Uninitialized Memory
Use of uninitialized memory is reading variables or buffers never assigned, potentially leaking stale stack/heap data.
Purpose
To understand information leaks caused by uninitialized memory and their defenses; a memory-safety and privacy defect.
Mechanism
Stack/heap memory is not zeroed on allocation; reading unassigned regions returns previously left-over content. Attackers can exploit this to leak keys, pointers, and other sensitive data. Defenses: initialization, calloc, compiler warnings.
Use cases
- Information leakage vulnerabilities
- Memory safety audit
- Stale data cleanup