ABSTRACT

The _alloca() function can throw a stack overflow exception, potentially causing the program to crash.

EXPLANATION

The _alloca() function allocates memory on the stack. If an allocation request is too large for the available stack space, _alloca() throws an exception. If the exception is not caught, the program will crash, potentially enabling a denial of service attack.

_alloca() has been deprecated as of Microsoft Visual Studio 2005(R). It has been replaced with the more secure _alloca_s().

REFERENCES

[1] Standards Mapping - OWASP Top 10 2007 - (OWASP 2007) A6 Information Leakage and Improper Error Handling

[2] Standards Mapping - OWASP Top 10 2004 - (OWASP 2004) A7 Improper Error Handling

[3] Standards Mapping - Security Technical Implementation Guide Version 3 - (STIG 3) APP3120 CAT II

[4] Standards Mapping - Common Weakness Enumeration - (CWE) CWE ID 248

[5] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 1.2 - (PCI 1.2) Requirement 6.3.1.2, Requirement 6.5.6

[6] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 2.0 - (PCI 2.0) Requirement 6.5.5

[7] Standards Mapping - Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard Version 1.1 - (PCI 1.1) Requirement 6.5.7