Process-terminating call outside main
ID |
c.correctness.terminating_function_call |
Severity |
low |
Remediation Complexity |
medium |
Remediation Risk |
medium |
Remediation Effort |
medium |
Resource |
Error Handling |
Language |
C / C++ |
Description
This call ends the whole process immediately, from code that is not main. Callers of this function have no chance to release resources, log the failure in context, or decide whether termination is even the right response. Report the error to the caller (a return code or an exception) and let the top-level main decide whether to terminate.
Rationale
This call ends the whole process immediately, from code that is not main. Callers of this function have no chance to release resources, log the failure in context, or decide whether termination is even the right response. Report the error to the caller (a return code or an exception) and let the top-level main decide whether to terminate.
The following code illustrates the pattern detected by this rule:
void helper(int code) {
if (code < 0) {
// FLAGGED: Process-terminating call outside main
abort();
}
if (code == 0) {
// FLAGGED: Process-terminating call outside main
exit(1);
}
if (code == 1) {
// FLAGGED: Process-terminating call outside main
quick_exit(1);
}
if (code == 2) {
// FLAGGED: Process-terminating call outside main
std::terminate();
}
}Remediation
Follow secure coding practices and review the references below for detailed remediation guidance.