pointer that does not point to a valid object
Dangling pointers and wild pointers in computer programming are pointers that do not point to a valid object of the appropriate type. These are special cases of memory safety violations. More generally, โ€ฆ Wikipedia
๐ŸŒ
Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org โ€บ wiki โ€บ Dangling_pointer
Dangling pointer - Wikipedia
3 weeks ago - Dangling pointers and wild pointers in computer programming are pointers that do not point to a valid object of the appropriate type. These are special cases of memory safety violations. More generally, dangling references and wild references are references that do not resolve to a valid ...
Discussions

Dangling Pointers
When you have a dangling pointer, you've freed the memory (or if it's a pointer to something on the stack the memory it points to is now being used by something else). In this case if you dereference it you might get an error if you free'd it and the page got returned to your OS, or you might get garbage data if something else is using the memory, or everything might just work fine if nothing else has started using that memory. You shouldn't dereference it because it's undefined behaviour and the compiler doesn't have to make any guarantees about what will or will not happen when you do it. This is why you'll get different behaviour depending on lots of factors like the compiler used and optimisation settings. More on reddit.com
๐ŸŒ r/C_Programming
22
15
April 25, 2025
How do you prevent dangling pointers in your code?
good practices and valgrind More on reddit.com
๐ŸŒ r/C_Programming
55
24
March 4, 2024
Why is this dangling-gsl warning invoked?
Lifetime extension only applies to a temporary value that forms the entire initializer. Your temporary is passed as an argument to std::get, which then returns a reference that is not lifetime extended. If you add -fsanitize=address you get stack-use-after-scope error at runtime. More on reddit.com
๐ŸŒ r/cpp_questions
7
6
December 14, 2023
Is the compiler bugged or is my code wrong (Werror=dangling-reference)?
The compiler is right here. Since const references extend the lifetime of temporary objects this should be fine, right? No. const references only extend the lifetime of direct objects used for initialization. It does not extend the lifetime of objects referenced by the initializer expression. If you add a runtime sanitizer, you will see an error message: https://godbolt.org/z/q8e8z1sfP What makes this more confusing is that when the const keyword is deleted from the reference type, there are no more warnings Deleting the const does not actually solve the issue, but just makes the compiler "unable" to detect this. Appearently that warning is caused by the analyzer checking the lifetime of a potentially lifetime extending reference `gnu++20`` Use c++20. More on reddit.com
๐ŸŒ r/cpp_questions
15
3
July 29, 2023
๐ŸŒ
GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org โ€บ c++ โ€บ dangling-pointers-in-cpp
Dangling Pointers in C++ - GeeksforGeeks
July 23, 2025 - A dangling pointer is a very common occurrence that generally occurs when we use the 'delete' to deallocate memory that was previously allocated and the pointer that was pointing to that memory still points to the same address.
๐ŸŒ
Medium
medium.com โ€บ @sofiasondh โ€บ what-is-a-dangling-pointer-how-can-it-be-avoided-e72321e1fdf3
What is a Dangling Pointer? How Can It Be Avoided? | by Sofia Sondh | Medium
December 21, 2024 - A dangling pointer occurs when a function returns the address of a local variable. Once the function ends, the local variable goes out of scope, leaving the pointer invalid. ... Suppose a function creates a local variable and returns its address.
๐ŸŒ
Unstop
unstop.com โ€บ home โ€บ blog โ€บ dangling pointer in c language explained (with code examples)
Dangling Pointer In C Language Explained (With Code Examples)
March 12, 2024 - A dangling pointer in C is a pointer that points to a memory location that has been freed or is invalid. They lead to undefined behavior, memory leak issues, etc.
๐ŸŒ
TechTarget
techtarget.com โ€บ searchsecurity โ€บ tip โ€บ How-to-avoid-dangling-pointers-Tiny-programming-errors-leave-serious-security-vulnerabilities
What dangling pointers are and how to avoid them | TechTarget
July 18, 2024 - Dangling pointers occur when a programmer creates, uses and then frees an object in memory but does not change the object's pointer value accordingly -- in this case, to a null pointer.
๐ŸŒ
Developer Insider
developerinsider.co โ€บ what-is-dangling-pointer-with-cause-and-how-to-avoid-it
What is Dangling Pointer with Cause and How to avoid it?
March 29, 2018 - Dangling pointers in computer programming are pointers that pointing to a memory location that has been deleted (or freed). Dangling pointers arise during object destruction, when an object that has an incoming reference is deleted or deallocated, ...
Find elsewhere
๐ŸŒ
TutorialsPoint
tutorialspoint.com โ€บ cprogramming โ€บ c_dangling_pointers.htm
Dangling Pointers in C
Dangling pointers in C is used to describe the behavior of a pointer when its target (the variable it is pointing to) has been deallocated or is no longer accessible. In other words, a dangling pointer in C is a pointer that doesn't point to a valid
๐ŸŒ
GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org โ€บ dsa โ€บ dangling-pointer-in-programming
Dangling Pointer in programming - GeeksforGeeks
May 14, 2024 - Dangling Pointer in programming refers to a pointer that doesnโ€™t point to a valid memory location. This usually happens when an object is deleted or deallocated, without modifying the value of the pointer, so it still points to the memory location of the deallocated memory.
๐ŸŒ
GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org โ€บ c language โ€บ dangling-void-null-wild-pointers
Dangling, Void , Null and Wild Pointers in C - GeeksforGeeks
January 10, 2025 - But certain situations and ... of a valid address), and Wild (uninitialized) pointers. A pointer pointing to a memory location that has been deleted (or freed) is called a dangling pointer....
๐ŸŒ
Upgrad
upgrad.com โ€บ home โ€บ tutorials โ€บ software & tech โ€บ dangling pointer in c
Stop Bugs: Dangling Pointer in C Explained
October 4, 2024 - This power comes with the risk of using memory incorrectly. A dangling pointer in C is a pointer that continues to reference a memory location after the object it points to has been deleted or deallocated.
๐ŸŒ
Board Infinity
boardinfinity.com โ€บ blog โ€บ dangling-pointer-in-c
Dangling Pointer in C | Board Infinity
January 2, 2025 - But this is dangerous, as misuse of pointers can result in subtle bugs or introductory-level security holes. A dangling pointer in C is a result of a pointer pointing at an address where data has been removed or the memory space has been released.
๐ŸŒ
Medium
medium.com โ€บ @ryan_forrester_ โ€บ dangling-pointers-in-c-a-comprehensive-guide-04d55b0feb51
Dangling Pointers in C++: A Comprehensive Guide | by ryan | Medium
September 29, 2024 - A dangling pointer is a pointer that references memory that is no longer valid or has been deallocated.
๐ŸŒ
Scaler
scaler.com โ€บ home โ€บ topics โ€บ dangling pointer in c
Dangling Pointer in C - Scaler Topics
June 14, 2022 - Now, suppose main() function's pointer stores the address of that local variable inside the function, this way we can access address of that local variable as long as the function is executing, but once the function execution gets over, all internal variables goes to garbage collection and are not in memory anymore, but main() function's pointer is still pointing to that particular address which is now not available in memory, hence creating a dangling condition and would be called as a Dangling Pointer.
๐ŸŒ
Sololearn
sololearn.com โ€บ en โ€บ Discuss โ€บ 99504 โ€บ what-is-dangling-pointer
What is Dangling Pointer? | Sololearn: Learn to code for FREE!
Basically a dangling pointer occurs when you delete data that is being pointed to and don't adjust the pointer accordingly. So it will be pointing to some space in memory that no longer contains anything. For avoiding it, you just have to be careful.
๐ŸŒ
EDUCBA
educba.com โ€บ home โ€บ software development โ€บ software development tutorials โ€บ c programming tutorial โ€บ dangling pointers in c
Dangling Pointers in C | Learn How Dangling Pointers Works in C?
April 13, 2023 - The C Dangling pointer is a type of pointer that actually points to a specific memory location that is to be free or deleted. There are some different ways where the pointer now acts as a dangling pointer.
Call ย  +917738666252
Address ย  Unit no. 202, Jay Antariksh Bldg, Makwana Road, Marol, Andheri (East),, 400059, Mumbai
๐ŸŒ
DEV Community
dev.to โ€บ godinhojoao โ€บ wild-and-dangling-pointers-in-c-3kj5
Wild and Dangling Pointers in C - DEV Community
October 11, 2025 - Dangling Pointer: A pointer that still holds an address, but the memory it points to is no longer...
๐ŸŒ
Scaler
scaler.com โ€บ home โ€บ topics โ€บ what is dangling pointer?
What is Dangling Pointer? - Scaler Topics
September 12, 2023 - A dangling pointer is the most common pointer in C++. This type of pointer also causes a problem in the memory management of a system. When we create a program, we use a pointer to point to an object.
๐ŸŒ
VPN Unlimited
vpnunlimited.com โ€บ what is dangling pointer - cybersecurity terms and definitions โ€บ vpn service โ€บ help โ€บ vpn tools
What is Dangling pointer - Cybersecurity Terms and Definitions
A dangling pointer is a programming error that occurs when a pointer references a memory location after the memory has been deallocated or freed.