Detecting Wild Pointers CTAL-TTA Practice Questions (Page 5)

Questions 21–25

1. 21application · medium

   A test analyst is using Electric Fence to debug a C program that crashes intermittently. The tool reports an 'invalid write' at a specific address. The analyst needs to understand what this indicates. What is the most likely cause of this report?

   • AThe program wrote to memory that was not allocated, possibly due to a wild pointer
   • BThe program has a memory leak that needs to be fixed
   • CThe program is using a dangling pointer to read freed memory
   • DThe program read from a null pointer
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2. 22foundation · easy

   What does a static analysis tool typically report when it finds a potential wild pointer?

   • AA recommendation to use a debugger
   • BA memory dump of the invalid address
   • CA runtime error message
   • DA warning with the location in the code where the issue may occur
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4. 23foundation · easy

   Which statement correctly distinguishes a wild pointer from a null pointer and a dangling pointer?

   • AA wild pointer holds an invalid memory address because it was never initialized or was corrupted; a null pointer points to address zero; a dangling pointer points to freed memory.
   • BA wild pointer points to freed memory; a dangling pointer is uninitialized; a null pointer points to a valid but empty object.
   • CA wild pointer and a dangling pointer are the same concept; a null pointer is the only distinct type, pointing to address zero.
   • DA wild pointer is a pointer that has been explicitly set to NULL; a null pointer is uninitialized; a dangling pointer points to a valid object that has been moved.
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5. 24foundation · easy

   How does static analysis detect wild pointers without executing the code?

   • ABy monitoring the program's memory usage at runtime
   • BBy examining the code for patterns such as uninitialized pointers or use-after-free
   • CBy running the program with special memory-checking libraries
   • DBy using a debugger to step through the code
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6. 25foundation · easy

   Which defensive technique helps mitigate the impact of wild pointers in C++?

   • ADisabling compiler optimizations
   • BUsing a global pointer variable
   • CUsing smart pointers like std::unique_ptr
   • DUsing raw pointers with manual memory management
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