Leah Rowe 7f39ce5f9b libreboot-utils: extremely safe(ish) malloc usage
yes, a common thing in C programs is one or all
of the following:

* use after frees
* double free (on non-NULL pointer)
* over-writing currently used pointer (mem leak)

i try to reduce the chance of this in my software,
by running free() through a filter function,
free_if_not_null, that returns if a function
is being freed twice - because it sets NULL
after freeing, but will only free if it's not
null already.

this patch adds two functions: smalloc and vmalloc,
for strings and voids. using these makes the program
abort if:

* non-null pointer given for initialisation
* pointer to pointer is null (of course)
* size of zero given, for malloc (zero bytes)

i myself was caught out by this change, prompting
me to make the following fix in fs_dirname_basename()
inside lib/file.c:

-       char *buf;
+       char *buf = NULL;

Yes.

Signed-off-by: Leah Rowe <leah@libreboot.org>
2026-03-28 04:25:14 +00:00
2021-05-18 13:56:12 +01:00
2025-11-14 18:22:51 +00:00

Libreboot

Documentation: libreboot.org
Support: #libreboot on Libera IRC

Libreboot provides libre boot firmware on supported motherboards. It replaces proprietary vendor BIOS/UEFI implementations, by

  • Using coreboot to initialize the hardware (e.g. memory controller, CPU, etc.) while minimizing unwanted functionality (e.g. backdoors such as the Intel Management Engine)
  • ... which runs a payload such as SeaBIOS, GRUB, or U-Boot
  • ... which loads your operating system's boot loader (BSD and Linux-based systems are supported).

Why use Libreboot, and what is coreboot?

A lot of users who use libre operating systems still use proprietary boot firmware, which often contain backdoors and bugs, hampering user freedom and right to repair.

coreboot provides libre boot firmware by initializing the hardware then running a payload. However, coreboot is notoriously difficult to configure and install for most non-technical users, requiring detailed technical knowledge of hardware.

Libreboot solves this by being a coreboot distribution (in the same way that Alpine Linux is a Linux distribution). It provides a fully automated build system that downloads and compiles pre-configured ROM images for supported motherboards, so end-users could easily fetch images to flash onto their devices.

Libreboot also produces documentation aimed at non-technical users and excellent user support via IRC.

Contribute

You can check bugs listed on the bug tracker.

You may use Codeberg pull requests to send patches with bug fixes or other improvements. This repository hosts the code for the main build system. The website lives in a separate repository.

Development is also done on the IRC channel.

License for this README

It's just a README file. It is released under Creative Commons Zero, version 1.0.

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