dynamic memory automatically zero'd

[Rick Stevens]

On 08/06/2010 07:44 AM, Stefan Schulze Frielinghaus wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> if you allocate memory, e.g. via malloc(3), then it is automatically set
> to zero. This is actually a security feature quite common nowadays. I
> would like to know when this feature has made it into Fedora or in RHEL.
> Is this a mandatory feature of some security policy as e.g. the Common
> Criteria? I couldn't find much information about this. Therefore, any
> pointers, hints and so on are welcomed!

calloc() is the call you want to make.  The ANSI standard makes no
guarantees about the contents of the memory you get with malloc().  In
fact, calloc() was created for that precise reason.
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