Embedded C and C++: A Security Perspective
summary
C and C++ still cause recurring security faults like out‑of‑bounds writes (top CWE) despite years of experience, and switching languages is slow and costly. The claim: C++ language features can systematically prevent common mistakes. Concrete patterns shown: tainted<T> wrapper that forces verification or sanitization via private access, references for non‑null to eliminate scattered null checks, and an encapsulated single‑read buffer to avoid TOCTOU race vulnerabilities by buffering shared memory before use. These techniques compile-time enforce safer use and reduce exploitable faults.
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chapters (8)
- 0:00Introduction and background
- 1:30Security risks in C and C++
- 4:01Memory safety and stack vulnerabilities
- 7:32Industry reliance on C and C++
- 8:57Input validation with C++ classes
- 10:47Null pointer safety in C++
- 11:48Time-of-check to time-of-use flaws
- 13:59Summary and future outlook
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