Secure Coding

-Integer(C++)

Baosong Wu

Architect@SR-Intellience

Background
Integer Fundamentals
Integer Vulnerabilities
Mitigation Strategies
Recap

Agenda

Background

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Secure coding becomes important in the software industry.
Integers are the most frequently used data types in coding.
Most venerabilities are relevant to integer errors.

Background

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US415588 [Security][Veracode] Achieve Veracode Level 2 for Intelligence Server

Integer Fundamentals

Types and Representation
Conversions

Integer

Representation - unsigned integer

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1 1 0 1 = 13

0 1 1 0 = 6

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Representation - unsigned integer

Type	Minimum Magnitudes	x86-32
unsigned char	255 (2^8 - 1)	255 (2^8 - 1)
unsigned short	65536 (2^16 - 1)	65536 (2^16 - 1)
unsigned int	65536 (2^16 - 1)	2^32 - 1
unsigned long	2^32 - 1	2^32 - 1
unsigned long long	2^64 - 1	2^64 - 1

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Representation - signed integer

0000101011 = 43

1000101011 = -43

Sign and Magnitude

Ideation

During the ideation phase, expect to discuss the project in depth to clearly understand the goals and requirements.

1.

2.

0000101011 = 43

1000101011 = -43

3.

Launch

It's time to take the product live - the end if the build phase but the beginning of being in market.

One's complement

0000101011 = 43

1111010100 = -43

Two's complement

0000101011 = 43

1111010101 = −43

Representation - signed integer

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Value	Sign and Magnitude	One's complement	Two's complement
0	0000000000	0000000000	0000000000
-0	1000000000	1111111111	N/A
1	0000000001	0000000001	0000000001
-1	1000000001	1111111110	1111111111
511	0111111111	0111111111	0111111111
-511	1111111111	1000000000	1000000001
512	N/A	N/A	N/A
-512	N/A	N/A	1000000000

Representation - signed integer

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Representation - signed integer

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Type	Minimum Magnitudes	x86-32
char	-127 ~ 127	-128 ~ 127
short	-32767 ~ 32767	-32768 ~ 32767
int	-32767 ~ 32767	-2^31 ~ 2^31 - 1
long	-(2^31 - 1) ~ 2^31 - 1	-2^31 ~ 2^31 - 1
long long	-(2^63 - 1) ~ 2^63 - 1	-2^63 ~ 2^63 - 1

Conversions

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Type conversions
- occur explicitly in C and C++ as the result of a cast or
- implicitly as required by an operation.
Conversions can lead to lost or misinterpreted data.
C99 rules define how C compilers handle conversions
- integer promotions
- integer conversion rank

Conversions - Integer Promotions

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Integer types smaller than int are promoted when an operation is performed on them.
Integer promotions are applied as part of the usual arithmetic conversions
Example:

char cresult, c1, c2, c3;
c1 = 100; 
c2 = 3; 
c3 = 4; 
cresult = c1 * c2 / c3;

unsigned char uc = UCHAR_MAX; // 0xFF
int i = ~uc;
cout << hex << i << endl;

Conversions - Rank and Rules

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Every integer type has an integer conversion rank that determines how conversions are performed.
- No two signed integer types have the same rank, even if they have the same representation.
- The rank of a signed integer type is > the rank of any signed integer type with less precision.
  - long long > long > int > short > char.
- The rank of any unsigned integer type is equal to the rank of the corresponding signed integer type.

Conversions - Arithmetic Conversions

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If both operands have the same type no conversion is needed.
If both operands are of the same integer type (signed or unsigned), the operand with the type of lesser integer conversion rank is converted to the type of the operand with greater rank.
If the type of the operand with signed integer type can represent all of the values of the type of the operand with unsigned integer type, the operand with unsigned integer type is converted to the type of the operand with signed integer type.
Otherwise, both operands are converted to the unsigned integer type corresponding to the type of the operand with signed integer type

Conversions - Unsigned Integer

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Conversions of smaller unsigned integer types to larger unsigned integer types is
- always safe
- typically accomplished by zero-extending the value
When a larger unsigned integer is converted to a smaller unsigned integer type the
- larger value is truncated
- low-order bits are preserved
When unsigned integer types are converted to the corresponding signed integer type
- the bit pattern is preserved so no data is lost
- the high-order bit becomes the sign bit
- If the sign bit is set, both the sign and magnitude of the value changes

Conversions - Signed Integer

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When a signed integer is converted to a signed integer of greater size
- the signed integer is sign-extended
A signed integer is converted to a shorter signed
- the high-order bits are truncated.
When signed integers are converted to unsigned integers
- bit pattern is preserved - no lost data
- high-order bit loses its function as a sign bit
- If the value of the signed integer is not negative, the value is unchanged.
- If the value is negative, the resulting unsigned value is evaluated as a large, unsigned integer

Integer Vulnerabilities

Integer overflow
Truncation
Sign error

Vulnerabilities

Vulnerabilities - Overflow / Wraparound

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An integer overflow occurs when an integer is
- increased beyond its maximum value or
- decreased beyond its minimum value.
Overflows can be signed or unsigned.
- An unsigned overflow occurs when the underlying
  representation can no longer represent a value
- A signed overflow occurs when a value is carried over to the sign bit

Vulnerabilities - Overflow Example 1

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    // overflow
    int i;
    unsigned int j;
    
    i = numeric_limits<int>::max(); // 2,147,483,647
    i++;
    cout << "i = " << i << endl;
    
    j = numeric_limits<unsigned int>::max(); // 4,294,967,295;
    j++;
    cout << "j = " << j << endl;

    i = numeric_limits<int>::min(); // -2,147,483,648;
    i--;
    cout << "i = " << i << endl;
    
    j = 0;
    j--;
    cout << "j = " << j << endl;

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Vulnerabilities - Overflow Example 2

void getComment(size_t len, char *src) 
{
	size_t size;
	size = len - 2;
	char *comment = (char *)malloc(size + 1);
	memcpy(comment, src, size);
	return;
}

Vulnerabilities - Truncation Errors

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Truncation errors occur when
- an integer is converted to a smaller integer type and
- the value of the original integer is outside the range of the smaller type
Low-order bits of the original value are preserved and the high-order bits are lost.

Vulnerabilities - Truncation Example

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    // truncation
    char c3, c1, c2;
    c1 = 100;
    c2 = 90;
    c3 = c1 + c2;

int main(int argc, char *argv[]) 
{
	unsigned short int total;
	total = strlen(argv[1]) + strlen(argv[2]) + 1;
	char *buff = (char *)malloc(total);
	strcpy(buff, argv[1]);
	strcat(buff, argv[2]);
	/* ... */
}

Vulnerabilities - Sign Errors

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Converting an unsigned integer to a signed integer of
- Equal size - preserve bit pattern; high-order bit becomes sign bit
- Greater size - the value is zero-extended then converted
- Lesser size - preserve low-order bits
If the high-order bit of the unsigned integer is
- Not set - the value is unchanged
- Set - results in a negative value

Vulnerabilities - Sign Errors

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Converting a signed integer to an unsigned
integer of
- Equal size - bit pattern of the original integer is
  preserved
- Greater size - the value is sign-extended then converted
- Lesser size - preserve low-order bits
If the value of the signed integer is
- Not negative - the value is unchanged
- Negative - a (typically large) positive value

Vulnerabilities - Sign Error Example

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    // sign error
    int i = -1;
    unsigned int u;
    u = i;
    cout << "u = " << u << endl;

void initialize_array(int size) 
{
	if (size < MAX_ARRAY_SIZE) 
	{
		array = malloc(size);
		/* initialize array */
	} 
	else 
	{
 		/* handle error */
	}
}

Mitigation Strategies

Integer Type Selection
Range Check
Tools

Mitigation

Type Range Check

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Integer vulnerabilities result from integer type range errors.
- Type range checking, if properly applied, can eliminate all integer vulnerabilities
Languages such as Pascal and Ada allow range restrictions on any scalar type to form subtypes.
- Ada allows range restrictions to be declared on derived types using the range keyword:
  type day is new INTEGER range 1..31;
- Range restrictions are enforced by the language
  runtime.
C and C++ are not nearly as good at enforcing type
safety, unfortunately...

The first step - Integer Type Selection

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Unsigned integer values should be used to represent integer values that can never be negative, and signed integer values should be used for values that can become negative.
In general, use the smallest signed or unsigned type that can fully represent the range of possible values for any given variable to conserve memory.
When memory consumption is not an issue, declare variables as signed int or unsigned int to minimize potential conversion errors.

short total = strlen(argv[1])+ 1;

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Integer Type Selection - Example 1

=>

size_t total = strlen(argv[1])+ 1;

vector<char> a;
...
size_t cnt = a.size();

for (unsigned int i = cnt-2; i >= 0; i--) {
	a[i] += a[i+1];
}

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Integer Type Selection - Example 2

=>

for (int i = cnt-2; i >= 0; i--) {
	a[i] += a[i+1];
}

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Integer Type Selection - Strong Typing

Strong typing should be used so that the compiler can be more effective in identifying range problems.

unsigned char waterTemperature;

using watertemp_t = unsigned char;

class watertemp_t {

}；

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Range Checking - What?

External inputs should be evaluated to determine whether there are identifiable upper and lower bounds.
- these limits should be enforced by the interface
- easier to find and correct input problems than it is to trace internal errors back to faulty inputs
Limit input of excessively large or small integers

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Overflow Checking - Precondition Test

unsigned int ui1, ui2, usum;

/* Initialize ui1 and ui2 */

if (UINT_MAX - ui1 < ui2) {
	/* handle error condition */
}
else {
	usum = ui1 + ui2;
}

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Overflow Checking - Postcondition Test

unsigned int ui1, ui2, usum;

/* Initialize ui1 and ui2 */

usum = ui1 + ui2;

if (usum < ui1) {
	/* handle error condition */
}

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Range Checking - SafeInt

int main(int argc, char *const *argv) {
  try{
    SafeInt<size_t> s1(strlen(argv[1]));
    SafeInt<size_t> s2(strlen(argv[2]));
    char *buff = (char *) malloc(s1 + s2 + 1);
    strcpy(buff, argv[1]);
    strcat(buff, argv[2]);
  }
  catch(SafeIntException err) {
    abort();
  }
}

SafeInt Summary

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SafeInt is a C++ template class
- https://github.com/dcleblanc/SafeInt
- https://github.microstrategy.com/ThirdParty/SafeInt
Implements a precondition approach that tests the values of operands before performing an operation to determine if an error will occur.
Note its performance impacts.

*  Due to the highly nested nature of this class, you can expect relatively poor
*  performance in unoptimized code. In tests of optimized code vs. correct inline checks
*  in native code, this class has been found to take approximately 8% more CPU time (this varies),
*  most of which is due to exception handling.

Tools

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Static code analysis
- SonarQube
- Microsoft Visual Studio
- GCC
Static Binary scan
- Veracode
Runtime check
- GUS (Google UndefinedBehaviorSanitizer)

Secure Coding

-Integer(C++)

Agenda

Background

Background

Integer Fundamentals

Integer

Representation - unsigned integer

Representation - unsigned integer

Representation - signed integer

1.

2.

3.

Representation - signed integer

Representation - signed integer

Representation - signed integer

Conversions

Conversions - Integer Promotions

Conversions - Rank and Rules

Conversions - Arithmetic Conversions

Conversions - Unsigned Integer

Conversions - Signed Integer

Integer Vulnerabilities

Vulnerabilities

Vulnerabilities - Overflow / Wraparound

Vulnerabilities - Overflow Example 1

Vulnerabilities - Overflow Example 2

Vulnerabilities - Truncation Errors

Vulnerabilities - Truncation Example

Vulnerabilities - Sign Errors

Vulnerabilities - Sign Errors

Vulnerabilities - Sign Error Example

Mitigation Strategies

Mitigation

Type Range Check

The first step - Integer Type Selection

Integer Type Selection - Example 1

Integer Type Selection - Example 2

Integer Type Selection - Strong Typing

Range Checking - What?

Overflow Checking - Precondition Test

Overflow Checking - Postcondition Test

Range Checking - SafeInt

SafeInt Summary

Tools

Recap

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Secure Coding - Integer (C++)

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