A dangling pointer is a pointer to a released or invalid memory. Accessing it will cause undefined behavior; 1. Returning the local variable address will cause the pointer to be suspended because the local variable is destroyed after the function is finished; 2. After releasing the heap memory, the pointer is not empty, and using it again or releasing it repeatedly will cause undefined behavior; 3. Avoiding methods include: setting it to nullptr immediately after release, not returning the local variable address, using smart pointers to manage memory, and using tools to detect problems; developing good habits can effectively prevent such errors.
A classic example of a C dangling pointer occurs when the memory pointed to by the pointer has been released, but the pointer itself is not empty and is then used incorrectly.

What is a hanging pointer?
A dangling pointer is a pointer that still points to a freed or invalid memory address . Accessing such a pointer can cause undefined behavior, the program may crash, output false results, or appear to be running normally but hide serious problems.
Common hanging pointer example: Return the address of a local variable
#include <iostream> using namespace std; int* createInt() { int value = 42; return &value; // ? Dangerous! Return the address of the local variable} int main() { int* ptr = createInt(); cout << *ptr << endl; // ? Undefined behavior: access destroyed memory return 0; }
Problem analysis:
-
value
is a local variable stored on the stack. - After the function
createInt()
ends, the life cycle ofvalue
ends and the memory is automatically released. - The memory pointed to by the returned pointer is invalid.
- When using
*ptr
inmain()
, the "dangling" memory is accessed, and the results are unpredictable.
While sometimes the program may "look" output 42 (because the memory contents have not been overwritten yet), it's just a fluke and cannot be relied on.
Another example: The heap memory is not empty after freeing
#include <iostream> using namespace std; int main() { int* ptr = new int(10); // Dynamically allocate memory cout << *ptr << endl; // Output 10 delete ptr; // Release memory ptr = nullptr; // ? Safe practice: Release empty afterwards// If you forget to empty, the following code is extremely dangerous: // delete ptr; // ? Repeat release, undefined behavior // cout << *ptr << endl; // ? Dangling pointer access return 0; }
If not empty:
delete ptr; // ptr is now a dangling pointer cout << *ptr << endl; // ? Undefined behavior
Even if it doesn't crash immediately, this kind of code is very dangerous, especially difficult to debug in large projects.
How to avoid hanging pointers?
?Set the pointer to
nullptr
immediately after releasing the memory :delete ptr; ptr = nullptr;
? Avoid returning addresses or references to local variables .
? Use smart pointers (such as
std::unique_ptr
,std::shared_ptr
) to automatically manage life cycles to fundamentally reduce such problems.? Compiler warnings and tools (such as Valgrind, AddressSanitizer) can help detect dangling pointer problems.
Basically that's it. Hanging pointers may seem simple, but they are very hidden in complex code. Developing good memory management habits is the key.
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