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ComplianceCERTC++CodingStandardCERTSecureCodingStandards

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Compliance
CreatedbyJustinPincar,lastmodifiedbyDavidSvobodaonNov06,2008

SoftwaresystemscanbevalidatedasconformingtotheCERTC++SecureCodingStandard.Sourcecodeanalysis
toolsincludingcompilersandstaticanalysistools,canbecertifiedasabletovalidatesourcecodeasconformingto
thisstandard.

SourceCodeCompliance
TheCERTC++SecureCodingStandardcanbeusedasameasureofsoftwaresecuritybydeterminingthedegreeto
whichasoftwaresystemcomplieswiththerulesandrecommendationsinthisstandard.Whilecompliancedoesnot
guaranteetheabsenceofvulnerabilities(forexample,vulnerabilitiesresultingfromdesignflaws),itdoesguaranteethe
absenceofcodingerrorsthatarecommonlyfoundtobetherootcausesofvulnerabilities.
TheeasiestwaytovalidatecodeascompliantwiththeCERTC++SecureCodingstandardistouseacertifiedsource
codeanalysistool.

ToolSelectionandValidation
Whenchoosingacompiler(whichshouldbeunderstoodtoincludethelinker),aC++98compliantcompilershouldbe
usedwheneverpossible.
Whenchoosingasourcecodeanalysistool,itisclearlydesirablethatthetoolbeabletoenforceasmanyoftherules
inthisdocumentaspossible.
Compilersandsourcecodeanalysistoolsaretrustedprocesses,meaningthatadegreeofrelianceisplacedonthe
outputofthetools.Consequently,developersmustensurethatthistrustisnotmisplaced.Ideally,thisshouldbe
achievedbythetoolsupplierrunningappropriatevalidationtests.Whileitispossibletouseavalidationsuitetotesta
compilerorsourcecodeanalysistools,noformalvalidationschemeexistsatthetimeofpublicationofthisbook.

Levels
Rulesandrecommendationsinthisstandardareclassifiedintothreelevels.Emphasisshouldbeplacedon
conformanceLevel1(L1)rules.SoftwaresystemsthathavebeenvalidatedascomplyingwithallLevel1rulesare
consideredtobeL1Conforming.SoftwaresystemscanbeassessedasL1,L2,orfullyconformingdependingonthe
setofrulestowhichthesystemhasbeenvalidated.

RulesversusRecommendations
Conformancetosecurecodingrulesmustbedemonstratedtoclaimcompliancewiththisstandardunlessan
exceptionalconditionexists.Ifanexceptionalconditionisclaimed,theexceptionmustcorrespondtoapredefined
exceptionalconditionandtheapplicationofthisexceptionmustbedocumentedinthesourcecode.
Compliancewithrecommendationsisnotnecessarytoclaimcompliancewiththisstandard.Itispossible,however,to
claimcompliancewithrecommendations(especiallyincasesinwhichcompliancecanbeverified).

DeviationProcedure
https://www.securecoding.cert.org/confluence/display/cplusplus/Compliance

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ComplianceCERTC++CodingStandardCERTSecureCodingStandards

Strictadherencetoallrulesisunlikely.Consequently,deviationsassociatedwithindividualsituationsarepermissible.
Deviationsmayoccurforaspecificinstance,typicallyinresponsetocircumstancesthatariseduringthedevelopment
processorforasystematicuseofaparticularconstructinaparticularcircumstance.Systematicdeviationsareusually
agreeduponatthestartofaproject.
Forthesesecurecodingrulestohaveauthority,itisnecessarythataformalprocedurebeusedtoauthorizethese
deviationsratherthananindividualprogrammerhavingdiscretiontodeviateatwill.Theuseofadeviationmustbe
justifiedonthebasisofbothnecessityandsecurity.Rulesthathaveahighseverityand/orahighlikelihoodrequirea
morestringentprocessforagreeingtoadeviationthandoruleswithalowseveritythatareunlikelytoresultina
vulnerability.
Toclaimcompliancewiththisstandard,softwaredevelopersmustbeabletoproduceonrequestdocumentationasto
whichsystematicandspecificdeviationshavebeenpermittedduringdevelopment.

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