Invalid read of size 1 when using valgrind

Question

I am getting this output when using valgrind:

==19923== Invalid read of size 1
==19923==    at 0x52CCCC0: vfprintf (vfprintf.c:1632)
==19923==    by 0x52F4772: vasprintf (vasprintf.c:59)
==19923==    by 0x52D3A56: asprintf (asprintf.c:35)
==19923==    by 0x400D77: addToList (pa1.c:124)
==19923==    by 0x4010AF: md5Hash (pa1.c:220)
==19923==    by 0x401138: newFile (pa1.c:244)
==19923==    by 0x401260: searchDirects (pa1.c:280)
==19923==    by 0x401451: main (pa1.c:339)
==19923==  Address 0x585b720 is 0 bytes inside a block of size 27 free'd
==19923==    at 0x4C2EDEB: free (in /usr/lib/valgrind/vgpreload_memcheck-amd64-linux.so)
==19923==    by 0x401144: newFile (pa1.c:246)
==19923==    by 0x401260: searchDirects (pa1.c:280)
==19923==    by 0x401382: directoryCheck (pa1.c:312)
==19923==    by 0x4012CD: searchDirects (pa1.c:290)
==19923==    by 0x401451: main (pa1.c:339)
==19923==  Block was alloc'd at
==19923==    at 0x4C2DB8F: malloc (in /usr/lib/valgrind/vgpreload_memcheck-amd64-linux.so)
==19923==    by 0x52F47D7: vasprintf (vasprintf.c:73)
==19923==    by 0x52D3A56: asprintf (asprintf.c:35)
==19923==    by 0x40112C: newFile (pa1.c:239)
==19923==    by 0x401260: searchDirects (pa1.c:280)
==19923==    by 0x401382: directoryCheck (pa1.c:312)
==19923==    by 0x4012CD: searchDirects (pa1.c:290)
==19923==    by 0x401451: main (pa1.c:339)

Here is where I have narrowed it down to being the problem in my code:

else
{    
    currentList = headList;
    printf("This is where I will put the code to create the Linked list!\n");
    if(currentList != 0)
    {
        while(currentList->nextList != 0)
        {
            if(currentList->key = key)
            {
                asprintf(&buff, "%s %s", currentList->value, dirValue); // PROBLEM IS HERE
                printf("Here is the new string that holds the directory paths: %s\n", buff);
                currentList->value = buff;
                free(buff);
                printf("Here is the new string that holds the directory paths: %s\n", currentList->value);
                return;
            }
            currentList = currentList->nextList;
        }

        currentList->nextList = malloc(sizeof(struct List));
        printf("Adding a new node\n");
        //Reached the end of the Linked list and didn't find the
        //same key so create a new node.
        currentList = currentList->nextList;
        currentList->key = key;
        currentList->nextList = NULL;
        currentList->value = dirValue;
    }
}

I have many errors, and providing the entire valgrind output would be overkill I feel. All of the errors I am getting come back to where I am using asprintf() ("addToList (pa1.c:124)" line in the report) . Above the code I initialize char *buff = NULL; , and currentList->value holds a string that I am wanting to append onto using asprintf. Any guesses to why I am getting the numerous Invalid read size 1 errors would be greatly appreciated. Also, the string is appended as expected when I do print out the result from asprintf() Thanks.

Answer 1

The invalid read is at the start of an already freed block of memory; you are trying to use memory after you've freed it.

currentList->value = buff;
free(buff);
printf("Here is the new string that holds the directory paths: %s\n", currentList->value);
return;

You use currentList->value = buff; in the printf() , but you've just freed buff . This spells an impending disaster. If currentList->value is going to be used in calling functions after the return , you've got major problems.

You can fix the one warning by moving the printf() before the free() , but the code looks like you're going to have major issues. It might be better to delete the free(buff); — though you'd have to work out where the data is actually freed instead.