LukeMathWalker / LukeMathWalker/cargo-chef

RUSTSEC-2026-0190: Unsoundness in `Error::downcast_mut()`

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Description

> Unsoundness in `Error::downcast_mut()`

| Details | |
| ------------------- | ---------------------------------------------- |
| Status | unsound |
| Package | `anyhow` |
| Version | `1.0.102` |
| URL | [https://github.com/dtolnay/anyhow/issues/451](https://github.com/dtolnay/anyhow/issues/451) |
| Date | 2026-06-25 |

Affected versions of this crate violate borrow rules, resulting in undefined behavior, when the user adds context to an error via `Error::context` and then later calls `Error::downcast_mut` on the returned `Error`.

The flaw was corrected in commit `6e8c000` by revising how the mutable reference is constructed, avoiding inclusion of a shared reference in the resulting borrow chain.

## Example

```rust
use anyhow::Error;
use std::fmt;

#[derive(Debug)]
struct ErrorContext(&'static str);

impl fmt::Display for ErrorContext {
fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> fmt::Result {
fmt::Display::fmt(&self.0, f)
}
}

fn main() {
let mut error = Error::msg("inner error").context(ErrorContext("old context"));
let context: &mut ErrorContext = error.downcast_mut().unwrap();
context.0 = "new context";
println!("{:?}", error);
}
```

## Miri output

```
error: Undefined Behavior: trying to retag from <1538> for Unique permission at alloc602[0x38], but that tag only grants SharedReadOnly permission for this location
--> src/ptr.rs:170:18
|
170 | unsafe { &mut *self.ptr.as_ptr() }
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ this error occurs as part of retag at alloc602[0x38..0x48]
|
= help: this indicates a potential bug in the program: it performed an invalid operation, but the Stacked Borrows rules it violated are still experimental
= help: see https://github.com/rust-lang/unsafe-code-guidelines/blob/master/wip/stacked-borrows.md for further information
help: <1538> was created by a SharedReadOnly retag at offsets [0x38..0x48]
--> src/ptr.rs:89:18
|
89 | ptr: NonNull::from(ptr),
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
= note: stack backtrace:
0: anyhow::ptr::Mut::<'_, ErrorContext>::deref_mut
at src/ptr.rs:170:18: 170:41
1: anyhow::error::<impl anyhow::Error>::downcast_mut::<ErrorContext>
at src/error.rs:560:18: 560:46
2: main
at examples/downcast_mut.rs:15:38: 15:58
```

See [advisory page](https://rustsec.org/advisories/RUSTSEC-2026-0190.html) for additional details.

Contributor guide

No contributing guide indexed for this repository

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Review the advisory details and inspect cargo-chef's dependency declarations and lockfile for the affected anyhow version. Confirm the dependency resolves to a corrected version, then run the repository's existing checks to verify the project remains healthy.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
rust
Domain
build-system, security
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
2/5
Estimated time
1-3 hours
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
52/100

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