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Segmentation fault when accessing multi-dimensional array elements after realloc in C

👀 Views: 383 đŸ’Ŧ Answers: 1 📅 Created: 2025-08-21
c memory-management segmentation-fault C

I'm having a hard time understanding I'm following best practices but I'm having trouble with I'm working with a segmentation fault when trying to access elements of a dynamically allocated multi-dimensional array in C after using `realloc`... The code is intended to create a 2D array whose dimensions can change at runtime based on user input. I initially allocated memory for a 2D array using a pointer to pointers, but when the dimensions change, I reallocate memory with `realloc`, and subsequently, accessing the elements leads to a segmentation fault. Here's a snippet of my code: ```c #include <stdio.h> #include <stdlib.h> int main() { int rows = 2, cols = 3; int **arr = malloc(rows * sizeof(int*)); for(int i = 0; i < rows; i++) { arr[i] = malloc(cols * sizeof(int)); } // Populate the array for(int i = 0; i < rows; i++) { for(int j = 0; j < cols; j++) { arr[i][j] = i * j; } } // Now the user wants to add another row rows++; arr = realloc(arr, rows * sizeof(int*)); if(arr == NULL) { perror("Reallocation failed"); return 1; } arr[rows-1] = malloc(cols * sizeof(int)); // Allocate for new row // Attempt to access the new row printf("New row value: %d\n", arr[rows-1][0]); // This line causes segmentation fault // Free memory for(int i = 0; i < rows; i++) { free(arr[i]); } free(arr); return 0; } ``` I've tried checking if `realloc` returns `NULL`, which it does not, so I assume the memory allocation succeeds. However, after reallocating, when I try to access the newly added row, the program crashes with a segmentation fault. I've also verified that previous rows are still accessible without issues. Is there something I'm missing when reallocating or accessing the new row? Any insights would be appreciated! I'd really appreciate any guidance on this.