rust-lang / rust-lang/rust

`Box` deallocates too early with `unsized_fn_params`

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A-box A-destructors C-bug F-unsized_fn_params T-compiler
Dominant language
Rust
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Description

I tried this code:

#![feature(unsized_fn_params, allocator_api)]

use std::alloc::{Allocator, AllocError, Layout, Global};
use std::ptr::NonNull;

struct LoudDropAllocator;

unsafe impl Allocator for LoudDropAllocator {
    fn allocate(&self, layout: Layout) -> Result<NonNull<[u8]>, AllocError> {
        Global.allocate(layout)
    }
    unsafe fn deallocate(&self, ptr: NonNull<u8>, layout: Layout) {
        println!("deallocate");
        unsafe { Global.deallocate(ptr, layout); }
    }
}
impl Drop for LoudDropAllocator {
    fn drop(&mut self) {
        println!("dropping allocator");
    }
}

struct Thing(i32);
impl Drop for Thing {
    fn drop(&mut self) {
        println!("dropping Thing");
    }
}

fn main() {
    println!("with_sized:");
    with_sized(Box::new_in(Thing(1), LoudDropAllocator));
    println!();
    println!("with_unsized:");
    with_unsized(Box::new_in(Thing(1), LoudDropAllocator));
}

fn with_sized<T: Sized>(x: Box<T, LoudDropAllocator>) {
    foo(*x);
    println!("finished calling foo");
}

fn with_unsized<T: ?Sized>(x: Box<T, LoudDropAllocator>) {
    foo(*x);
    println!("finished calling foo");
}

fn foo<T: ?Sized>(a: T) {
    println!("inside foo");
}

Running the above code results in the following output:

with_sized:
inside foo
dropping Thing
finished calling foo
deallocate
dropping allocator

with_unsized:
inside foo
dropping Thing
deallocate
dropping allocator
finished calling foo

I expected with_sized and with_unsized to have the same behavior. However, they behave differently. That is, when moving a Sized type out of a Box, the Box is dropped later when the variable goes out of scope. But when moving a potentially unsized type out of a Box, the Box is dropped immediately.

I'm guessing that this behavior is probably also observable without the allocator_api feature, but I have not verified this.

cc @beepster4096

Meta

Reproducible on the playground with version 1.93.0-nightly (2025-11-17 0df64c57843a9612c68d)

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

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

Start by running the provided playground reproduction with nightly Rust 1.93.0 and compare the with_sized and with_unsized paths, including allocator and Thing drop output. Trace the compiler behavior for moving a potentially unsized value out of Box and determine what change makes both paths preserve the expected drop ordering.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
rust
Domain
compilers
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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