security-lang-c

A set of rules for writing safer C source and header files. It covers unsafe functions, input lengths, pointers, memory initialization, allocation checks, and format strings.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it when writing or reviewing C code that handles input, strings, pointers, or dynamically allocated memory.
Why use it?
It helps prevent common C problems such as buffer overflows, memory corruption, and unsafe handling of external input. It also requires explanations when code breaks a rule.

Cursor rule for Cursor

Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

agentmods
npx agentmods add rules/adobedocs/ff-services-docs/security-lang-c
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/AdobeDocs/ff-services-docs

Made for: Cursor.

Per session 497 This file is loaded in full into every session.
When invoked 497 The same file — it is already loaded in full.
Security scan A 0 findings. Scan, not verified.
Origin 100% copy Near-identical to another mod in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5 $0.00497 $0.00497
Opus 5 $0.00249 $0.00249
Sonnet 5 $0.00099 $0.00099
Haiku 4.5 $0.00050 $0.00050

Measured 2d ago against content hash 96c7a93ca810, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

security-lang-c scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 2d ago.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Nothing flagged

None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.

Origin

This is a copy

100% identical to secure-dev-c — 0 lines differ, which has more behind it and is treated as the original. This page carries a canonical link to it rather than competing with it.

.cursor/rules/security-lang/security-lang-c.mdc · 43 lines

How it starts

The opening of the file, as written. The whole thing — 43 lines — stays where its author put it; the contents beside it link to each section on GitHub.


description: globs: /*.c,/*.h alwaysApply: false

Secure C Development

These rules apply to all C source and header files in the repository and aim to prevent memory corruption, code injection, and unsafe system behavior.

All violations must include a clear explanation of which rule was triggered and why, to help developers understand and fix the issue effectively.
Generated code must not violate these rules. If a rule is violated, a comment must be added explaining the issue and suggesting a correction.

1. Avoid Unsafe Functions

  • Rule: Do not use functions like gets, strcpy, sprintf, or scanf with %s. Use bounded or safer alternatives like fgets, strncpy, or snprintf.

2. Always Validate Input Lengths

  • Rule: Validate the length of user or external input before copying, storing, or processing it to prevent buffer overflows.

3. Initialize All Pointers and Memory

  • Rule: All pointers and allocated memory must be explicitly initialized before use.

4. Check All Memory Allocations

  • Rule: Check the result of malloc, calloc, or realloc for NULL before using the returned pointer.

5. Avoid Format String Vulnerabilities

  • Rule: Never pass user-controlled strings directly as the format argument to functions like printf, fprintf, or syslog.

6. Free All Allocated Memory

  • Rule: All dynamic memory must be properly freed to avoid memory leaks. Avoid double-free and use-after-free errors.

7. Do Not Trust Environment Variables

  • Rule: Environment variables must not be used directly in sensitive operations like file access, exec calls, or security checks without validation.

8. Avoid System and Shell Calls with Input

  • Rule: Do not use system(), popen(), or similar functions with user-controlled input. Use direct APIs when possible.

9. Limit Pointer Arithmetic and Casting

  • Rule: Avoid unnecessary pointer arithmetic and type casting that can bypass bounds or type safety.

Read the full file on GitHub · 43 lines

Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. 2d ago First seen · 43 lines · 497 tokens per session scan A 96c7a93ca810

Subscribe to this mod's changes

security-lang-c is a cursor rule published in the GitHub repository AdobeDocs/ff-services-docs (4 stars, last pushed 2mo ago), licensed Apache-2.0. It adds 497 tokens to every session, about $0.0025 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. It is 100% identical to secure-dev-c, differing in 0 lines, and is treated as a copy.