diff --git a/tools/iio/iio_generic_buffer.c b/tools/iio/iio_generic_buffer.c
index f8deae4e26a1..44bbf80f0cfd 100644
--- a/tools/iio/iio_generic_buffer.c
+++ b/tools/iio/iio_generic_buffer.c
@@ -51,9 +51,9 @@ enum autochan {
  * Has the side effect of filling the channels[i].location values used
  * in processing the buffer output.
  **/
-static int size_from_channelarray(struct iio_channel_info *channels, int num_channels)
+static unsigned int size_from_channelarray(struct iio_channel_info *channels, int num_channels)
 {
-	int bytes = 0;
+	unsigned int bytes = 0;
 	int i = 0;
 
 	while (i < num_channels) {
@@ -348,7 +348,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	ssize_t read_size;
 	int dev_num = -1, trig_num = -1;
 	char *buffer_access = NULL;
-	int scan_size;
+	unsigned int scan_size;
 	int noevents = 0;
 	int notrigger = 0;
 	char *dummy;
@@ -674,7 +674,16 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	}
 
 	scan_size = size_from_channelarray(channels, num_channels);
-	data = malloc(scan_size * buf_len);
+
+	size_t total_buf_len = scan_size * buf_len;
+
+	if (scan_size > 0 && total_buf_len / scan_size != buf_len) {
+		ret = -EFAULT;
+		perror("Integer overflow happened when calculate scan_size * buf_len");
+		goto error;
+	}
+
+	data = malloc(total_buf_len);
 	if (!data) {
 		ret = -ENOMEM;
 		goto error;