rust-lang / rust-lang/rust

`Reborrow` unsoundness due to not checking for `Copy`

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C-bug F-reborrow I-unsound T-types
Dominant language
Rust
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Description

This unsoundness was discovered by @coolcatcoder. I'm filing this issue on their behalf.

The following code causes a double free. It should not compile.

#![feature(reborrow)]

#[expect(dead_code)]
// This code correctly gives a compile error if &'a mut () is changed to &'a ()
struct Wrap<'a>(&'a mut (), String);

impl<'a> std::marker::Reborrow for Wrap<'a> {}

fn get(x: Wrap<'_>) -> String {
    x.1
}

fn main() {
    let x = Wrap(&mut (), String::from("a"));
    let _y = get(x);
    let _z = get(x);
}

cc @aapoalas

Meta

Reproducible on the playground with version 1.97.0-nightly (2026-05-08 fb0a5a5a9c892b351f34)

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 reproducing the provided example with Rust nightly 1.97.0 on the playground, then trace the Reborrow feature implementation and its handling of Copy checks. Done means the example is rejected by the compiler and no longer permits the reported double-free behavior.

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
42/100

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