check bfd_alloc/bfd_malloc return in elflink.c
Project / Subsystem
binutils / binutils/bfd
Date
2026-06-13
Proposer
Alan Modra <amodra@gmail.com>
Source type
public_inbox
Consensus
Proposed
Sentiment
—/10
All attributes
- project
- binutils
- subsystem
- binutils/bfd
- patch_id
- —
- discussion_id
- aiz9Oe59t8FzY7Jx@squeak.grove.modra.org
- source_type
- public_inbox
- title
- check bfd_alloc/bfd_malloc return in elflink.c
- headline
- Adds null checks for memory allocation in elflink.c and replaces sprintf with memcpy for string concatenation
- tldr
- A patch improves error handling in Binutils' BFD by adding null checks for `bfd_malloc` and `bfd_alloc` calls and optimizes string concatenation using `memcpy`…
- proposer
- Alan Modra <amodra@gmail.com>
- consensus
- Proposed
- outcome
- proposed
- sentiment_score
- —
- technical_tradeoffs
- []
- series_id
- —
- series_role
- standalone
- series_parts
- []
- tags
-
- • binutils
- • bfd
- • elf
- • memory-allocation
- • bugfix
- bugzilla_url
- —
- date
- 2026-06-13T00:00:00.000Z
check bfd_alloc/bfd_malloc return in elflink.c
Alan Modra proposes a patch to enhance error handling and efficiency within elflink.c, a core component of Binutils’ BFD library. The primary changes involve adding explicit null checks for memory allocation functions bfd_malloc and bfd_alloc, preventing potential crashes if memory allocation fails. Additionally, the patch replaces sprintf calls with memcpy for concatenating strings, which can offer performance improvements and avoid potential buffer overflows.