switch statement without a default clause

ID

c.correctness.switch_without_default

Severity

low

Remediation Complexity

trivial

Remediation Risk

low

Remediation Effort

low

Resource

Control Flow

Language

C / C++

Description

This switch statement has no default clause. Without a default, values not covered by an explicit case fall through silently, which can hide logic errors and unhandled inputs. Add a default: clause to handle unexpected values explicitly (even if only to assert or log).

Rationale

This switch statement has no default clause. Without a default, values not covered by an explicit case fall through silently, which can hide logic errors and unhandled inputs. Add a default: clause to handle unexpected values explicitly (even if only to assert or log).

The following code illustrates the pattern detected by this rule:

int classify(int n)
{
    // FLAGGED: switch statement without a default clause
    switch (n) {
        case 0:
            return 1;
        case 1:
            return 2;
    }
    return 0;
}

Remediation

Follow secure coding practices and review the references below for detailed remediation guidance.

Configuration

This detector does not need any configuration.

References