Declaration with three or more levels of pointer indirection
ID |
c.maintainability.excessive_pointer_indirection |
Severity |
low |
Remediation Complexity |
hard |
Remediation Risk |
medium |
Remediation Effort |
medium |
Resource |
Complexity |
Language |
C / C++ |
Description
This declaration has three or more levels of pointer indirection (* or deeper). Each extra * adds a dereference the reader has to track, and code this indirect is easy to get wrong and hard to review. Introduce a named type (typedef/using) for the intermediate pointer, pass an index or handle instead, or restructure the data so fewer levels are needed.
Rationale
This declaration has three or more levels of pointer indirection (* or deeper). Each extra * adds a dereference the reader has to track, and code this indirect is easy to get wrong and hard to review. Introduce a named type (typedef/using) for the intermediate pointer, pass an index or handle instead, or restructure the data so fewer levels are needed.
The following code illustrates the pattern detected by this rule:
void triple_uninitialized(void)
{
// FLAGGED: Declaration with three or more levels of pointer indirection
int ***table;
table = 0;
}Remediation
Follow secure coding practices and review the references below for detailed remediation guidance.