the same as trying to breath in under water, your lungs were not made for that. Reserving memory for an integer and then trying to operate it as another data type won’t work at all.

answered Apr 23, 2021 at 3:29

victorkolisvictorkolis

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«Segmentation fault» means that you tried to access memory that you do not have access to.

The first problem is with your arguments of main. The main function should be int main(int argc, char *argv[]), and you should check that argc is at least 2 before accessing argv[1].

Also, since you’re passing in a float to printf (which, by the way, gets converted to a double when passing to printf), you should use the %f format specifier. The %s format specifier is for strings (»-terminated character arrays).

answered Mar 1, 2019 at 11:44

PHP Worm…PHP Worm…

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Simple meaning of Segmentation fault is that you are trying to access some memory which doesn’t belong to you. Segmentation fault occurs when we attempt to read and/or write tasks in a read only memory location or try to freed memory. In other words, we can explain this as some sort of memory corruption.

Below I mention common mistakes done by programmers that lead to Segmentation fault.

Use scanf() in wrong way(forgot to put &).

int num;
scanf("%d", num);// must use &num instead of num

Use pointers in wrong way.

int *num; 
printf("%d",*num); //*num should be correct as num only
//Unless You can use *num but you have to point this pointer to valid memory address before accessing it.

Modifying a string literal(pointer try to write or modify a read only memory.)

char *str;  

//Stored in read only part of data segment
str = "GfG";      

//Problem:  trying to modify read only memory
*(str+1) = 'n';

Try to reach through an address which is already freed.

// allocating memory to num 
int* num = malloc(8); 
*num = 100; 

// de-allocated the space allocated to num 
free(num); 

// num is already freed there for it cause segmentation fault
*num = 110;

Stack Overflow -: Running out of memory on the stack
Accessing an array out of bounds’
Use wrong format specifiers when using printf() and scanf()‘

answered Jan 3, 2020 at 17:50

KalanaKalana

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Consider the following snippets of Code,

SNIPPET 1

int *number = NULL;
*number = 1;

SNIPPET 2

int *number = malloc(sizeof(int));
*number = 1;

I’d assume you know the meaning of the functions: malloc() and sizeof() if you are asking this question.

Now that that is settled,
SNIPPET 1 would throw a Segmentation Fault Error.
while SNIPPET 2 would not.

Here’s why.

The first line of snippet one is creating a variable(*number) to store the address of some other variable but in this case it is initialized to NULL.
on the other hand,
The second line of snippet two is creating the same variable(*number) to store the address of some other and in this case it is given a memory address(because malloc() is a function in C/C++ that returns a memory address of the computer)

The point is you cannot put water inside a bowl that has not been bought OR a bowl that has been bought but has not been authorized for use by you.
When you try to do that, the computer is alerted and it throws a SegFault error.

You should only face this errors with languages that are close to low-level like C/C++. There is an abstraction in other High Level Languages that ensure you do not make this error.

It is also paramount to understand that Segmentation Fault is not language-specific.

answered Oct 15, 2020 at 10:17

There are enough definitions of segmentation fault, I would like to quote few examples which I came across while programming, which might seem like silly mistakes, but will waste a lot of time.

You can get a segmentation fault in below case while argument type mismatch in printf:

#include <stdio.h>
int main(){   
  int a = 5;
  printf("%s",a);
  return 0;
}

output : Segmentation Fault (SIGSEGV)

When you forgot to allocate memory to a pointer, but try to use it.

#include <stdio.h> 
typedef struct{
  int a;
} myStruct;   
int main(){
  myStruct *s;
  /* few lines of code */
  s->a = 5;
  return 0;
}

output : Segmentation Fault (SIGSEGV)

Kamil Jarosz

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answered Nov 10, 2019 at 15:44

NPENPE

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Segmentation fault occurs when a process (running instance of a program) is trying to access a read-only memory address or memory range which is being used by another process or access the non-existent memory address.

seg fault,when type gets mismatched

answered Jan 9 at 19:05

A segmentation fault or access violation occurs when a program attempts to access a memory location that is not exist, or attempts to access a memory location in a way that is not allowed.

 /* "Array out of bounds" error 
   valid indices for array foo
   are 0, 1, ... 999 */
   int foo[1000];
   for (int i = 0; i <= 1000 ; i++) 
   foo[i] = i;

Here i[1000] not exist, so segfault occurs.

Causes of segmentation fault:

it arise primarily due to errors in use of pointers for virtual memory addressing, particularly illegal access.

De-referencing NULL pointers – this is special-cased by memory management hardware.

Attempting to access a nonexistent memory address (outside process’s address space).

Attempting to access memory the program does not have rights to (such as kernel structures in process context).

Attempting to write read-only memory (such as code segment).

answered Dec 8, 2015 at 16:14

Источник

The segmentation fault, also known as segfault, is a type of computer error that occurs whenever an unexpected condition causes the processor to attempt to access a memory location that’s outside its own program storage area. The term “segmentation” refers to a memory protection mechanism used in virtual memory operating systems.

This specific error arises because data is typically shared on a system using different memory sections, and the program storage space is shared among applications.

Segmentation faults are usually triggered by an access violation, which occurs when the CPU attempts to execute instructions outside its memory area or tries to read or write into some reserved address that does not exist. This action results in halting the current application and generates an output known as Segmentation Fault.

#1. What are the Symptoms of Segmentation Fault?

The symptoms of segmentation faults may vary depending on how and where they’re generated. Typically, this error is generated due to one of the following conditions:

#a. Dereferencing a null pointer

Programming languages offer references, which are pointers that identify where in memory an item is located. A null pointer is a special pointer that doesn’t point to any valid memory location. Dereferencing (accessing) null pointer results in segmentation faults or null pointer exceptions.

/**
 * @file main.c
 * @author freecoder
 * @brief this program allow to handle a segmentation fault error
 *
 * @version 1.0
 * @date 8 Jan. 2022
 *
 * @copyright Copyright (c) 2022
 *
 */
#include <stdio.h>

/* main program entry */
int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
	/* local variables */
	unsigned int *puiPointer = NULL;
	/* body program */
	*puiPointer = 20;
	return 0;
}

after compiling and running the program with the gdb command, the segmentation fault error appears:

➜  Article-XX gcc -g main.c -o main
➜  Article-XX ./main               
[1]    7825 segmentation fault  ./main
➜  Article-XX gdb ./main           
GNU gdb (Debian 10.1-1.7) 10.1.90.20210103-git
Copyright (C) 2021 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
Type "show copying" and "show warranty" for details.
This GDB was configured as "x86_64-linux-gnu".
Type "show configuration" for configuration details.
For bug reporting instructions, please see:
<https://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/bugs/>.
Find the GDB manual and other documentation resources online at:
    <http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/documentation/>.
For help, type "help".
Type "apropos word" to search for commands related to "word"...
Reading symbols from ./main...
(gdb) start
Temporary breakpoint 1 at 0x401111: file main.c, line 20.
Starting program: /home/others/Article-XX/main 
warning: Error disabling address space randomization: Operation not permitted
Temporary breakpoint 1, main (argc=1, argv=0x7ffc9c096258) at main.c:20
20              unsigned int *puiPointer = NULL;
(gdb) list
15
16      /* main program entry */
17      int main(int argc, char **argv)
18      {
19              /* local variables */
20              unsigned int *puiPointer = NULL;
21
22              /* body program */
23
24              *puiPointer = 20;
(gdb) s
24              *puiPointer = 20;
(gdb) s
Program received signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault.
0x000000000040111d in main (argc=1, argv=0x7ffc9c096258) at main.c:24
24              *puiPointer = 20;
(gdb)

segmentation fault Dereferencing a null pointer

#b. Trying to access memory not initialized

Programs using uninitialized variables may crash when attempting to access uninitialized memory or may expose data stored in the uninitialized variables by writing to them. Also in the case when the program attempts to read or write to an area of memory not allocated with malloc(), calloc() or realloc().

An example of a simple segmentation fault is trying to read from a variable before it has been set:

/**
 * @file main.c
 * @author freecoder
 * @brief this program allow to handle a segmentation fault error
 *
 * @version 1.0
 * @date 8 Jan. 2022
 *
 * @copyright Copyright (c) 2022
 *
 */
#include <stdio.h>

/* main program entry */
int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
	/* local variables */
	unsigned int *puiPointer;
	/* body program */
	*puiPointer = 20;
	return 0;
}

In this case, the pointer puiPointer will be pointing to a random location in memory, so when the program attempts to read from it (by dereferencing *puiPointer), a segmentation fault will be triggered:

➜  Article-XX gcc -g main.c -o main
➜  Article-XX gdb ./main           
GNU gdb (Debian 10.1-1.7) 10.1.90.20210103-git
Copyright (C) 2021 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
Type "show copying" and "show warranty" for details.
This GDB was configured as "x86_64-linux-gnu".
Type "show configuration" for configuration details.
For bug reporting instructions, please see:
<https://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/bugs/>.
Find the GDB manual and other documentation resources online at:
    <http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/documentation/>.
For help, type "help".
Type "apropos word" to search for commands related to "word"...
Reading symbols from ./main...
(gdb) start
Temporary breakpoint 1 at 0x401111: file main.c, line 24.
Starting program: /home/others/Article-XX/main 
warning: Error disabling address space randomization: Operation not permitted
Temporary breakpoint 1, main (argc=1, argv=0x7fff6df4f038) at main.c:24
24              *puiPointer = 20;
(gdb) list
19              /* local variables */
20              unsigned int *puiPointer;
21
22              /* body program */
23
24              *puiPointer = 20;
25
26              return 0;
27      }
(gdb) s
Program received signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault.
0x0000000000401115 in main (argc=1, argv=0x7fff6df4f038) at main.c:24
24              *puiPointer = 20;
(gdb)

segmentation fault - Trying to access memory not initialized

#c. Trying to access memory out of bounds for the program

In most situations, if a program attempts to access (read or write) memory outside of its boundaries, a segmentation fault error will occur. A code example of a simple segmentation fault error is below:

/**
 * @file main.c
 * @author freecoder
 * @brief this program allow to handle a segmentation fault error
 *
 * @version 1.0
 * @date 8 Jan. 2022
 *
 * @copyright Copyright (c) 2022
 *
 */
#include <stdio.h>

/* main program entry */
int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
	/* local variables */
	unsigned int uiArray[20];
	/* body program */
	uiArray[5000] = 1;
	return 0;
}

As shown bellow, the segmentation fault occurs after executing the out of bounds statement:

➜  Article-XX gcc -g main.c -o main
➜  Article-XX gdb ./main           
GNU gdb (Debian 10.1-1.7) 10.1.90.20210103-git
Copyright (C) 2021 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
Type "show copying" and "show warranty" for details.
This GDB was configured as "x86_64-linux-gnu".
Type "show configuration" for configuration details.
For bug reporting instructions, please see:
<https://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/bugs/>.
Find the GDB manual and other documentation resources online at:
    <http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/documentation/>.
For help, type "help".
Type "apropos word" to search for commands related to "word"...
Reading symbols from ./main...
(gdb) start
Temporary breakpoint 1 at 0x401111: file main.c, line 23.
Starting program: /home/others/Article-XX/main 
warning: Error disabling address space randomization: Operation not permitted
Temporary breakpoint 1, main (argc=1, argv=0x7ffdb68620f8) at main.c:23
23              uiArray[5000] = 1;
(gdb) list
18      {
19              /* local variables */
20              unsigned int uiArray[20];
21
22              /* body program */
23              uiArray[5000] = 1;
24
25              return 0;
26      }
(gdb) s
Program received signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault.
main (argc=1, argv=0x7ffdb68620f8) at main.c:23
23              uiArray[5000] = 1;
(gdb)

#d. Trying to modify string literals

/**
 * @file main.c
 * @author freecoder
 * @brief this program allow to handle a segmentation fault error
 *
 * @version 1.0
 * @date 8 Jan. 2022
 *
 * @copyright Copyright (c) 2022
 *
 */
#include <stdio.h>

/* main program entry */
int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
	/* local variables */
	char* pucString = "Sample String 1";
	/* body program */
	pucString[14] = '2';
	return 0;
}

As shown bellow, we got a segmentation error because the compiler put the string constant “Sample String 1” in read-only memory while trying to modify the contents of that memory which fails as a result:

➜  Article-XX gcc -g main.c -o main
➜  Article-XX gdb ./main           
GNU gdb (Debian 10.1-1.7) 10.1.90.20210103-git
Copyright (C) 2021 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
Type "show copying" and "show warranty" for details.
This GDB was configured as "x86_64-linux-gnu".
Type "show configuration" for configuration details.
For bug reporting instructions, please see:
<https://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/bugs/>.
Find the GDB manual and other documentation resources online at:
    <http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/documentation/>.
For help, type "help".
Type "apropos word" to search for commands related to "word"...
Reading symbols from ./main...
(gdb) start
Temporary breakpoint 1 at 0x401111: file main.c, line 20.
Starting program: /home/others/Article-XX/main 
warning: Error disabling address space randomization: Operation not permitted
Temporary breakpoint 1, main (argc=1, argv=0x7ffc2ea212e8) at main.c:20
20              char* pucString = "Sample String 1";
(gdb) list
15
16      /* main program entry */
17      int main(int argc, char **argv)
18      {
19              /* local variables */
20              char* pucString = "Sample String 1";
21
22              /* body program */
23              pucString[14] = '2';
24
(gdb) n
23              pucString[14] = '2';
(gdb) 
Program received signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault.
main (argc=1, argv=0x7ffc2ea212e8) at main.c:23
23              pucString[14] = '2';
(gdb)

#e. Using variable’s value as an address

A segmentation fault occurs when accidentally you are using a variable’s value as an address as you can see through the code example bellow:

/**
 * @file main.c
 * @author freecoder
 * @brief this program allow to handle a segmentation fault error
 *
 * @version 1.0
 * @date 8 Jan. 2022
 *
 * @copyright Copyright (c) 2022
 *
 */
#include <stdio.h>

/* main program entry */
int main(int argc, char **argv)
{
	/* local variables */
	int iVariable;
	/* body program */
	scanf("%d", iVariable);
	return 0;
}

As shown in the terminal consol bellow, the segmentation occurs after the scans statement:

➜  Article-XX gcc -g main.c -o main
➜  Article-XX gdb ./main           
GNU gdb (Debian 10.1-1.7) 10.1.90.20210103-git
Copyright (C) 2021 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
Type "show copying" and "show warranty" for details.
This GDB was configured as "x86_64-linux-gnu".
Type "show configuration" for configuration details.
For bug reporting instructions, please see:
<https://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/bugs/>.
Find the GDB manual and other documentation resources online at:
    <http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/documentation/>.
For help, type "help".
Type "apropos word" to search for commands related to "word"...
Reading symbols from ./main...
(gdb) start
Temporary breakpoint 1 at 0x401135: file main.c, line 23.
Starting program: /home/others/Article-XX/main 
warning: Error disabling address space randomization: Operation not permitted
Temporary breakpoint 1, main (argc=1, argv=0x7fff418f9658) at main.c:23
23              scanf("%d", iVariable);
(gdb) list
18      {
19              /* local variables */
20              int iVariable;
21
22              /* body program */
23              scanf("%d", iVariable);
24
25              return 0;
26      }
(gdb) n
1
Program received signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault.
0x00007ff3e1d2201a in __vfscanf_internal (s=<optimized out>, format=<optimized out>, [email protected]=0x7fff418f9460, [email protected]=2)
    at vfscanf-internal.c:1895
1895    vfscanf-internal.c: No such file or directory.
(gdb)

segmentation fault gemination fault using variable's value as address

#f. Stack overflow

The segmentation fault error may occur if the call stack pointer exceeds the stack bound in case of an infinite recursive function call:

/**
 * @file main.c
 * @author freecoder
 * @brief this program allow to handle a segmentation fault error
 *
 * @version 1.0
 * @date 8 Jan. 2022
 *
 * @copyright Copyright (c) 2022
 *
 */
#include <stdio.h>

/* main program entry */
int main(void)
{
	/* local variables */
	/* body program */
	main();
	return 0;
}

As shown bellow, the segmentation fault error happened, due to a stack oveflow after calling the main function:

➜  Article-XX gcc -g main.c -o main
➜  Article-XX gdb ./main                                
GNU gdb (Debian 10.1-1.7) 10.1.90.20210103-git
Copyright (C) 2021 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <http://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>
This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it.
There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.
Type "show copying" and "show warranty" for details.
This GDB was configured as "x86_64-linux-gnu".
Type "show configuration" for configuration details.
For bug reporting instructions, please see:
<https://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/bugs/>.
Find the GDB manual and other documentation resources online at:
    <http://www.gnu.org/software/gdb/documentation/>.
For help, type "help".
Type "apropos word" to search for commands related to "word"...
Reading symbols from ./main...
(gdb) start
Temporary breakpoint 1 at 0x40110a: file main.c, line 22.
Starting program: /home/others/Article-XX/main 
warning: Error disabling address space randomization: Operation not permitted
Temporary breakpoint 1, main () at main.c:22
22              main();
(gdb) list
17      int main(void)
18      {
19              /* local variables */
20
21              /* body program */
22              main();
23
24              return 0;
25      }
(gdb) n
Program received signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault.
main () at main.c:22
22              main();
(gdb)

#2. How do you Fix Segmentation Faults?

Because segmentation faults are often associated with memory management issues or problematic pointer assignments, they can be fixed by making sure that the target application correctly handles these errors and does not attempt to read or write memory locations outside its own address space.

There are also certain procedures which you can follow in order to prevent and fix segmentation faults:

#a. How to Prevent Segmentation Faults?

Most segmentation faults occur due to memory access errors, so it’s important to make sure that pointers used by an application always reference valid data areas.

Check the reference of null memory.
Testing the code with Valgrind or Electric Fence
Assert() before dereferencing a suspective pointer, mainly a pointer embedded in a struct that is maintained in a container in a list or an array.
Always remember to initialize pointers properly.
Protect shared resources against concurrent access in multithreading by using a mutex or a semaphore.
Use of free() routine

#b. How to Fix Segmentation Faults?

There are some tools that you can use in order to fix the segmentation faults:

Gdb and core dump file
Gdb and backtrace.
Debugfs and Dmesg for kernel debugging

Conclusion

A segmentation fault is generally caused by a programming bug that tries to access either non-existent or protected memory. It can also happen as a result of dividing an integer by zero (causing the program counter to be redirected to nowhere), accessing memory that is out of bounds at an address that does not contain valid data or code.

Finally, when enabled on some operating systems (and in some embedded programming environments), the processor may issue an exception if a memory address contains a non-mapped machine code instruction.

I hope this post has clarified what segmentation faults on the x86 architecture imply and how to avoid them. Do not forget to share the information on social networks if you believe it is useful for others. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to leave a comment and subscribe to our newsletter. Best of luck with your coding and see you in the next article!

Источник

Segmentation faults in C or C++ is an error that occurs when a program attempts to access a memory location it does not have permission to access. Generally, this error occurs when memory access is violated and is a type of general protection fault. Segfaults are the abbreviation for segmentation faults.

The core dump refers to the recording of the state of the program, i.e. its resources in memory and processor. Trying to access non-existent memory or memory which is being used by other processes also causes the Segmentation Fault which leads to a core dump.

A program has access to specific regions of memory while it is running. First, the stack is used to hold the local variables for each function. Moreover, it might have memory allocated at runtime and saved on the heap (new in C++ and you may also hear it called the “free store“). The only memory that the program is permitted to access is it’s own (the memory previously mentioned). A segmentation fault will result from any access outside of that region.

Segmentation fault is a specific kind of error caused by accessing memory that “does not belong to you“:

When a piece of code tries to do a read-and-write operation in a read-only location in memory or freed block of memory, it is known as a segmentation fault.
It is an error indicating memory corruption.

Common Segmentation Fault Scenarios

In a Segmentation fault, a program tries to access memory that is not authorized to access, or that does not exist. Some common scenarios that can cause segmentation faults are:

Modifying a string literal
Accessing an address that is freed
Accessing out-of-array index bounds
Improper use of scanf()
Stack Overflow
Dereferencing uninitialized pointer

1. Modifying a String Literal

The string literals are stored in the read-only section of the memory. That is why the below program may crash (gives segmentation fault error) because the line *(str+1) = ‘n’ tries to write a read-only memory.

Example:

C

#include <stdio.h>

int main()

{

char* str;

str = "GfG";

*(str + 1) = 'n';

return 0;

}

C++

#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

int main()

{

char* str;

str = "GfG";

*(str + 1) = 'n';

return 0;

}

Output

timeout: the monitored command dumped core

/bin/bash: line 1: 32 Segmentation fault timeout 15s ./83b16132-8565-4cb1-aedb-4eb593442235 < 83b16132-8565-4cb1-aedb-4eb593442235.in

Refer, to Storage for Strings in C for more details.

2. Accessing an Address That is Freed

Here in the below code, the pointer p is dereferenced after freeing the memory block, which is not allowed by the compiler. Such pointers are called dangling pointers and they produce segment faults or abnormal program termination at runtime.

Example:

C

#include <stdio.h>

#include <stdlib.h>

int main(void)

{

int* p = (int*)malloc(8);

*p = 100;

free(p);

*p = 110;

printf("%d", *p);

return 0;

}

C++

#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

int main(void)

{

int* p = (int*)malloc(sizeof(int));

*p = 100;

free(p);

*p = 110;

return 0;

}

Output

Segmentation Fault

3. Accessing out-of-bounds Array Index

In C and C++, accessing an out-of-bounds array index may cause a segmentation fault or other undefined behavior. There is no boundary checking for arrays in C and C++. Although in C++, the use of containers such as with the std::vector::at() method or with an if() statement, can prevent out-of-bound errors.

Example:

C

#include <stdio.h>

int main(void)

{

int arr[2];

arr[3] = 10;

return (0);

}

C++

#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

int main()

{

int arr[2];

arr[3] = 10;

return 0;

}

Output

Segmentation Faults

4. Improper use of scanf()

The scanf() function expects the address of a variable as an input. Here in this program n takes a value of 2 and assumes its address as 1000. If we pass n to scanf(), input fetched from STDIN is placed in invalid memory 2 which should be 1000 instead. This causes memory corruption leading to a Segmentation fault.

Example:

C

#include <stdio.h>

int main()

{

int n = 2;

scanf("%d", n);

return 0;

}

C++

#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

int main()

{

int n = 2;

cin >> n;

return 0;

}

Output

Segementation Fault

5. Stack Overflow

It’s not a pointer-related problem even code may not have a single pointer. It’s because of running out of memory on the stack. It is also a type of memory corruption that may happen due to large array size, a large number of recursive calls, lots of local variables, etc.

Example:

C

#include <stdio.h>

int main()

{

int arr[2000000000];

return 0;

}

C++

#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

int main()

{

int array[2000000000];

return 0;

}

Output

Segmentation Fault

6. Buffer Overflow

If the data being stored in the buffer is larger than the allocated size of the buffer, a buffer overflow occurs which leads to the segmentation fault. Most of the methods in the C language do not perform bound checking, so buffer overflow happens frequently when we forget to allot the required size to the buffer.

Example:

C

#include <stdio.h>

int main()

{

char ref[20] = "This is a long string";

char buf[10];

sscanf(ref, "%s", buf);

return 0;

}

C++

#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

int main()

{

char ref[20] = "This is a long string";

char buf[10];

sscanf(ref, "%s", buf);

return 0;

}

Output

Segmentation Fault

7. Dereferencing an Uninitialized or NULL Pointer

It is a common programming error to dereference an uninitialized pointer (wild pointer), which can result in undefined behavior. When a pointer is used in a context that treats it as a valid pointer and accesses its underlying value, even though it has not been initialized to point to a valid memory location, this error occurs. Data corruption, program errors, or segmentation faults can result from this. Depending on their environment and state when dereferencing, uninitialized pointers may yield different results.

As we know the NULL pointer does not points to any memory location, so dereferencing it will result in a segmentation fault.

Example:

C

#include <stdio.h>

int main()

{

int* ptr;

int* nptr = NULL;

printf("%d %d", *ptr, *nptr);

return 0;

}

C++

#include <iostream>

using namespace std;

int main()

{

int* ptr;

int* nptr = NULL;

cout << *ptr << " " << *nptr;

return 0;

}

Output

Segmentation Fault

How to Fix Segmentation Faults?

We can fix segmentation faults by being careful about the causes mentioned:

Avoid modifying string literals.
Being careful when using pointers as they are one of the most common causes.
Considering the buffer and stack size before storing the data to avoid buffer or stack overflow.
Checking for bounds before accessing array elements.
Use scanf() and printf() carefully to avoid incorrect format specifiers or buffer overflow.

Overall, the cause of the segmentation fault is accessing the memory that does not belong to you in that space. As long as we avoid doing that, we can avoid the segmentation fault. If you cannot find the source of the error even after doing it, it is recommended to use a debugger as it directly leads to the point of error in the program.

Last Updated :
07 May, 2023

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Время на прочтение
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Количество просмотров 65K

Вводная

C++ является «небезопасным» («unmanaged») языком, поэтому программы могут «вылетать» — аварийно завершать работу без сохранения данных пользователя, сообщения об ошибке и т.п. — стоит только, например, залезть в не инициализированную память. Например:

void fall()
{
  char * s = "short_text";
  sprintf(s,"This is very long text");
}

или

void fall()
{
  int * pointer = NULL;
  *pointer = 13;
}

Всем было бы лучше, если бы мы могли «отловить» падение программы — точно так же, как в java ловим исключения — и выполнить хоть что-то перед тем, как программа упадет (сохранить документ пользователя, вывести диалог с сообщением об ошибке и т.п.)

Общего решения задача не имеет, так как C++ не имеет собственной модели обработки исключений, связанных с работой с памятью. Тем не менее, мы рассмотрим два способа, использующих особенности операционной системы, вызвавшей исключение.

Способ 1: SEH

Если Вы используете OS Windows в качестве целевой ОС и Visual C++ в качестве компилятора, то Вы можете использовать Structured Exception Handling — расширение языка С++ от Microsoft, позволяющее отлавливать любые исключения, происходящие в программе.

Общий синтаксис обработки исключений выглядит следующим образом:

__try
{
  segfault1();
}
__except( condition1 )
{
  // обработка исключения, если condition1 == EXCEPTION_EXECUTE_HANDLER.
  // в condition1 может (должен) быть вызов метода, проверяющего 
  //    тип исключения, и возвращающего EXCEPTION_EXECUTE_HANDLER 
  //    если тип исключения соответствует тому, что мы хотим обработать
}
__except( condition2 )
{
  // еще один обработчик
}
__finally
{
  // то, что выполнится если ни один из обработчиков не почешется
}

Вот «работающий пример» — «скопируй и вставь в Visual Studio»

#include <stdio.h>
#include <windows.h>
#include <excpt.h>

int memento() // обработка Segfault
{
	MessageBoxA(NULL,"Memento Mori","Exception catched!",NULL);
	return 0;
}

void fall() // генерация segfault
{
	  int* p = 0x00000000;   
	  *p = 13;
}

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
	__try
	{
		fall();
	}
	__except (EXCEPTION_EXECUTE_HANDLER)
	{
		memento();
	}
}

Мне лично не удалось заставить заработать __finally (поэтому я и написал __except с кодом проверки, который всегда работает), но это, возможно, кривизна моих рук.

Данная методика, при всей ее привлекательности, имеет ряд минусов:

Один компилятор. Одна ОС. Не «чистый С++». Если Вы хотите работать без средств MS — Вы не сможете использовать эту методику
Один поток — одна таблица. Если Вы напишете конструкцию из __try… __except, внутри __try запустите другой поток и, не выходя из __try второй поток вызовет segfault, то… ничего не произойдет, программа упадет «как обычно». Потому, что на каждый поток нужно писать отдельный обработчик SEH.

Минусов оказалось настолько много, что приходится искать второе решение.

Способ 2: POSIX — сигналы

Способ рассчитан на то, что в момент падения программа получает POSIX-сообщение SIGSEGV. Это безусловно так во всех UNIX-системах, но это фактически так (хотя никто не гарантировал, windows — не posix-совместима) и в windows тоже.

Методика простая — мы должны написать обработчик сообщения SIGSEGV, в котором программа совершит «прощальные действия» и, наконец, упадет:

void posix_death_signal(int signum)
{
	memento(); // прощальные действия
        signal(signum, SIG_DFL); // перепосылка сигнала
	exit(3); //выход из программы. Если не сделать этого, то обработчик будет вызываться бесконечно.
}

после чего мы должны зарегистрировать этот обработчик:

signal(SIGSEGV, posix_death_signal);

Вот готовый пример:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <windows.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <signal.h>


int memento()
{
	int a=0;
	MessageBoxA(NULL,"Memento mori","POSIX Signal",NULL);
	return 0;
}
void fall()
{
	  int* p = 0x00000000; 
	  *p = 13;
}
void posix_death_signal(int signum)
{
	memento();
	signal(signum, SIG_DFL);
	exit(3);
}


int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
	signal(SIGSEGV, posix_death_signal);
	fall();
}

В отличие от SEH, это работает всегда: решение «многопоточное» (вы можете уронить программу в любом потоке, обработчик запустится в любом случае) и «кроссплатформенное» — работает под любым компилятором, и под любой POSIX-совместимой ОС.

Источник

Programming languages like C and C++ manage the memory in a more direct way than other programming languages like Java, C#, Python, etc. When an application tries to access the memory area that it does not belong to it Segmentation Fault occurs. Generally, the segmentation fault resulted in the core being dumped which is saving the error memory area into a file for later investigation. There are different reasons for the “Segmentation Fault”/”Core Dumped” error like below.

Modifying String Literal
Accessing Freed Address
Accessing Out Of Array Index Bounds
Improper useof scanf() Function
Stackoverflow
Dereferencing Uninitialized Pointer

Modifying String Literal

String literals are stored in a read-only part of the application. String literals can not be edited as they are located in the read-only part of memory. When the string literal is tried to be changed the segmentation fault occurs and the core is dumped with the Abnormal termination of program .

int main()
{
   char *s;

   /* Stored in read only part of application memory */
   s = "wt";	

   /* Problem: trying to modify read only memory */
   *(s+1) = 'x';

   return 0;
}

Accessing Freed Address

Pointers are used to allocated memory parts with memory addresses. After usage, the memory areas or addresses are freed and the freed address range can not be used. If the application tries to access the free address locations the “core dump” error occurs.

int main()
{
   char* s= (int*) malloc(8*sizeof(int));

   *s = 10;

   //s memory area is freed
   free(s);

   //Try to access free memory are 
   *s = 20;

   return 0;
}

Accessing Out Of Array Index Bounds

C and C++ programming languages provide arrays in order to store multiple characters and values inside a single variable. The size of the arrays should be set during initialization and the memory area is allocated according to its size. If the application tries to access of range memory area of the array the “core dump” error occurs.

int main()
{
   char s[3]="abc";

   s[5]="d";

   return 0;
}

Improper useof scanf() Function

The scanf() function is used to read user input from the standard input interactively. The scanf() function requires the memory address of a variable in order to store read value If the address is not provided properly or read-only.

int main()
{
   char s[3];

   scanf("%s",&s+1)

   return 0;
}

StackOverflow

Every application has a limited memory area called the stack. The stack area is used to store data temporarily during the execution of the application when functions are called. When the stack area is filled and there is no free area the StackOverflow occurs. The stack overflow generally occurs in error-prone algorithms like using recursive functions infinitely.

int main()
{
    rec();
}

int rec()
{
   int a = 5;

   rec();
}

Dereferencing Uninitialized Pointer

Pointers are used to point to specific memory addresses. In order to use a pointer, it should be initialized before accessing or dereferencing it. Without initialization, the pointer does not point to any memory area or data which can not be used.

int main()
{
   int* a;
   
   printf("%d",*a);

   return 0;
}

Источник

Consider the following snippets of Code,

Here’s why.

#1. What are the Symptoms of Segmentation Fault?

#a. Dereferencing a null pointer

#b. Trying to access memory not initialized

#c. Trying to access memory out of bounds for the program

#d. Trying to modify string literals

#e. Using variable’s value as an address

#f. Stack overflow

#2. How do you Fix Segmentation Faults?

#a. How to Prevent Segmentation Faults?

#b. How to Fix Segmentation Faults?

Conclusion

Common Segmentation Fault Scenarios

1. Modifying a String Literal

C

C++

2. Accessing an Address That is Freed

C

C++

3. Accessing out-of-bounds Array Index

C

C++

4. Improper use of scanf()

C

C++

5. Stack Overflow

C

C++

6. Buffer Overflow

C

C++

7. Dereferencing an Uninitialized or NULL Pointer

C

C++

How to Fix Segmentation Faults?

Вводная

Способ 1: SEH

Способ 2: POSIX — сигналы

Modifying String Literal

Accessing Freed Address

Accessing Out Of Array Index Bounds

Improper useof scanf() Function

StackOverflow

Dereferencing Uninitialized Pointer

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