summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/src/lib/libc/stdlib/malloc.3
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
Diffstat (limited to 'src/lib/libc/stdlib/malloc.3')
-rw-r--r--src/lib/libc/stdlib/malloc.3458
1 files changed, 458 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/src/lib/libc/stdlib/malloc.3 b/src/lib/libc/stdlib/malloc.3
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6a012fd23d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/libc/stdlib/malloc.3
@@ -0,0 +1,458 @@
1.\"
2.\" Copyright (c) 1980, 1991, 1993
3.\" The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
4.\"
5.\" This code is derived from software contributed to Berkeley by
6.\" the American National Standards Committee X3, on Information
7.\" Processing Systems.
8.\"
9.\" Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
10.\" modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions
11.\" are met:
12.\" 1. Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
13.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
14.\" 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
15.\" notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
16.\" documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
17.\" 3. Neither the name of the University nor the names of its contributors
18.\" may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
19.\" without specific prior written permission.
20.\"
21.\" THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE REGENTS AND CONTRIBUTORS ``AS IS'' AND
22.\" ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE
23.\" IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
24.\" ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE
25.\" FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL
26.\" DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS
27.\" OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION)
28.\" HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT
29.\" LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY
30.\" OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
31.\" SUCH DAMAGE.
32.\"
33.\" $OpenBSD: malloc.3,v 1.70 2011/07/22 07:00:44 otto Exp $
34.\"
35.Dd $Mdocdate: July 22 2011 $
36.Dt MALLOC 3
37.Os
38.Sh NAME
39.Nm malloc ,
40.Nm calloc ,
41.Nm realloc ,
42.Nm free ,
43.Nm cfree
44.Nd memory allocation and deallocation
45.Sh SYNOPSIS
46.Fd #include <stdlib.h>
47.Ft void *
48.Fn malloc "size_t size"
49.Ft void *
50.Fn calloc "size_t nmemb" "size_t size"
51.Ft void *
52.Fn realloc "void *ptr" "size_t size"
53.Ft void
54.Fn free "void *ptr"
55.Ft void
56.Fn cfree "void *ptr"
57.Ft char *
58.Va malloc_options ;
59.Sh DESCRIPTION
60The
61.Fn malloc
62function allocates uninitialized space for an object whose
63size is specified by
64.Fa size .
65The
66.Fn malloc
67function maintains multiple lists of free blocks according to size, allocating
68space from the appropriate list.
69.Pp
70The allocated space is
71suitably aligned (after possible pointer
72coercion) for storage of any type of object.
73If the space is of
74.Em pagesize
75or larger, the memory returned will be page-aligned.
76.Pp
77Allocation of a zero size object returns a pointer to a zero size object.
78This zero size object is access protected, so any access to it will
79generate an exception (SIGSEGV).
80Many zero-sized objects can be placed consecutively in shared
81protected pages.
82The minimum size of the protection on each object is suitably aligned and
83sized as previously stated, but the protection may extend further depending
84on where in a protected zone the object lands.
85.Pp
86When using
87.Fn malloc
88be careful to avoid the following idiom:
89.Bd -literal -offset indent
90if ((p = malloc(num * size)) == NULL)
91 err(1, "malloc");
92.Ed
93.Pp
94The multiplication may lead to an integer overflow.
95To avoid this,
96.Fn calloc
97is recommended.
98.Pp
99If
100.Fn malloc
101must be used, be sure to test for overflow:
102.Bd -literal -offset indent
103if (size && num > SIZE_MAX / size) {
104 errno = ENOMEM;
105 err(1, "overflow");
106}
107.Ed
108.Pp
109The
110.Fn calloc
111function allocates space for an array of
112.Fa nmemb
113objects, each of whose size is
114.Fa size .
115The space is initialized to zero.
116The use of
117.Fn calloc
118is strongly encouraged when allocating multiple sized objects
119in order to avoid possible integer overflows.
120.Pp
121The
122.Fn free
123function causes the space pointed to by
124.Fa ptr
125to be either placed on a list of free pages to make it available for future
126allocation or, if required, to be returned to the kernel using
127.Xr munmap 2 .
128If
129.Fa ptr
130is a null pointer, no action occurs.
131.Pp
132A
133.Fn cfree
134function is also provided for compatibility with old systems and other
135.Nm malloc
136libraries; it is simply an alias for
137.Fn free .
138.Pp
139The
140.Fn realloc
141function changes the size of the object pointed to by
142.Fa ptr
143to
144.Fa size
145bytes and returns a pointer to the (possibly moved) object.
146The contents of the object are unchanged up to the lesser
147of the new and old sizes.
148If the new size is larger, the value of the newly allocated portion
149of the object is indeterminate and uninitialized.
150If
151.Fa ptr
152is a null pointer, the
153.Fn realloc
154function behaves like the
155.Fn malloc
156function for the specified size.
157If the space cannot be allocated, the object
158pointed to by
159.Fa ptr
160is unchanged.
161If
162.Fa size
163is zero and
164.Fa ptr
165is not a null pointer, the object it points to is freed and a new zero size
166object is returned.
167.Pp
168When using
169.Fn realloc
170be careful to avoid the following idiom:
171.Bd -literal -offset indent
172size += 50;
173if ((p = realloc(p, size)) == NULL)
174 return (NULL);
175.Ed
176.Pp
177Do not adjust the variable describing how much memory has been allocated
178until the allocation has been successful.
179This can cause aberrant program behavior if the incorrect size value is used.
180In most cases, the above sample will also result in a leak of memory.
181As stated earlier, a return value of
182.Dv NULL
183indicates that the old object still remains allocated.
184Better code looks like this:
185.Bd -literal -offset indent
186newsize = size + 50;
187if ((newp = realloc(p, newsize)) == NULL) {
188 free(p);
189 p = NULL;
190 size = 0;
191 return (NULL);
192}
193p = newp;
194size = newsize;
195.Ed
196.Pp
197As with
198.Fn malloc
199it is important to ensure the new size value will not overflow;
200i.e. avoid allocations like the following:
201.Bd -literal -offset indent
202if ((newp = realloc(p, num * size)) == NULL) {
203 ...
204.Ed
205.Sh MALLOC_OPTIONS
206Malloc will first look for a symbolic link called
207.Pa /etc/malloc.conf
208and next check the environment for a variable called
209.Ev MALLOC_OPTIONS
210and finally for the global variable
211.Va malloc_options
212and scan them for flags in that order.
213Flags are single letters, uppercase means on, lowercase means off.
214.Bl -tag -width indent
215.It Cm A
216.Dq Abort .
217.Fn malloc
218will coredump the process, rather than tolerate internal
219inconsistencies or incorrect usage.
220This is the default and a very handy debugging aid,
221since the core file represents the time of failure,
222rather than when the bogus pointer was used.
223.It Cm D
224.Dq Dump .
225.Fn malloc
226will dump statistics to the file
227.Pa ./malloc.out ,
228if it already exists,
229at exit.
230This option requires the library to have been compiled with -DMALLOC_STATS in
231order to have any effect.
232.It Cm F
233.Dq Freeguard .
234Enable use after free protection.
235Unused pages on the freelist are read and write protected to
236cause a segmentation fault upon access.
237This will also switch off the delayed freeing of chunks,
238reducing random behaviour but detecting double
239.Fn free
240calls as early as possible.
241.It Cm G
242.Dq Guard .
243Enable guard pages.
244Each page size or larger allocation is followed by a guard page that will
245cause a segmentation fault upon any access.
246.It Cm H
247.Dq Hint .
248Pass a hint to the kernel about pages we don't use.
249If the machine is paging a lot this may help a bit.
250.It Cm J
251.Dq Junk .
252Fill some junk into the area allocated.
253Currently junk is bytes of 0xd0 when allocating; this is pronounced
254.Dq Duh .
255\&:-)
256Freed chunks are filled with 0xdf.
257.It Cm P
258.Dq Move allocations within a page.
259Allocations larger than half a page but smaller than a page
260are aligned to the end of a page to catch buffer overruns in more
261cases.
262This is the default.
263.It Cm R
264.Dq realloc .
265Always reallocate when
266.Fn realloc
267is called, even if the initial allocation was big enough.
268This can substantially aid in compacting memory.
269.\".Pp
270.\".It Cm U
271.\".Dq utrace .
272.\"Generate entries for
273.\".Xr ktrace 1
274.\"for all operations.
275.\"Consult the source for this one.
276.It Cm S
277Enable all options suitable for security auditing.
278.It Cm X
279.Dq xmalloc .
280Rather than return failure,
281.Xr abort 3
282the program with a diagnostic message on stderr.
283It is the intention that this option be set at compile time by
284including in the source:
285.Bd -literal -offset indent
286extern char *malloc_options;
287malloc_options = "X";
288.Ed
289.Pp
290Note that this will cause code that is supposed to handle
291out-of-memory conditions gracefully to abort instead.
292.It Cm Z
293.Dq Zero .
294Fill some junk into the area allocated (see
295.Cm J ) ,
296except for the exact length the user asked for, which is zeroed.
297.It Cm <
298.Dq Half the cache size .
299Decrease the size of the free page cache by a factor of two.
300.It Cm >
301.Dq Double the cache size .
302Increase the size of the free page cache by a factor of two.
303.El
304.Pp
305So to set a systemwide reduction of the cache to a quarter of the
306default size and use guard pages:
307.Dl # ln -s 'G\*(Lt\*(Lt' /etc/malloc.conf
308.Pp
309The flags are mostly for testing and debugging.
310If a program changes behavior if any of these options (except
311.Cm X )
312are used,
313it is buggy.
314.Pp
315The default number of free pages cached is 64.
316.Sh RETURN VALUES
317The
318.Fn malloc
319and
320.Fn calloc
321functions return a pointer to the allocated space if successful; otherwise,
322a null pointer is returned and
323.Va errno
324is set to
325.Er ENOMEM .
326.Pp
327The
328.Fn free
329and
330.Fn cfree
331functions return no value.
332.Pp
333The
334.Fn realloc
335function returns a pointer to the (possibly moved) allocated space
336if successful; otherwise, a null pointer is returned and
337.Va errno
338is set to
339.Er ENOMEM .
340.Sh ENVIRONMENT
341.Bl -tag -width Ev
342.It Ev MALLOC_OPTIONS
343See above.
344.El
345.Sh FILES
346.Bl -tag -width "/etc/malloc.conf"
347.It Pa /etc/malloc.conf
348symbolic link to filename containing option flags
349.El
350.Sh DIAGNOSTICS
351If
352.Fn malloc ,
353.Fn calloc ,
354.Fn realloc ,
355or
356.Fn free
357detect an error condition,
358a message will be printed to file descriptor
3592 (not using stdio).
360Errors will result in the process being aborted,
361unless the
362.Cm a
363option has been specified.
364.Pp
365Here is a brief description of the error messages and what they mean:
366.Bl -tag -width Ds
367.It Dq out of memory
368If the
369.Cm X
370option is specified it is an error for
371.Fn malloc ,
372.Fn calloc ,
373or
374.Fn realloc
375to return
376.Dv NULL .
377.It Dq malloc init mmap failed
378This is a rather weird condition that is most likely to indicate a
379seriously overloaded system or a ulimit restriction.
380.It Dq bogus pointer (double free?)
381An attempt to
382.Fn free
383or
384.Fn realloc
385an unallocated pointer was made.
386.It Dq chunk is already free
387There was an attempt to free a chunk that had already been freed.
388.It Dq modified chunk-pointer
389The pointer passed to
390.Fn free
391or
392.Fn realloc
393has been modified.
394.It Dq recursive call
395An attempt was made to call recursively into these functions, i.e., from a
396signal handler.
397This behavior is not supported.
398In particular, signal handlers should
399.Em not
400use any of the
401.Fn malloc
402functions nor utilize any other functions which may call
403.Fn malloc
404(e.g.,
405.Xr stdio 3
406routines).
407.It Dq unknown char in MALLOC_OPTIONS
408We found something we didn't understand.
409.It Dq malloc cache overflow/underflow
410The internal malloc page cache has been corrupted.
411.It Dq malloc free slot lost
412The internal malloc page cache has been corrupted.
413.It Dq guard size
414An inconsistent guard size was detected.
415.It any other error
416.Fn malloc
417detected an internal error;
418consult sources and/or wizards.
419.El
420.Sh SEE ALSO
421.Xr brk 2 ,
422.Xr mmap 2 ,
423.Xr munmap 2 ,
424.Xr alloca 3 ,
425.Xr getpagesize 3 ,
426.Xr posix_memalign 3
427.Sh STANDARDS
428The
429.Fn malloc
430function conforms to
431.St -ansiC .
432.Sh HISTORY
433The
434.Nm
435family of functions first appeared in
436.At v7 .
437A new implementation by Chris Kingsley was introduced in
438.Bx 4.2 ,
439followed by a complete rewrite by Poul-Henning Kamp which appeared in
440.Fx 2.2
441and was included in
442.Ox 2.0 .
443These implementations were all
444.Xr sbrk 2
445based.
446In
447.Ox 3.8 ,
448Thierry Deval rewrote
449.Nm
450to use the
451.Xr mmap 2
452system call,
453making the page addresses returned by
454.Nm
455random.
456A rewrite by Otto Moerbeek introducing a new central data structure and more
457randomization appeared in
458.Ox 4.4 .