Rust Unsafe

mohitmishra786/low-level-dev-skills/skills/rust/rust-unsafe

作者 mohitmishra786bdc58472fa9f无许可证253 个星标收录于 2026年10月9日更新于 2026年10月9日仓库3个月前更新

Rust unsafe code skill for systems programming. Use when writing or reviewing unsafe Rust, understanding what operations require unsafe, implementing safe abstractions over unsafe code, auditing unsafe blocks, or understanding raw pointers, transmute, and extern. Activates on queries about unsafe Rust, raw pointers, transmute, unsafe blocks, writing safe wrappers, UnsafeCell, unsafe trait impl, or auditing unsafe code.

AI 生成的概览

指导编写、审查和审计 unsafe Rust 代码,涵盖安全抽象、裸指针、transmute 与 UnsafeCell。

功能
说明 Rust 中需要 unsafe 的五种能力、裸指针安全解引用的规则、unsafe 函数与 trait,以及使用 UnsafeCell 的内部可变性。它演示如何用带不变量说明的安全抽象封装 unsafe 代码块,以及如何使用 transmute 及其更安全的替代方案。它还提供审查 unsafe 代码块的审计清单,并说明何时使用 unsafe 是合理的。
适用场景
适用于编写或审查 unsafe Rust、判断某操作是否需要 unsafe、在 unsafe 代码之上构建安全封装,或审计已有 unsafe 代码块。也适合回答关于裸指针、transmute、extern 函数、Send 与 Sync 实现以及 UnsafeCell 的问题。随附的参考文件包含 unsafe 模式与审计示例。
运行要求
无需脚本或工具,仅为说明性内容;引用随附的 unsafe 模式参考文件。

Rust unsafe

Purpose

Guide agents through writing, reviewing, and reasoning about unsafe Rust: what operations require unsafe, how to write safe abstractions, audit patterns, common pitfalls, and when to reach for unsafe.

Triggers

  • "When do I need to use unsafe in Rust?"
  • "How do I write a safe abstraction over unsafe code?"
  • "How do I audit an unsafe block?"
  • "What are the rules for raw pointers in Rust?"
  • "What does transmute do and when is it safe?"
  • "How do I implement UnsafeCell correctly?"

Workflow

1. The five unsafe superpowers

unsafe grants exactly five capabilities not available in safe Rust:

  1. Dereference raw pointers (*const T, *mut T)
  2. Call unsafe functions (including extern "C" functions)
  3. Access or modify mutable static variables
  4. Implement unsafe traits (Send, Sync)
  5. Access fields of unions

Everything else in Rust — including memory allocation, borrowing, closures — follows safe rules even inside unsafe blocks.

2. Raw pointers

rust
// Creating raw pointers (safe — no dereference yet)let x = 42u32;let ptr: *const u32 = &x;let mut_ptr: *mut u32 = &mut some_val as *mut u32;
// Null pointerlet null: *const u32 = std::ptr::null();let null_mut: *mut u32 = std::ptr::null_mut();
// Dereference (unsafe)let val = unsafe { *ptr };
// Null checkif !ptr.is_null() {    let val = unsafe { *ptr };}
// Offset (safe to compute, unsafe to dereference)let arr = [1u32, 2, 3, 4, 5];let p = arr.as_ptr();let third = unsafe { *p.add(2) };   // arr[2]let also_third = unsafe { *p.offset(2) };
// Slice from raw partslet slice: &[u32] = unsafe {    std::slice::from_raw_parts(p, arr.len())};

Rules for sound raw pointer dereference:

  • Pointer must be non-null
  • Pointer must be aligned for T
  • Memory must be initialized for T
  • Must not violate aliasing rules (only one &mut to a location)
  • Memory must be valid for the lifetime of the reference

3. unsafe functions and traits

rust
// Declare unsafe function (callers must uphold invariants)/// # Safety/// `ptr` must be non-null and aligned to `T`, and point to initialized data./// The caller must ensure no other mutable reference to the same location exists.unsafe fn read_ptr<T>(ptr: *const T) -> T {    ptr.read()  // ptr::read is unsafe}
// Call unsafe functionlet val = unsafe { read_ptr(some_ptr) };
// Unsafe trait — implementor must uphold safety invariantsunsafe trait MyUnsafeTrait {    fn operation(&self);}
// Implementing an unsafe trait is unsafeunsafe impl MyUnsafeTrait for MyType {    fn operation(&self) { /* must uphold the trait's invariants */ }}
// Send and Sync// Send: type can be moved to another thread// Sync: type can be shared between threads (&T is Send)unsafe impl Send for MyType {}unsafe impl Sync for MyType {}

4. Safe abstractions over unsafe

rust
// The golden rule: unsafe blocks should be small, isolated, and// wrapped in a safe API that maintains the invariant
pub struct MyVec<T> {    ptr: *mut T,    len: usize,    cap: usize,}
impl<T> MyVec<T> {    pub fn new() -> Self {        MyVec { ptr: std::ptr::NonNull::dangling().as_ptr(), len: 0, cap: 0 }    }
    // Safe public API    pub fn get(&self, index: usize) -> Option<&T> {        if index < self.len {            // Safety: index < len guarantees ptr+index is in bounds and initialized            Some(unsafe { &*self.ptr.add(index) })        } else {            None        }    }
    // # Safety comment documents the invariant    pub fn push(&mut self, val: T) {        if self.len == self.cap {            self.grow();        }        // Safety: len < cap after grow(), so ptr+len is in bounds        unsafe { self.ptr.add(self.len).write(val) };        self.len += 1;    }}
// Implement Drop to clean upimpl<T> Drop for MyVec<T> {    fn drop(&mut self) {        // Safety: ptr was allocated with this layout, and all elements are initialized        unsafe {            std::ptr::drop_in_place(std::slice::from_raw_parts_mut(self.ptr, self.len));            std::alloc::dealloc(self.ptr as *mut u8,                std::alloc::Layout::array::<T>(self.cap).unwrap());        }    }}

5. transmute

rust
// transmute: reinterpret bits of one type as another// Both types must have the same size
// Safe uses:let x: u32 = 0x3f800000;let f: f32 = unsafe { std::mem::transmute(x) };  // bits → float
// Transmute slice pointer (sound if types have same size/align)let bytes: &[u8] = &[0x00, 0x00, 0x80, 0x3f];let floats: &[f32] = unsafe {    std::slice::from_raw_parts(bytes.as_ptr() as *const f32, 1)};
// Prefer safe alternatives when available:let f = f32::from_bits(x);         // instead of transmute for float bitslet n = u32::from_ne_bytes(bytes); // instead of transmute for byte arrays

Common transmute pitfalls:

  • Wrong sizes (compile error, but check for generic types)
  • Creating invalid enum values
  • Creating references with wrong lifetimes

6. UnsafeCell — interior mutability

rust
use std::cell::UnsafeCell;
// UnsafeCell is the only way to mutate through a shared referencestruct MyCell<T> {    value: UnsafeCell<T>,}
impl<T: Copy> MyCell<T> {    fn new(val: T) -> Self {        MyCell { value: UnsafeCell::new(val) }    }
    fn get(&self) -> T {        // Safety: single-threaded, no concurrent mutation        unsafe { *self.value.get() }    }
    fn set(&self, val: T) {        // Safety: single-threaded, no outstanding references        unsafe { *self.value.get() = val }    }}

7. Unsafe audit checklist

When reviewing an unsafe block:

  • Is there a // Safety: comment explaining the invariant?
  • Is the raw pointer non-null?
  • Is the raw pointer correctly aligned for the target type?
  • Is the memory initialized?
  • Is the lifetime of the reference valid?
  • Are aliasing rules respected (no simultaneous & and &mut)?
  • For extern "C": are C invariants documented and verified?
  • For Send/Sync impl: is thread safety actually guaranteed?
  • Is the unsafe block as small as possible?
  • Is there a test under Miri for the unsafe code?

8. When to use unsafe

Before reaching for unsafe, check:├── Does std have a safe API? (Vec, Box, Arc — usually yes)├── Does a crate handle it? (memmap2, nix, windows-sys)├── Can you restructure to avoid it?└── Is the performance gain measured and significant?
Legitimate uses:├── FFI to C libraries (extern "C")├── OS-level APIs (syscalls, mmap, ioctl)├── Performance-critical data structures (custom allocators, SoA)├── Hardware access (embedded, drivers)└── Implementing safe abstractions (the standard library itself)

For unsafe patterns and audit examples, see references/unsafe-patterns.md [blocked].

Related skills

  • Use skills/rust/rust-sanitizers-miri — Miri is the essential tool for testing unsafe code
  • Use skills/rust/rust-ffi for unsafe patterns in FFI contexts
  • Use skills/rust/rust-debugging for debugging panics in unsafe code
  • Use skills/low-level-programming/memory-model for aliasing and memory ordering in unsafe

来源与署名

来源:mohitmishra786/low-level-dev-skills位于skills/rust/rust-unsafe提交bdc5847

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