The problem is due to the AIX malloc() implementation returning a NULL pointer for an input size of 0 ie. malloc(0) -> NULL. You're supposed to write your own rpl_malloc, which ensures that rpl_malloc(0) does not return NULL, however on AIX you can just define _LINUX_SOURCE_COMPAT to get this behavior instead.
The problem is due to the AIX malloc() implementation returning a NULL pointer for an input size of 0 ie. malloc(0) -> NULL. You're supposed to write your own rpl_malloc, which ensures that rpl_malloc(0) does not return NULL, however on AIX you can just define _LINUX_ SOURCE_ COMPAT to get this behavior instead.