rust-lang / rust-lang/rust

Trait bound in associated type isn't checked when normalizing type that doesn't require inspecting the AT

Open
#154,172 9 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

Nobody has claimed this yet.

A-associated-items A-trait-system C-bug I-ICE T-types
Dominant language
Rust
Stars
119k
Forks
16.1k
PR merge metrics
PR metrics pending

Description

The below code shouldn't compile, since i64 does not implement Bound, so I shouldn't be allowed to write Output<i64>. However, it compiles without errors.

I'm guessing that rustc sees <.... as Super>::Assoc and immediately concludes that the type must be i32 without further checking.

trait Super {
    type Assoc;
}
trait Sub: Super<Assoc = i32> {}

// no impl for Bound anywhere
trait Bound {}

trait Apply {
    // Bound requirement here
    type Output<T: Bound>: Sub;
}

trait Trait {
    type What;
}

impl<A: Apply> Trait for A {
    // i64 doesn't implement Bound
    type What = <<A as Apply>::Output<i64> as Super>::Assoc;
}

cc @lcnr

Meta

Reproducible on the playground with version 1.96.0-nightly (2026-03-12 3102493c71626b5912d1)

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 standalone Rust reproducer from the issue and confirm that the shown associated-type normalization accepts i64 despite its missing Bound implementation. Trace the compiler's trait-bound checking and normalization behavior for this case; done means the reproducer is rejected with an appropriate bound error and regression coverage exists.

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
Quiet
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
38/100

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.