BADFUNC.FORMATMESSAGE : Use of FormatMessage

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A use of FormatMessage(), which requires that certain precautions be taken.

Class Name

Use of FormatMessage

Significance

security

Mnemonic

BADFUNC.FORMATMESSAGE

Categories

CWE	CWE:134	Use of Externally-Controlled Format String
	CWE:676	Use of Potentially Dangerous Function
BSI	BSI:FormatMessage	Use of FormatMessage
OWASP-2017	OWASP-2017:A9	Using components with known vulnerabilities
OWASP-2021	OWASP-2021:A6	Vulnerable and outdated components

Availability

Available for C and C++.

Enabling

Checks for this warning class are disabled by default. To enable them, add the following WARNING_FILTER rule to the project configuration file.

WARNING_FILTER += allow class="Use of FormatMessage"

To enable all BSI-related classes, including all BSI-specific BADFUNC classes, use the bsi configuration preset.

When you are warned about a use of FormatMessage(), check that the following conditions are satisfied.

Either the dwFlags argument does not contain FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_STRING, or

the dwFlags argument contains FORMAT_MESSAGE_FROM_STRING and

the format string argument comes from a trusted source, and
all insertion sequences in the format string include precision modifiers such that the formatted string does not overflow the destination buffer.

If so, you can change the warning state to Suppressed.

To include an additional function or set of functions in the checks for this class, create a new set of BAD_FUNCTION_* rules in which the BAD_FUNCTION_REGEX setting matches the function or set of functions you want to check and the remaining rules match those in the other sets for this class.

To remove a function or set of functions from the checks for this class, edit the configuration file to comment out the corresponding set of BAD_FUNCTION_* rules.

The following configuration file parameters affect checks for this warning class.

BADFUNC.FORMATMESSAGE : Use of FormatMessage

Summary

Properties

Resolution

Relevant Configuration File Parameters