Memory Leak When Using `malloc` and `strncpy` in C - Need guide Identifying Source
I'm working with a memory leak in my C program when using `malloc` in combination with `strncpy`. The function is supposed to allocate memory for a string, copy the content, and then free the memory at the end. However, I'm noticing that my program's memory usage keeps increasing with each iteration of a loop, indicating that memory isn't being freed properly. I've tried using `valgrind` to trace the leak, but it doesn't provide a clear picture. Here’s a simplified version of my code: ```c #include <stdio.h> #include <stdlib.h> #include <string.h> void processString(const char* input) { char* buffer = (char*)malloc(100 * sizeof(char)); if (buffer == NULL) { fprintf(stderr, "Memory allocation failed\n"); return; } strncpy(buffer, input, 99); buffer[99] = '\0'; // Ensure null-termination // Suppose we process the string here printf("Processed string: %s\n", buffer); // I intend to free the buffer here, but I notice the leak continues even after freeing free(buffer); } int main() { for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++) { processString("Hello, world!"); } return 0; } ``` I’m calling `free(buffer)` as expected, and I’ve verified that `processString` is only called 10 times. However, when I run `valgrind`, it reports `still reachable` memory which doesn't seem to be coming from any other part of the code. Could there be an scenario with how I've set up the memory allocation or with `strncpy`? Or is it possible that the memory leak is somehow related to the context of the loop? Any insights or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. My development environment is Windows. Any help would be greatly appreciated!