Strings and Integers

Strings are not a defined Type in C or C++ but simply a contigous array of characters terminated by a null (\0) character The length of the string is the amount of characters which preseed the null character. C++ does contain template classes which address this feature of the programming language: std::basic_string and std::string These classes address some security issues but not all.

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Common String Errors

Common string errors can be related to mistakes in implementation which may cause drastic security and availability issues. C/C++ do not have the comfort other programming languages provide such as Java and C# .NET relating to buffer overflows and such due to a String Type not being defined.

Common issues include:

1. Input validation errors
2. Unbounded Errors
3. Truncation issues
4. Out-of-bounds writes
5. String Termination Errors
6. Off-by-one errors`

Some of the issues mentioned above have been covered in the "Reviewing code buffer overflows and overruns" section previously in this guide.