What is Security Development Lifecycle Checks option in Visual Studio?

Question

I am using Visual Studio 2013 Preview, although I'm sure I've seen it in earlier versions. When creating a new project using the wizard, I select C++, Win32 Console Application, and there is an option to enable Security Development Lifecycle Checks on my project. Could someone explain exactly what this option does to my code/project?

Valentijn

Answer 1

The /sdl switch is described here. It turns some warnings into errors, which does not affect your code. Furthermore, it applies the /GS check more aggresively.

Don't expect too much from it. The Microsoft SDL is really a workaround for 1980's style C programming. Even it you use 20th century C++, you don't need it. E.g. operator+(std::string, std::string) is both safe and portable. Microsoft's SDL solution here in contrast is not portable, nor is it safe - the idea behind /GS is to find errors with C string handling at runtime and abort the program, limiting the consequences but not making it safe.

Phosphine

Strings is not the only cause of memory errors. /sdl can help you identify use of unitialized variables, among other things. – Gannie

@JørgenFogh: You're describing the C4700 warning, for which you don't need /sdl. It's a Level-1 warning; you need to turn off all warnings before C4700 disappears. If your developers are doing that, you've got problems which SDL won't solve either. – Phosphine

I remember reading somewhere that the warnings become more detailed, because /sdl switches on a more detailed static analysis. I can't remember where I read it though. – Gannie

If you find a source, feel free to add another answer. – Phosphine

The MSDN article about the switch /sdl says it does modify how the code compile leading to runtime differences, the comment below is a copy and paste from MSDN. – Variolous

Performs limited pointer sanitization. In expressions that do not involve dereferences and in types that have no user-defined destructor, pointer references are set to a non-valid address after a call to delete. This helps to prevent the reuse of stale pointer references. Performs class member initialization. Automatically initializes all class members to zero on object instantiation (before the constructor runs). This helps prevent the use of uninitialized data associated with class members that the constructor does not explicitly initialize. – Variolous

@Motes: You should've written it as a separate answer. This is way more helpful than a (derisive) answer this comment is placed for. Additionally the link given there is bad. It should be this. – Fonseca

@Fonseca I hate the way Microsoft obsoletes links on a regular basis. I had to go to web.archive.org/web/20150703000343/http://blogs.microsoft.com/… to see the link given in the answer. – Stridulate

Answer 2

The Microsoft Security Development Lifecycle is a software development process used and proposed by Microsoft to reduce software maintenance costs and increase reliability of software concerning software security related bugs.

These may helpful:

http://download.microsoft.com/download/B/5/A/B5A89F4C-D591-4AAB-BF45-D818D80527B6/SDLServices2011.pdf

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/84aed186-1d75-4366-8e61-8d258746bopq.aspx

Pushkin

That's a lot of material. What does checking the option actually DO to my code? – Valentijn