FIO19-C. Do not use fseek() and ftell() to compute the size of a file

Proper understanding of the difference between text mode and binary mode is important when using functions that operate on file streams. (See recommendation FIO14-C. Understand the difference between text mode and binary mode with file streams for more information.)

Section 7.19.9.2 of [ISO/IEC 9899:1999] states the following specific behavior for fseek() when opening a binary file in binary mode:

A binary stream need not meaningfully support fseek calls with a whence value of SEEK_END.

In addition, footnote 234 of Section 7.19.3 of [ISO/IEC 9899:1999] has this to say:

Setting the file position indicator to end-of-file, as with fseek(file, 0, SEEK_END), has undefined behavior for a binary stream (because of possible trailing null characters) or for any stream with state-dependent encoding that does not assuredly end in the initial shift state.

Seeking to the end of a binary stream in binary mode with fseek() is not meaningfully supported and, as a result, not a recommended method for computing the size of a file.

Section 7.19.9.4 of [ISO/IEC 9899:1999] states the following specific behavior for ftell() when opening a text file in text mode:

For a text stream, its file position indicator contains unspecified information, usable by the fseek function for returning the file position indicator for the stream to its position at the time of the ftell call.

Consequently, the return value of ftell() for streams opened in text mode should never be used for offset calculations other than in calls to fseek().

Noncompliant Code Example

This noncompliant code example attempts to open a binary file in binary mode and use fseek() and ftell() to obtain the file size.

FILE *fp;
long file_size;
char *buffer;

fp = fopen("foo.bin", "rb");
if (fp == NULL) {
  /* Handle Error */
}

if (fseek(fp, 0 , SEEK_END) != 0) {
  /* Handle Error */
}

file_size = ftell(fp);
if (file_size == -1) {
  /* Handle Error */
}

buffer = (char*)malloc(file_size);
if (buffer == NULL) {
  /* Handle Error */
}

/* ... */ 

However, setting the file position indicator to the end of the file using fseek() has undefined behavior for a binary stream and, consequently, the amount of memory allocated may be incorrect, leading to a potential vulnerability.

Compliant Solution (POSIX and Windows)

This compliant solution uses fstat() to obtain the size of the binary file.

FILE *fp;
long file_size;
char *buffer;
struct stat stbuf;
int fd;

fd = open("foo.bin", O_RDONLY);
if (fd == -1) {
  /* Handle Error */
}

fp = fdopen(fd, "rb");
if (fp == NULL) {
  /* Handle Error */
}

if (fstat(fd, &stbuf) == -1) {
  /* Handle Error */
}

file_size = stbuf.st_size;

buffer = (char*)malloc(file_size);
if (buffer == NULL) {
  /* Handle Error */
}

/* ... */ 

Noncompliant Code Example

This noncompliant code example attempts to open a text file in text mode and use fseek() and ftell() to obtain the file size.

FILE *fp;
long file_size;
char *buffer;

fp = fopen("foo.txt", "r");
if (fp == NULL) {
  /* Handle Error */
}

if (fseek(fp, 0 , SEEK_END) != 0) {
  /* Handle Error */
}

file_size = ftell(fp);
if (file_size == -1) {
  /* Handle Error */
}

buffer = (char*)malloc(file_size);
if (buffer == NULL) {
  /* Handle Error */
}

/* ... */ 

However, the file position indicator returned by ftell() with a file opened in text mode is only useful in calls to fseek(). As such, the value of file_size may not necessarily be a meaningful measure of the number of characters in the file and, consequently, the amount of memory allocated may be incorrect, leading to a potential vulnerability.

Compliant Solution (POSIX and Windows)

This compliant solution uses fstat() instead to the size of the text file.

FILE *fp;
long file_size;
char *buffer;
struct stat stbuf;
int fd;

fd = open("foo.txt", O_RDONLY);
if (fd == -1) {
  /* Handle Error */
}

fp = fdopen(fd, "r");
if (fp == NULL) {
  /* Handle Error */
}

if (fstat(fd, &stbuf) == -1) {
  /* Handle Error */
}
file_size = stbuf.st_size;

buffer = (char*)malloc(file_size);
if (buffer == NULL) {
  /* Handle Error */
}

/* ... */ 

Implementation Details

[MSDN] has the following to say about ftell():

The value returned by ftell may not reflect the physical byte offset for streams opened in text mode, because text mode causes carriage return-linefeed translation. Use ftell with fseek to return to file locations correctly.

Again, this indicates that the return value of ftell() for streams opened in text mode is useful only in calls to fseek() and should not be used for any other purpose.

The following code example attempts to read in 10 bytes from a text file opened in text mode. It obtains the current value of the file-position indicator by using ftell().

The code was compiled with Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 SP1 on Windows XP Professional SP4:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

int main() {

  FILE *fp;
  char a[11];
  long offset;

  /* The contents of foo.txt are: 0123456789 repeated 10 times separated by line feeds (ie \n) */
  fp = fopen( "foo.txt", "r" );
  if (fp == NULL) {
    perror("fopen() error");
    exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
  }

  /* Read 10 (n-1) bytes */
  if (fgets(a, 11, fp) == NULL) {
    perror("fgets() error");
    fclose(fp);
    exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
  }

  offset = ftell(fp);
  if (offset == -1) {
    perror("ftell() error");
    fclose(fp);
    exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
  }

  printf("offset = %ld\n", offset);   /* Prints out 0.*/ 

  return 0;
}

The following is printed when this is run with the above setup:

offset = 0

However, 0 is incorrect; the correct value should be 10 as evident when the file is opened in binary mode rather than text mode.

Risk Assessment

Understanding the difference between text mode and binary mode with file streams is critical when working with functions that operate on them. Setting the file position indicator to end-of-file with fseek() has undefined behavior for a binary stream. In addition, the return value of ftell() for streams opened in text mode is useful only in calls to fseek(), not for determining file sizes or for any other use. As such, fstat(), or other platform-equivalent functions, should be used to determine the size of a file.

Related Guidelines

ISO/IEC 9899:1999 Section 7.19.9.2, "The fseek function", Section 7.19.3, footnote 234, "Files", Section 7.19.9.4, "The ftell function"

Bibliography

MSDN "ftell"