Making our way through the .NET Exception Handling series, today we'll be exploring the System.AccessViolationException in more detail. A System.AccessViolationException occurs when unmanaged/unsafe code attempts to use memory that has not been allocated, or to memory that it doesn't have access to.
In this article we'll explore the System.AccessViolationException a bit more, looking at where it resides in the .NET exception hierarchy. We'll also examine a functional C#/C++ code example to illustrate how System.AccessViolationExceptions are commonly thrown and what options you have for dealing with them in your own code, so let's get going!
System.Exception base class, or derived from another inherited class therein.System.SystemException is inherited from the System.Exception class.System.AccessViolationException inherits directly from System.SystemException.As mentioned in the introduction, a System.AccessViolationException can only occur when your application is using unmanaged code. For many .NET applications, this will never occur, due to how .NET handles managed versus unmanaged code.
Managed code is code that .NET compiles and executes using the common language runtime (CLR). Conversely, unmanaged code compiles into machine code, which is not executed within the safety of the CLR.
Many languages that rely on .NET, such as C# and Visual Basic, are entirely compiled and executed in the CLR. This means that code written in C# is always managed code and, therefore, can never throw a System.AccessViolationException.
However, a language like Visual C++ does allow unmanaged code to be written. In such cases, it's entirely possible to access unallocated memory, and therefore, throw a System.AccessViolationException.
To illustrate these differences and to see how System.AccessViolationExceptions might occur in your own projects we'll start with the full working code sample below, then break it down in more detail afterward. Since we're using both C# and C++ in this example, we'll start with the C# and then move onto the C++:
using System;
using System.Runtime.ExceptionServices;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
using System.Security;
using Utility;namespace Airbrake.AccessViolationException
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
ReferenceTest();
ReferenceTestWithHandler();
}/// <summary>
/// Create a reference from unmanaged FailingApp.dll C++ code.
/// </summary>
/// <returns>Reference.</returns>
[DllImport(@"D:\work\Airbrake.io\Exceptions\.NET\Debug\FailingApp.dll")]
private static extern int CreateReference();/// <summary>
/// Test reference creation through unmanaged code.
/// </summary>
/// <returns>Reference result.</returns>
public static int ReferenceTest()
{
try
{
// Attempt to create a reference through unmanaged code (C++ DLL).
var result = CreateReference();
// If no exception occurred, output successful result.
Logging.Log($"Reference successfully created at: {result}.");
// Return result.
return result;
}
catch (System.AccessViolationException exception)
{
// Output explicit exception.
Logging.Log(exception);
}
catch (Exception exception)
{
// Output inexplicit exception.
Logging.Log(exception, false);
}
// Return zero to indicate failure.
return 0;
}/// <summary>
/// Test reference creation through unmanaged code.
/// HandleProcessCorruptedStateExceptions attribute allows CLR
/// to catch normally ignored exceptions due to unmanaged code.
/// </summary>
/// <returns>Reference result.</returns>
[HandleProcessCorruptedStateExceptions]
public static int ReferenceTestWithHandler()
{
try
{
// Attempt to create a reference through unmanaged code (C++ DLL).
var result = CreateReference();
// If no exception occurred, output successful result.
Logging.Log($"Reference successfully created at: {result}.");
// Return result.
return result;
}
catch (System.AccessViolationException exception)
{
// Output explicit exception.
Logging.Log(exception);
}
catch (Exception exception)
{
// Output inexplicit exception.
Logging.Log(exception, false);
}
// Return zero to indicate failure.
return 0;
}
}
}using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Reflection;
using System.Text;namespace Utility
{
/// <summary>
/// Houses all logging methods for various debug outputs.
/// </summary>
public static class Logging
{
/// <summary>
/// Outputs to <see cref="System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine"/> if DEBUG mode is enabled,
/// otherwise uses standard <see cref="Console.WriteLine"/>.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="value">Value to be output to log.</param>
public static void Log(string value)
{
#if DEBUG
Debug.WriteLine(value);
#else
Console.WriteLine(value);
#endif
}/// <summary>
/// When <see cref="Exception"/> parameter is passed, modifies the output to indicate
/// if <see cref="Exception"/> was expected, based on passed in `expected` parameter.
/// <para>Outputs the full <see cref="Exception"/> type and message.</para>
/// </summary>
/// <param name="exception">The <see cref="Exception"/> to output.</param>
/// <param name="expected">Boolean indicating if <see cref="Exception"/> was expected.</param>
public static void Log(Exception exception, bool expected = true)
{
string value = $"[{(expected ? "EXPECTED" : "UNEXPECTED")}] {exception.ToString()}: {exception.Message}";
#if DEBUG
Debug.WriteLine(value);
#else
Console.WriteLine(value);
#endif
}/// <summary>
/// Outputs to <see cref="System.Diagnostics.Debug.WriteLine"/> if DEBUG mode is enabled,
/// otherwise uses standard <see cref="Console.WriteLine"/>.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="value">Value to be output to log.</param>
public static void Log(object value)
{
#if DEBUG
Debug.WriteLine(ObjectDumper.Dump(value));
#else
Console.WriteLine(ObjectDumper.Dump(value));
#endif
}
}
}
And here's the (important) C++ code. While it obviously takes many more files and far more code to build a working C++ DLL, this shows the main source file (FailingApp.cpp) and the CreateReference() method we'll be using elsewhere:
#include "stdafx.h"
#include "FailingApp.h"
#include <wtypes.h>
#include <unknwn.h>// Constructor
CFailingApp::CFailingApp()
{
return;
}
// Creates an invalid reference.
extern "C" __declspec(dllexport) int CreateReference()
{
IUnknown* pUnk = NULL;
pUnk->AddRef();
return 0;
}
Now then, the entire purpose of the System.AccessViolationException is to inform us that something has gone wrong with our unmanaged code, so our example begins by importing a DLL using DllImport(), after which we include the method signature for the CreateReference() method that we're importing for use in our managed C# app:
/// <summary>
/// Create a reference from unmanaged FailingApp.dll C++ code.
/// </summary>
/// <returns>Reference.</returns>
[DllImport(@"D:\work\Airbrake.io\Exceptions\.NET\Debug\FailingApp.dll")]
private static extern int CreateReference();
Our unmanaged C++ code is very basic and contains just the CreateReference() method, inside which we have our breaking code attempting to create an invalid reference:
// FailingApp.cpp
#include "stdafx.h"
#include "FailingApp.h"
#include <wtypes.h>
#include <unknwn.h>// Constructor
CFailingApp::CFailingApp()
{
return;
}
// Creates an invalid reference.
extern "C" __declspec(dllexport) int CreateReference()
{
IUnknown* pUnk = NULL;
pUnk->AddRef();
return 0;
}
With our unmanaged method imported we can try to use it in our managed C# app. We start with the ReferenceTest() method:
/// <summary>
/// Test reference creation through unmanaged code.
/// </summary>
/// <returns>Reference result.</returns>
public static int ReferenceTest()
{
try
{
// Attempt to create a reference through unmanaged code (C++ DLL).
var result = CreateReference();
// If no exception occurred, output successful result.
Logging.Log($"Reference successfully created at: {result}.");
// Return result.
return result;
}
catch (System.AccessViolationException exception)
{
// Output explicit exception.
Logging.Log(exception);
}
catch (Exception exception)
{
// Output inexplicit exception.
Logging.Log(exception, false);
}
// Return zero to indicate failure.
return 0;
}
Here we're making a call to the imported CreateReference() method and trying to output a succesful result, while also catching any System.AccessViolationExceptions or global Exceptions that may occur. As you might suspect, the call to our imported CreateReference() method immediately fails and throws a System.AccessViolationException. However, for applications using .NET Framework 4.0 or higher, this exception is not caught by either of our catch blocks because the exception occurs outside of the memory reserved by the common language runtime. In other words, .NET purposefully ignores exceptions that don't occur within the managed code of our C# application -- since the problem occurs within the unmanaged C++ code, we cannot catch this System.AccessViolationException by normal means. Therefore, our output just shows that an uncaught System.AccessViolationException has occurred:
Exception thrown: 'System.AccessViolationException' in Airbrake.AccessViolationException.exe
However, there may be some situations where it's beneficial to actually catch System.AccessViolationExceptions and similar unmanaged code exceptions directly within managed code. This can be accomplished by applying the HandleProcessCorruptedStateExceptions attribute to all methods within your managed code that should be allowed to catch System.AccessViolationExceptions which originate from unmanaged code. Therefore, our ReferenceTestWithHandler() method includes the HandleProcessCorruptedStateExceptions attribute, but is otherwise identical to what we saw before in ReferenceTest():
/// <summary>
/// Test reference creation through unmanaged code.
/// HandleProcessCorruptedStateExceptions attribute allows CLR
/// to catch normally ignored exceptions due to unmanaged code.
/// </summary>
/// <returns>Reference result.</returns>
[HandleProcessCorruptedStateExceptions]
public static int ReferenceTestWithHandler()
{
try
{
// Attempt to create a reference through unmanaged code (C++ DLL).
var result = CreateReference();
// If no exception occurred, output successful result.
Logging.Log($"Reference successfully created at: {result}.");
// Return result.
return result;
}
catch (System.AccessViolationException exception)
{
// Output explicit exception.
Logging.Log(exception);
}
catch (Exception exception)
{
// Output inexplicit exception.
Logging.Log(exception, false);
}
// Return zero to indicate failure.
return 0;
}
Now, when we execute ReferenceTestWithHandle() and reach the unmanaged CreateReference() method we still throw a System.AccessViolationException, but our catch (System.AccessViolationException exception) block is able to catch it this time and send it along to Logging.Log() for proper output:
[EXPECTED] System.AccessViolationException: Attempted to read or write protected memory. This is often an indication that other memory is corrupt.
To get the most out of your own applications and to fully manage any and all .NET Exceptions, check out the Airbrake .NET Bug Handler, offering real-time alerts and instantaneous insight into what went wrong with your .NET code, along with built-in support for a variety of popular development integrations including: JIRA, GitHub, Bitbucket, and much more.