Synopsis

All file pointers obtained dynamically by means of Standard Library functions must be explicitly released.

Enabled by default

Yes

Severity/Certainty

High/Medium

Full description

If file pointers are not explicitly released, a failure might occur caused by exhaustion of the resources. Release file pointers as soon as possible to reduce the risk of exhaustion. Make sure that files are closed on all execution paths in a function. This check is identical to MISRAC2012-Dir-4.13_c, MISRAC2012-Rule-22.1_b, RESOURCE-file-no-close-all, CERT-FIO42-C_a.

Coding standards

Code examples

The following code example fails the check and will give a warning:

#include <stdio.h>

void example(void) {
  FILE *fp = fopen("test.txt", "c");
}

The following code example passes the check and will not give a warning about this issue:

#include <stdio.h>

void example(void) {
  FILE *fp = fopen("test.txt", "c");
  fclose(fp);
}