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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 1.54 2008/08/07 18:41:47 otto Exp $
34.\"
35.Dd $Mdocdate: August 7 2008 $
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.Pp
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 failure.
219This is a very handy debugging aid, since the core file will represent the
220time of failure, rather than when the null pointer was accessed.
221.It Cm D
222.Dq Dump .
223.Fn malloc
224will dump statistics in a file called
225.Pa malloc.out
226at exit.
227This option requires the library to have been compiled with -DMALLOC_STATS in
228order to have any effect.
229.It Cm F
230.Dq Freeguard .
231Enable use after free protection.
232Unused pages on the freelist are read and write protected to
233cause a segmentation fault upon access.
234.It Cm G
235.Dq Guard .
236Enable guard pages and chunk randomization.
237Each page size or larger allocation is followed by a guard page that will
238cause a segmentation fault upon any access.
239Smaller than page size chunks are returned in a random order.
240.It Cm H
241.Dq Hint .
242Pass a hint to the kernel about pages we don't use.
243If the machine is paging a lot this may help a bit.
244.It Cm J
245.Dq Junk .
246Fill some junk into the area allocated.
247Currently junk is bytes of 0xd0 when allocating; this is pronounced
248.Dq Duh .
249\&:-)
250Freed chunks are filled with 0xdf.
251.It Cm N
252Do not output warning messages when encountering possible corruption
253or bad pointers.
254.It Cm P
255.Dq Move allocations within a page.
256Allocations larger than half a page but smaller that a page
257are aligned to the end of a page to catch buffer overruns in more
258cases.
259.It Cm R
260.Dq realloc .
261Always reallocate when
262.Fn realloc
263is called, even if the initial allocation was big enough.
264This can substantially aid in compacting memory.
265.\".Pp
266.\".It Cm U
267.\".Dq utrace .
268.\"Generate entries for
269.\".Xr ktrace 1
270.\"for all operations.
271.\"Consult the source for this one.
272.It Cm X
273.Dq xmalloc .
274Rather than return failure,
275.Xr abort 3
276the program with a diagnostic message on stderr.
277It is the intention that this option be set at compile time by
278including in the source:
279.Bd -literal -offset indent
280extern char *malloc_options;
281malloc_options = "X";
282.Ed
283.Pp
284Note that this will cause code that is supposed to handle
285out-of-memory conditions gracefully to abort instead.
286.It Cm Z
287.Dq Zero .
288Fill some junk into the area allocated (see
289.Cm J ) ,
290except for the exact length the user asked for, which is zeroed.
291.It Cm <
292.Dq Half the cache size .
293Decrease the size of the free page cache by a factor of two.
294.It Cm >
295.Dq Double the cache size .
296Increase the size of the free page cache by a factor of two.
297.El
298.Pp
299So to set a systemwide reduction of cache size and coredumps on problems:
300.Li ln -s 'A<' /etc/malloc.conf
301.Pp
302The
303.Cm J
304and
305.Cm Z
306flags are mostly for testing and debugging.
307If a program changes behavior if either of these options are used,
308it is buggy.
309.Pp
310The default number of free pages cached is 64.
311.Sh RETURN VALUES
312The
313.Fn malloc
314and
315.Fn calloc
316functions return a pointer to the allocated space if successful; otherwise,
317a null pointer is returned and
318.Va errno
319is set to
320.Er ENOMEM .
321.Pp
322The
323.Fn free
324and
325.Fn cfree
326functions return no value.
327.Pp
328The
329.Fn realloc
330function returns a pointer to the (possibly moved) allocated space
331if successful; otherwise, a null pointer is returned and
332.Va errno
333is set to
334.Er ENOMEM .
335.Sh ENVIRONMENT
336.Bl -tag -width Ev
337.It Ev MALLOC_OPTIONS
338See above.
339.El
340.Sh FILES
341.Bl -tag -width "/etc/malloc.conf"
342.It Pa /etc/malloc.conf
343symbolic link to filename containing option flags
344.El
345.Sh DIAGNOSTICS
346If
347.Fn malloc ,
348.Fn calloc ,
349.Fn realloc ,
350or
351.Fn free
352detect an error or warning condition,
353a message will be printed to file descriptor
3542 (not using stdio).
355Errors will always result in the process being
356.Xr abort 3 'ed.
357If the
358.Cm A
359option has been specified, warnings will also
360.Xr abort 3
361the process.
362.Pp
363Here is a brief description of the error messages and what they mean:
364.Bl -tag -width Ds
365.It Dq out of memory
366If the
367.Cm A
368option is specified it is an error for
369.Fn malloc ,
370.Fn calloc ,
371or
372.Fn realloc
373to return
374.Dv NULL .
375.It Dq malloc init mmap failed
376This is a rather weird condition that is most likely to indicate a
377seriously overloaded system or a ulimit restriction.
378.It any other error
379.Fn malloc
380detected an internal error;
381consult sources and/or wizards.
382.El
383.Pp
384Here is a brief description of the warning messages and what they mean:
385.Bl -tag -width Ds
386.It Dq bogus pointer (double free?)
387An attempt to
388.Fn free
389or
390.Fn realloc
391an unallocated pointer was made.
392.It Dq chunk is already free
393There was an attempt to free a chunk that had already been freed.
394.It Dq modified chunk-pointer
395The pointer passed to
396.Fn free
397or
398.Fn realloc
399has been modified.
400.It Dq recursive call
401An attempt was made to call recursively into these functions, i.e., from a
402signal handler.
403This behavior is not supported.
404In particular, signal handlers should
405.Em not
406use any of the
407.Fn malloc
408functions nor utilize any other functions which may call
409.Fn malloc
410(e.g.,
411.Xr stdio 3
412routines).
413.It Dq unknown char in MALLOC_OPTIONS
414We found something we didn't understand.
415.It Dq malloc cache overflow/underflow
416The internal malloc page cache has been corrupted.
417.It Dq malloc free slot lost
418The internal malloc page cache has been corrupted.
419.It Dq guard size
420An inconsistent guard size was detected.
421.El
422.Sh SEE ALSO
423.Xr brk 2 ,
424.Xr mmap 2 ,
425.Xr munmap 2 ,
426.Xr alloca 3 ,
427.Xr getpagesize 3
428.Sh STANDARDS
429The
430.Fn malloc
431function conforms to
432.St -ansiC .
433.Sh HISTORY
434The present implementation of
435.Fn malloc
436started out as a filesystem on a drum
437attached to a 20-bit binary challenged computer built with discrete germanium
438transistors, and it has since graduated to handle primary storage rather than
439secondary.
440.Pp
441The main difference from other
442.Fn malloc
443implementations are believed to be that
444the free pages are not accessed until allocated.
445Most
446.Fn malloc
447implementations will store a data structure containing a,
448possibly double-, linked list in the free chunks of memory, used to tie
449all the free memory together.
450That is a quite suboptimal thing to do.
451Every time the free-list is traversed, all the otherwise unused, and very
452likely paged out, pages get faulted into primary memory, just to see what
453lies after them in the list.
454.Pp
455On systems which are paging, this can increase the page-faults
456of a process by a factor of five.