Chrome’s C++: Google’s Chrome is looking to bring memory safety to the C++ codebase
C++ is a superset of the C language. C++ allows for writing high-performance applications but this comes at a price, security. It is an OOP language that is viewed by many as the best language for creating large-scale applications. Google Chrome is looking to bring memory safety to Chrome’s C++ codebase. While the Google research team is the appetite for different languages than C++ with stronger memory safety guarantees, large codebases such as Chromium will use C++ for the foreseeable future. Google Chrome research team is looking at heap scanning to reduce memory-related security flaws in Chrome’s C++ codebase, but the technique creates a toll on memory except when newer Arm hardware is used.
Google is to bring memory safety to Chrome’s C++:
Google Chrome and Microsoft are major users of and contributors to the fast programming language C++. Google Chrome can’t just rip and replace Chromium’s existing C++ code with memory-safer Rust. There is interest increasing in using Rust because its memory safety is guaranteed.
Google Chrome is working on ways to improve the memory safety of C++ by scanning heap-allocated memory. Nearly 70% of the high severity software security flaws in chrome’s code are memory unsafety problems, Google’s engineers have revealed. Later, Goggle Chrome engineers have found ways to make C++ safer to reduce memory-related security flaws such as buffer overflow and use-after-free (UAF), which account for 70% of all software security bugs.
UAFs make up the majority of high-severity issues affecting the browser. And its access to heap-allocated memory is caused by dangling pointers. To detect UAFs, Google already uses C++ smart pointers like MiraclePtr. Heap scanning may add to this arsenal. Google explains how quarantines and heap scanning work. Goggle is also exploring the option of a programming language designed for compile-time safety checks with less runtime performance impact.
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Source: https://www.analyticsinsight.net/why-google-chrome-is-hanging-to-c-memory-when-it-can-go-for-rust/
