Add Sanitizers documentation

examples/dev_flow.rst

@@ -8,4 +8,5 @@ Developer tools and flows
 
    dev_flow/debug/step_into_dependencies
    dev_flow/debug/debugging_visual
+   dev_flow/sanitizers/compiler_sanitizers
    dev_flow/tool_requires/mingw

examples/dev_flow/sanitizers/compiler_sanitizers.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,314 @@
+.. _examples_dev_flow_sanitizers_compiler_sanitizers:
+
+Compiler sanitizers
+===================
+
+.. warning::
+
+   Using sanitizers in production, especially with programs that run with elevated privileges (for example, SUID binaries on Linux), is dangerous.
+   The sanitizer runtime libraries depend on environment variables, which could allow privilege escalation attacks.
+   Use sanitizers only in development and testing environments.
+   runtimes rely on environment variables that could enable privilege escalation attacks.
+   Use sanitizers only in development and testing environments.
+
+Sanitizers are powerful tools for detecting runtime bugs like buffer overflows, data races, memory leaks,
+dangling pointers, use-of-uninitialized memory, and various types of undefined behavior. Compilers such as
+GCC, Clang, and MSVC support these tools through specific compiler and linker flags.
+
+This page explains recommended approaches for integrating compiler sanitizers into your workflow with Conan.
+
+Modeling and applying sanitizers using settings
+-----------------------------------------------
+
+If you want to model sanitizer options so that the package ID is affected by them, you can
+:ref:`customize new compiler sub-settings <reference_config_files_customizing_settings>`. You should not need
+to modify ``settings.yml`` directly; instead add :ref:`the settings_user.yml <examples_config_files_settings_user>`.
+
+This approach is preferred because enabling a sanitizer alters the package ID, allowing you to build and use
+the same binary package with or without sanitizers. This is ideal for development and debugging workflows.
+
+To better illustrate this, please clone the sources to recreate this project. You can find them in the
+`examples2 repository <https://github.com/conan-io/examples2>`_ on GitHub:
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+   git clone https://github.com/conan-io/examples2.git
+   cd examples2/examples/dev_flow/sanitizers/compiler_sanitizers
+
+In this example we will see how to prepare Conan to use sanitizers in different ways.
+
+Configuring sanitizers as part of settings
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+If you typically use a specific set of sanitizers or combinations for your builds, you can specify
+a sub-setting as a list of values in your ``settings_user.yml``. For example, for Clang:
+
+.. code-block:: yaml
+   :caption: settings_user.yml
+   :emphasize-lines: 3
+
+   compiler:
+     clang:
+       sanitizer: [null, Address, Leak, Thread, Memory, UndefinedBehavior, HardwareAssistanceAddress, KernelAddress, AddressUndefinedBehavior, ThreadUndefinedBehavior]
+
+This example defines a few common sanitizers. You can add any sanitizer your compiler supports.
+The ``null`` value represents a build without sanitizers. The above models the use of ``-fsanitize=address``,
+``-fsanitize=thread``, ``-fsanitize=memory``, ``-fsanitize=leak``, ``-fsanitize=undefined``, ``-fsanitize=hwaddress``,
+``-fsanitize=kernel-address``, as well as combinations like ``-fsanitize=address,undefined`` and ``-fsanitize=thread,undefined``.
+
+It may seem like a large number of options, but for Clang, these are only a portion. To obtain the complete list,
+refer to:
+
+* Clang: `AddressSanitizer <https://clang.llvm.org/docs/AddressSanitizer.html>`_,
+  `ThreadSanitizer <https://clang.llvm.org/docs/ThreadSanitizer.html>`_,
+  `MemorySanitizer <https://clang.llvm.org/docs/MemorySanitizer.html>`_,
+  `UndefinedBehaviorSanitizer <https://clang.llvm.org/docs/UndefinedBehaviorSanitizer.html>`_.
+* GCC: `Instrumentation Options <https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Instrumentation-Options.html>`_.
+* MSVC: `MSVC Sanitizers <https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/sanitizers/>`_.
+
+**Notes on combinations**:
+
+* AddressSanitizer (ASan), ThreadSanitizer (TSan), and MemorySanitizer (MSan) are mutually exclusive with one another.
+* Address + UndefinedBehavior (UBSan) is a common and supported combination.
+* Thread + UndefinedBehavior is also supported.
+* MemorySanitizer often requires special flags such as ``-O1``, ``-fno-omit-frame-pointer`` and fully-instrumented dependencies.
+
+Adding sanitizers as part of the profile
+----------------------------------------
+
+Another option is to add the sanitizer values as part of a profile. This way, you can easily switch between
+different configurations by using dedicated profiles.
+
+.. code-block:: ini
+   :caption: compiler_sanitizers/profiles/asan
+
+   include(default)
+
+   [settings]
+   build_type=Debug
+   compiler.sanitizer=Address
+
+   [conf]
+   tools.build:cflags+=["-fsanitize=address", "-fno-omit-frame-pointer"]
+   tools.build:cxxflags+=["-fsanitize=address", "-fno-omit-frame-pointer"]
+   tools.build:exelinkflags+=["-fsanitize=address"]
+   tools.build:sharedlinkflags+=["-fsanitize=address"]
+
+   [runenv]
+   ASAN_OPTIONS="halt_on_error=1:detect_leaks=1"
+
+For Visual Studio (MSVC) we can obtain an equivalent profile for AddressSanitizer:
+
+.. code-block:: ini
+   :caption: ~/.conan/profiles/asan
+
+   include(default)
+
+   [settings]
+   build_type=Debug
+   compiler.sanitizer=Address
+
+   [conf]
+   tools.build:cxxflags+=["/fsanitize=address", "/Zi"]
+   tools.build:exelinkflags+=["/fsanitize=address"]
+
+The Conan client is not capable of deducing the necessary flags from the settings and applying them automatically
+during the build process. It is necessary to pass the expected sanitizer flags according to the
+``compiler.sanitizer`` value as part of the compiler and linker flags.
+Conan's built-in toolchains (like ``CMakeToolchain`` and ``MesonToolchain``) will automatically
+pick up the flags defined in the ``[conf]`` section and apply them to the build.
+
+
+Building examples using sanitizers
+----------------------------------
+
+To show how to use sanitizers in your builds, let's consider two examples.
+
+.. note::
+
+   To build your project with a sanitizer, simply use the corresponding profile.
+   It is crucial to **rebuild all dependencies from source** to ensure they are also instrumented,
+   which prevents false positives and other issues.
+
+AddressSanitizer: index out of bounds
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+In this example, we will build a simple C++ program that intentionally accesses an out-of-bounds index
+in an array, which should trigger ASan when running the program.
+
+.. code-block:: cpp
+   :caption: index_out_of_bounds/main.cpp
+   :emphasize-lines: 11
+
+   #include <iostream>
+   #include <cstdlib>
+
+   int main() {
+   #ifdef __SANITIZE_ADDRESS__
+     std::cout << "Address sanitizer enabled\n";
+   #else
+     std::cout << "Address sanitizer not enabled\n";
+   #endif
+
+     int foo[100];
+     foo[100] = 42; // Out-of-bounds write
+
+     return EXIT_SUCCESS;
+   }
+
+**Note:** The preprocessor check above is portable for GCC, Clang and MSVC.
+The define ``__SANITIZE_ADDRESS__`` is present when ASan is active;
+
+**To build and run this example using Conan:**
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+   conan export index_out_of_bounds/
+   conan install --requires=index_out_of_bounds/0.1.0 -pr profiles/asan -of index_out_of_bounds/install --build=missing
+   # Activate run environment to ensure sanitizer runtime and paths are set
+   source index_out_of_bounds/install/conanrun.sh
+   index_out_of_bounds
+
+**Expected output (abbreviated):**
+
+.. code-block:: text
+
+   Address sanitizer enabled
+   ==32018==ERROR: AddressSanitizer: stack-buffer-overflow on address 0x7fffbe04a6d0 ...
+   WRITE of size 4 at 0x7fffbe04a6d0 thread T0
+   #0 ... in main .../index_out_of_bounds+0x12ea
+   ...
+   SUMMARY: AddressSanitizer: stack-buffer-overflow ... in main
+   This frame has 1 object(s):
+   [48, 448) 'foo' (line 11) <== Memory access at offset 448 overflows this variable
+
+UndefinedBehaviorSanitizer: signed integer overflow
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+This example demonstrates how to use UBSan to detect signed integer overflow. It combines ASan and UBSan.
+Create a dedicated profile:
+
+.. code-block:: ini
+   :caption: ~/.conan/profiles/asan_ubsan
+   :emphasize-lines: 7
+
+   include(default)
+
+   [settings]
+   build_type=Debug
+   compiler.sanitizer=AddressUndefinedBehavior
+
+   [conf]
+   tools.build:cflags+=["-fsanitize=address,undefined", "-fno-omit-frame-pointer"]
+   tools.build:cxxflags+=["-fsanitize=address,undefined", "-fno-omit-frame-pointer"]
+   tools.build:exelinkflags+=["-fsanitize=address,undefined"]
+   tools.build:sharedlinkflags+=["-fsanitize=address,undefined"]
+
+It is supported by GCC and Clang. MSVC does not support UBSan.
+
+**Source code:**
+
+.. code-block:: cpp
+   :caption: signed_integer_overflow/main.cpp
+   :emphasize-lines: 14
+
+   #include <iostream>
+   #include <cstdlib>
+   #include <climits>
+
+   int main() {
+   #ifdef __SANITIZE_ADDRESS__
+     std::cout << "Address sanitizer enabled\n";
+   #else
+     std::cout << "Address sanitizer not enabled\n";
+   #endif
+
+     int x = INT_MAX;
+     x += 42;                     // signed integer overflow
+
+     return EXIT_SUCCESS;
+   }
+
+**Build and run:**
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+   conan export signed_integer_overflow/
+   conan install --requires=signed_integer_overflow/0.1.0 -pr profiles/asan_ubsan -of signed_integer_overflow/install --build=missing
+   source signed_integer_overflow/install/conanrun.sh
+   signed_integer_overflow
+
+**Expected output (abbreviated):**
+
+.. code-block:: text
+
+   Address sanitizer enabled
+   .../main.cpp:16:9: runtime error: signed integer overflow: 2147483647 + 1 cannot be represented in type 'int'
+
+Passing the information to the compiler or build system
+-------------------------------------------------------
+
+Besides using Conan profiles to manage sanitizer settings, you can also use other approaches.
+
+Managing sanitizers with a CMake toolchain
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+If you already have a :ref:`custom CMake toolchain file <conan_cmake_user_toolchain>` to manage compiler
+and build options, you can pass the necessary flags to enable sanitizers there instead of profiles.
+
+.. code-block:: cmake
+   :caption: cmake/my_toolchain.cmake
+
+   # Apply to all targets; consider per-target options for finer control
+   set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS} -fsanitize=address,undefined -fno-omit-frame-pointer")
+   set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS} -fsanitize=address,undefined -fno-omit-frame-pointer")
+   set(CMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS "${CMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS} -fsanitize=address,undefined")
+   set(CMAKE_SHARED_LINKER_FLAGS "${CMAKE_SHARED_LINKER_FLAGS} -fsanitize=address,undefined")
+
+Then, specify this toolchain file as part of your Conan profile:
+
+.. code-block:: ini
+   :caption: profiles/asan_ubsan
+
+   include(default)
+
+   [settings]
+   build_type=Debug
+   compiler.sanitizer=AddressUndefinedBehavior
+
+   [conf]
+   tools.cmake.cmaketoolchain:user_toolchain=cmake/my_toolchain.cmake
+
+This way, you can keep your existing CMake toolchain file and still leverage Conan profiles to manage other settings.
+
+Additional recommendations
+--------------------------
+
+* Debug info and optimization:
+
+  * For ASan/TSan, ``-O1`` or ``-O2`` generally works; for MSan, prefer ``-O1`` and avoid aggressive inlining.
+  * ``-fno-omit-frame-pointer`` helps stack traces.
+
+* Runtime symbolization:
+
+  * Useful settings for CI:
+
+    * ``ASAN_OPTIONS=halt_on_error=1:detect_leaks=1:log_path=asan``.
+    * ``UBSAN_OPTIONS=print_stacktrace=1:halt_on_error=1:log_path=ubsan``.
+
+* Suppressions:
+
+  * For ASan: ``ASAN_OPTIONS=suppressions=asan.supp``.
+  * For UBSan: ``UBSAN_OPTIONS=suppressions=ubsan.supp``.
+  * Keep suppressions under version control and load them in CI jobs.
+
+* Third-party dependencies:
+
+  * Mixed instrumented/uninstrumented code can lead to false positives or crashes, especially with MSan.
+  * Prefer building dependencies with the same sanitizer or limit sanitizers to leaf applications.
+
+* MSVC and Windows notes:
+
+  * ASan with MSVC/Clang-cl uses ``/fsanitize=address`` and PDBs via ``/Zi``. Not supported for 32-bit targets.
+  * KAsan requires Windows 11.
+  * Some features are limited when using whole program optimization (``/GL``) or certain runtime libraries.