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#1 2007-09-11 09:03 AM

santoshkumar
Member
Registered: 2007-08-21
Posts: 53

Re: How can we send data when its pointer.

How can we send data when its pointer.
i have 

struct client_hello_info
{
        char *username;
        char macid[MAC_LENGTH];
        int  osid;                      
}my_client;

struct data_packet {
        int command_id;
        char * data;
        int msg_length;
 }my_data;

username=malloc(7);
strcpy(username, "santosh")
strcpy(macid, "11:..90");
copied myclient structure into my_data.client
my_data.client=malloc(len)
memcpy(my_data.client, myclient, len);

I have to send data_packet from client to server!
but thinking how to send data bec pointers become invalid in diff machines!

copying in big buffer and sending! tats doing twice here ! any better ways?

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#2 2007-09-11 03:40 PM

HectorLasso
Administrator
From: Colombia
Registered: 2002-06-12
Posts: 353

Re: How can we send data when its pointer.

struct some_struct {
   char name[FIXED_LEN];
   int len;
   char *somevalue;
};

...

void send_my_struct(int sd, struct some_struct *s) {
   send(sd, s->name, FIXED_LEN, 0);
   send(sd, s->len, sizeof(int), 0);
   send(sd, s->somevalue, len, 0);
}

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#3 2007-09-13 01:53 AM

zhn636
Member
Registered: 2007-04-24
Posts: 146

Re: How can we send data when its pointer.

and can we send a a pointer of this struct to the other end ?

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#4 2007-09-13 02:14 AM

HectorLasso
Administrator
From: Colombia
Registered: 2002-06-12
Posts: 353

Re: How can we send data when its pointer.

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#5 2007-09-13 02:28 AM

jfriesne
Administrator
From: California
Registered: 2005-07-06
Posts: 348
Website

Re: How can we send data when its pointer.

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#6 2007-09-13 02:50 AM

HectorLasso
Administrator
From: Colombia
Registered: 2002-06-12
Posts: 353

Re: How can we send data when its pointer.

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#7 2007-11-25 06:26 PM

zamb
Member
Registered: 2007-11-25
Posts: 5

Re: How can we send data when its pointer.

struct client_hello_info
{
        char *username;
        char macid[MAC_LENGTH];
        int  osid;                      
}my_client;

struct data_packet {
        int command_id;
        char * data;
        int msg_length;
 }my_data;

username=malloc(7);
strcpy(username, "santosh")
strcpy(macid, "11:..90");
copied myclient structure into my_data.client
my_data.client=malloc(len)
memcpy(my_data.client, myclient, len);

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#8 2007-11-25 06:55 PM

RobSeace
Administrator
From: Boston, MA
Registered: 2002-06-12
Posts: 3,839
Website

Re: How can we send data when its pointer.

Very valid point...  However, your null-termination code is a bit overly paranoid and
not entirely necessary...  strcpy() by itself will always null-terminate the destination,
so there's no need to manually do so...  (And, if it didn't, then your strlen() of the
destination would be a very bad thing to do at that point, anyway, because it requires
null-termination!)  Perhaps you were thinking of strncpy(), which may fail to null-terminate?

Of course, the simplest way to do what's wanted in a guaranteed proper manner is:

username = strdup ("santosh");

(And, check for failure (NULL), just as with all *alloc() functions, too...)

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#9 2007-11-25 07:13 PM

zamb
Member
Registered: 2007-11-25
Posts: 5

Re: How can we send data when its pointer.

username = strdup ("santosh");

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#10 2007-12-04 01:50 AM

mlampkin
Administrator
From: Sol 3
Registered: 2002-06-12
Posts: 911
Website

Re: How can we send data when its pointer.

Not to be a contrarian but...

In response to using a memory pointer as a handle - my thought is that you should NEVER use a raw memory pointer is such a way... either a hash against the data or a secure one way hash against the pointer value should be used...

Here is the rationale... consider where you are sending raw pointers AND it turns out your code has a bug e.g. an overflow bug that allows a malicious user to force data in a specific memory location(s) to be sent back...

In such a situation, then by giving them a raw pointer you are giving the attacker the EXACT location in process memory they ( may ) want to access and make the job of compromising that data that much easier... additionally it may then give them the information to iterate through the rest of in memory records e.g. think of a linked list node where the next record pointer is contained in the structure...

On the other hand - hashing it securely first doesn't give away any 'secrets'... and means they will have to coerce your system into dumping EVERYTHING... or best case - dump it incrementally starting at one end of the heap - figure out where the first segment of desired data it... and then move forward... which is a much harder task...


Michael


"The only difference between me and a madman is that I'm not mad."

Salvador Dali (1904-1989)

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#11 2007-12-04 02:01 AM

jfriesne
Administrator
From: California
Registered: 2005-07-06
Posts: 348
Website

Re: How can we send data when its pointer.

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#12 2018-02-25 07:51 PM

John
Guest

Re: How can we send data when its pointer.

You can pass the heap address to another process. In that way you dont need to pass a big buffer. Other process can read the heap of other process , this is done as part of late binding.

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