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cmemorymallocallocation

malloc(0) actually works?

Possible Duplicate:
what’s the point in malloc(0)?

Why does malloc(0) actually return a valid pointer for writing ?

char *str = NULL;

str = (char*)malloc(0); // allocate 0 bytes ?

printf("Pointer of str: %p\n", str);

strcpy(str, "A very long string ...................");

printf("Value of str: %s", str);

free(str); // Causes crash if str is too long

Output:

Pointer of str: 0xa9d010
Aborted
Value of str: A very long string ...................

When str is shorter then it just works as it should.

BTW: For compiling I used GCC with "-D_FORTIY_SOURCE=0 -fno-stack-protector"

*** glibc detected *** ..: free(): invalid next size (fast): 0x0000000000a9d010 ***
Solution

  • Why does malloc(0) actually return a valid pointer for writing?

    It doesn't return a valid pointer for writing. It returns a valid pointer for not using it. Or it may return NULL as well since the C standard specifies this case to be implementation defined.