strcat(3) BSD Library Functions Manual strcat(3)
NAME
strcat, strncat -- concatenate strings
LIBRARY
Standard C Library (libc, -lc)
SYNOPSIS
#include <string.h>
char *
strcat(char *restrict s1, const char *restrict s2);
char *
strncat(char *restrict s1, const char *restrict s2, size_t n);
DESCRIPTION
The strcat() and strncat() functions append a copy of the null-terminated
string s2 to the end of the null-terminated string s1, then add a termi-
nating `\0'. The string s1 must have sufficient space to hold the
result.
The strncat() function appends not more than n characters from s2, and
then adds a terminating `\0'.
The source and destination strings should not overlap, as the behavior is
undefined.
RETURN VALUES
The strcat() and strncat() functions return the pointer s1.
SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
The strcat() function is easily misused in a manner which enables mali-
cious users to arbitrarily change a running program's functionality
through a buffer overflow attack. (See the FSA.)
Avoid using strcat(). Instead, use strncat() or strlcat() and ensure
that no more characters are copied to the destination buffer than it can
hold.
Note that strncat() can also be problematic. It may be a security con-
cern for a string to be truncated at all. Since the truncated string
will not be as long as the original, it may refer to a completely differ-
ent resource and usage of the truncated resource could result in very
incorrect behavior. Example:
void
foo(const char *arbitrary_string)
{
char onstack[8] = "";
#if defined(BAD)
/*
* This first strcat is bad behavior. Do not use strcat!
*/
(void)strcat(onstack, arbitrary_string); /* BAD! */
#elif defined(BETTER)
/*
* The following two lines demonstrate better use of
* strncat().
*/
(void)strncat(onstack, arbitrary_string,
sizeof(onstack) - strlen(onstack) - 1);
#elif defined(BEST)
/*
* These lines are even more robust due to testing for
* truncation.
*/
if (strlen(arbitrary_string) + 1 >
sizeof(onstack) - strlen(onstack))
err(1, "onstack would be truncated");
(void)strncat(onstack, arbitrary_string,
sizeof(onstack) - strlen(onstack) - 1);
#endif
}
SEE ALSO
bcopy(3), memccpy(3), memcpy(3), memmove(3), strcpy(3), strlcat(3),
strlcpy(3), wcscat(3)
STANDARDS
The strcat() and strncat() functions conform to ISO/IEC 9899:1990
(``ISO C90'').
BSD December 1, 2009 BSD
Mac OS X 10.8 - Generated Fri Aug 31 05:37:35 CDT 2012