c.lang.security.double-free.double-free

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Variable '$VAR' was freed twice. This can lead to undefined behavior.

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Defintion

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rules:
  - id: double-free
    patterns:
      - pattern-not: |
          free($VAR);
          ...
          $VAR = NULL;
          ...
          free($VAR);
      - pattern-not: |
          free($VAR);
          ...
          $VAR = malloc(...);
          ...
          free($VAR);
      - pattern-inside: |
          free($VAR);
          ...
          $FREE($VAR);
      - metavariable-pattern:
          metavariable: $FREE
          pattern: free
      - focus-metavariable: $FREE
    message: Variable '$VAR' was freed twice. This can lead to undefined behavior.
    metadata:
      cwe:
        - "CWE-415: Double Free"
      owasp:
        - A03:2021 - Injection
        - A01:2017 - Injection
      references:
        - https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/415.html
        - https://owasp.org/www-community/vulnerabilities/Doubly_freeing_memory
      category: security
      technology:
        - c
      confidence: MEDIUM
      subcategory:
        - vuln
      likelihood: LOW
      impact: HIGH
      license: Commons Clause License Condition v1.0[LGPL-2.1-only]
    languages:
      - c
    severity: ERROR

Examples

double-free.c

#include <stdlib.h>

int bad_code1() {
    char *var = malloc(sizeof(char) * 10);
    free(var);
    // ruleid: double-free
    free(var);
    return 0;
}

int okay_code1() {
    char *var = malloc(sizeof(char) * 10);
    free(var);
    var = NULL;
    // ok: double-free
    free(var);
    return 0;
}

int okay_code2() {
    char *var = malloc(sizeof(char) * 10);
    free(var);
    var = malloc(sizeof(char) * 10);
    // ok: double-free
    free(var);
    return 0;
}