dangling pointer
Freed memory address
A dangling pointer is a reference to memory that has been freed or deallocated.
The pointer still holds an address, but what's at that address is no longer valid—the data may be garbage or belong to something else entirely.
Accessing a dangling pointer causes unpredictable behavior: crashes, corrupted data, or security vulnerabilities.
The bug traced back to a dangling pointer after the object was deleted.
Distribution of shares
- deallocationReleasing reserved memory
- heapJumbled collection of items
- stackItems piled vertically
- freeWithout payment or restriction
garbage collection · memory management · lifetime · scope · ownership · destructor
Sudden violent impact
- debuggingError removal from programs
- access violationIllegal memory operation
- core dumpSaved crash state
- runtime errorFault during program execution
Notable act or abuse
- code injectionInserting malicious commands into programs
- privilege escalationGaining unauthorized higher permissions
- attack vectorMethod of intrusion
- patchMaterial covering damage
allocation
Distribution of shares
- deallocationReleasing reserved memory
- heapJumbled collection of items
- stackItems piled vertically
free · garbage collection · memory management · lifetime · scope · ownership · destructor
crash
Sudden violent impact
- debuggingError removal from programs
- access violationIllegal memory operation
- core dumpSaved crash state
exploit
Notable act or abuse
- code injectionInserting malicious commands into programs
- privilege escalationGaining unauthorized higher permissions
- attack vectorMethod of intrusion
security flaw · patch · mitigation · information leak · zero-day
- memory managementbuffer, free, heap, stack, allocation
- code bugsbugs, errors, crashes, glitches, syntax error
- memory exploitsbuffer overflow, stack overflow, out of bounds, boundary violation
- Memory Safetybuffer overflow, memory leak, stack overflow, ownership, borrowing
- software bugsbug, error, glitch, defect, fault
- pointersdereference, cursor, caret, text cursor, indirection