Automatic Reference Counting (ARC) not enforced

Automatic Reference Counting (ARC) not enforced

Risk: hardening

Description

Automatic Reference Counting (ARC) is memory management that automates object management by the compiler to unburden the developer.

Recommendation

To enable ARC for the entire project:

1. Open Xcode project.
2. Go to project settings.
3. Select target.
4. Navigate to "Build Settings" tab.
5. Search for "Objective-C Automatic Reference Counting".
6. Set "Objective-C Automatic Reference Counting" to "YES".

Alternatively, enable ARC for specific files:

1. Locate file(s) where ARC should be enabled.
2. Select file(s) in project navigator.
3. Go to "File Inspector" on the right.
4. Find "Compiler Flags" section.
5. Add -fobjc-arc to compiler flags.
6. Save changes.

Links

• Automatic Reference Counting (Wikipedia)
• Automatic Reference Counting (LLVM)
• Automatic Reference Counting for Swift (Apple developer)

Standards

• OWASP_MASVS_L1:
  • MSTG_CODE_9
• OWASP_MASVS_L2:
  • MSTG_CODE_9
• PCI_STANDARDS:
  • REQ_2_2
  • REQ_6_2
• OWASP_MASVS_v2_1:
  • MASVS_RESILIENCE_4