rust-unsafe

When Unsafe is Justified

SAFETY Comment Requirements

Every unsafe block must include a SAFETY comment:

// SAFETY: ptr must be non-null and properly aligned.
// This function is only called after a null check.
unsafe { *ptr = value; }

/// # Safety
///
/// * `ptr` must be properly aligned and not null
/// * `ptr` must point to initialized memory of type T
/// * The memory must not be accessed after this function returns
pub unsafe fn write(ptr: *mut T, value: &T) { ... }

Solution Patterns

Pattern 1: FFI with Safe Wrapper

use std::ffi::{CStr, CString};
use std::os::raw::c_char;

extern "C" {
    fn c_function(s: *const c_char) -> i32;
}

// ✅ Safe wrapper
pub fn safe_c_function(s: &str) -> Result<i32, Box<dyn Error>> {
    let c_str = CString::new(s)?;
    // SAFETY: c_str is a valid null-terminated string created from Rust data.
    // The pointer is valid for the duration of this call.
    let result = unsafe { c_function(c_str.as_ptr()) };
    Ok(result)
}

Pattern 2: Raw Pointer with Validation

use std::ptr::NonNull;

struct Buffer {
    ptr: NonNull<u8>,
    len: usize,
}

impl Buffer {
    pub fn write(&mut self, index: usize, value: u8) -> Result<(), String> {
        if index >= self.len {
            return Err("index out of bounds".to_string());
        }

        // SAFETY: We've checked index is within bounds.
        // ptr is NonNull and points to valid memory.
        unsafe {
            self.ptr.as_ptr().add(index).write(value);
        }
        Ok(())
    }
}

Pattern 3: Uninitialized Memory

use std::mem::MaybeUninit;

// ✅ Safe uninitialized memory handling
fn create_buffer(size: usize) -> Vec<u8> {
    let mut buffer: Vec<MaybeUninit<u8>> = Vec::with_capacity(size);

    for i in 0..size {
        buffer.push(MaybeUninit::new(0));
    }

    // SAFETY: All elements have been initialized to 0.
    unsafe { std::mem::transmute(buffer) }
}

// ❌ Avoid: deprecated pattern
fn bad_buffer(size: usize) -> Vec<u8> {
    let mut v = Vec::with_capacity(size);
    unsafe { v.set_len(size); }  // UB if not initialized!
    v
}

Pattern 4: Repr(C) for FFI

#[repr(C)]
pub struct Point {
    pub x: f64,
    pub y: f64,
}

#[repr(C)]
pub enum Status {
    Success = 0,
    Error = 1,
}

// SAFETY: Layout matches C struct exactly
extern "C" {
    fn process_point(p: *const Point) -> Status;
}

47 Unsafe Rules Reference

General Principles (3 rules)

Memory Layout (6 rules)

Raw Pointers (6 rules)

Unions (2 rules)

FFI (18 rules)

Safe Abstractions (11 rules)

I/O Safety (1 rule)

Workflow

Step 1: Question the Need

Do I really need unsafe?
  → Can I use safe abstractions?
  → Is this for FFI? (justified)
  → Is this for measured performance? (profile first)
  → Am I fighting the borrow checker? (redesign instead)

Step 2: Write SAFETY Comments

For every unsafe block:
1. Document preconditions
2. Explain why they hold
3. Reference invariants maintained

For public unsafe functions:
1. Add /// # Safety section
2. List all requirements
3. Document consequences of violations

Step 3: Validate with Tools

# Detect undefined behavior
cargo +nightly miri test

# Memory leak detection
valgrind ./target/release/program

# Data race detection
RUST_BACKTRACE=1 cargo test --features tsan

Step 4: Build Safe Wrappers

Raw unsafe code
  ↓
Safe private functions (validate inputs)
  ↓
Safe public API (no unsafe visible)

Common Errors and Fixes

Deprecated Patterns

FFI Tools

Review Checklist

When reviewing unsafe code:

• Unsafe usage is justified (FFI, low-level abstraction, measured perf)
• Every unsafe block has SAFETY comment
• Public unsafe functions document Safety requirements
• Raw pointers are validated before dereferencing
• No raw pointer sharing across threads without sync
• FFI boundaries properly handle panics
• Memory layout explicitly specified for FFI types
• Uninitialized memory uses MaybeUninit
• Safe public API wraps unsafe internals
• Tested with Miri for undefined behavior

Verification Commands

# Check for undefined behavior
cargo +nightly miri test

# Run with address sanitizer
RUSTFLAGS="-Z sanitizer=address" cargo +nightly test

# Check FFI bindings
cargo check --features ffi

# Verify memory safety
valgrind --leak-check=full ./target/release/program

# Documentation check
cargo doc --no-deps --open

Common Pitfalls

1. Dangling Pointers

Symptom: Use-after-free, segfault

// ❌ Bad: pointer outlives data
fn bad() -> *const i32 {
    let x = 42;
    &x as *const i32  // Dangling!
}

// ✅ Good: proper lifetime management
fn good(x: &i32) -> *const i32 {
    x as *const i32  // Lifetime tied to input
}

2. Uninitialized Memory

Symptom: Undefined behavior, random values

// ❌ Bad: reading uninitialized memory
let x: i32;
unsafe { println!("{}", x); }  // UB!

// ✅ Good: use MaybeUninit
let mut x = MaybeUninit::<i32>::uninit();
x.write(42);
let x = unsafe { x.assume_init() };  // Safe

3. Invalid Repr

Symptom: FFI crashes, data corruption

// ❌ Bad: default repr with FFI
struct Point { x: f64, y: f64 }
extern "C" { fn use_point(p: Point); }

// ✅ Good: explicit C layout
#[repr(C)]
struct Point { x: f64, y: f64 }
extern "C" { fn use_point(p: Point); }

Related Skills

• rust-ownership – Lifetime and borrowing fundamentals
• rust-ffi – Advanced FFI patterns
• rust-performance – When unsafe optimization is justified
• rust-coding – SAFETY comment conventions
• rust-concurrency – Thread-safe unsafe patterns

Localized Reference

• Chinese version: SKILL_ZH.md – 完整中文版本，包含所有内容