11 Member access control [class.access]

11.5 Access to virtual functions [class.access.virt]

1

The access rules (Clause [class.access]) for a virtual function are determined by its declaration and are not affected by the rules for a function that later overrides it. [ Example:

class B {
public:
  virtual int f();
};

class D : public B {
private:
  int f();
};

void f() {
  D d;
  B* pb = &d;
  D* pd = &d;

  pb->f();                      // OK: B::f() is public,
                                // D::f() is invoked
  pd->f();                      // error: D::f() is private
}

 — end example ]

2

Access is checked at the call point using the type of the expression used to denote the object for which the member function is called (B* in the example above). The access of the member function in the class in which it was defined (D in the example above) is in general not known.