How do I zero sensitive memory securely in C++?

Securely zeroing sensitive memory in C++ is crucial for protecting sensitive data, such as passwords or cryptographic keys, from being recovered after the program has finished executing. The standard approach using `memset` can be optimized to ensure data is overwritten securely.

In C++, you can use the `std::fill` or `std::fill_n` functions, as well as custom functions that utilize compiler intrinsics for zeroing memory. Below is an example of securely zeroing memory:

#include #include void secure_zero_memory(void* ptr, size_t len) { volatile unsigned char* p = (volatile unsigned char*)ptr; while (len--) { *p++ = 0; } } int main() { char sensitiveData[64] = "This is a sensitive string."; // secure sensitive data cleanup secure_zero_memory(sensitiveData, sizeof(sensitiveData)); return 0; }

secure memory C++ security zero sensitive memory memory management data protection

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