valgrind invalid read of size 4, where is the error?

Question

I'm new with valgrind and I'm trying to use it for memory leaks and other memory problems. In my program I have defined the following class

class LM_EXPORT LdpElement : public Visitable, virtual public RefCounted,
                             public NodeInTree<LdpElement>
{
protected:
    ELdpElement m_type;     // the element type
    std::string m_name;     // for composite: element name
    std::string m_value;    // for simple: the element value
    bool m_fSimple;         // true for simple elements
    int m_numLine;          // file line in which the element starts or 0
    long m_id;              // for composite: element ID (0..n)
    ImoObj* m_pImo;

    LdpElement();

public:
    virtual ~LdpElement();

    //getters and setters
    ...
    inline ImoObj* get_imo() { return m_pImo; }

Valgrind is complaining in this last line "invalid read of size 4". Why? Where is the memory problem in returning the pointer?

Answer 1

Perhaps m_pImo isn't initialized and valgrind doesn't like that? Does the implementation of your constructor have an initialization list that initializes m_pImo?