CRII: CSR: Understanding and Enhancing Unsafe Rust Code in Resource-constrained Systems

资源约束型系统运行在资源约束型设备上，计算能力低，内存和存储有限，具有低功耗的优点。它们现在越来越多地使用，包括IoT（物联网）设备（例如智能家居设备）和嵌入式设备（例如桌面/移动平台中的蓝牙/Wi-Fi模块）。然而，这种优势的代价是没有或只有有限的软件和硬件保护。因此，在资源受限的系统中发现了新的漏洞。为了缓解这个问题，Rust在实现这些系统方面越来越受欢迎，因为它的安全性和接近C/ c++的性能，而Rust编译器强制执行限制性规则并利用不安全关键字来绕过它们。不幸的是，引入不安全的Rust代码也引入了潜在的安全问题，违背了使用Rust增强资源受限系统的目的。这个项目通过在资源受限的系统环境中探索、设计和试验各种工具和框架来解决这个挑战，并提供了这些系统中不安全Rust代码的见解。这样，本项目的目标是减少使用不安全关键字的负面影响，使开发人员对安全保障更有信心。该项目旨在通过消除不安全关键字的不必要使用或防止不安全Rust代码引起的潜在问题来改进Rust在资源受限系统中的使用。因此，用Rust编写的资源受限的系统将更加安全，即使使用了不安全关键字。此外，该项目开发的工具和框架将是开源的。它们不仅对资源受限的系统开发人员有帮助，而且对Rust社区也有贡献。在这个项目中总结的最佳实践和经验教训也将向社区开放。目标是将结果细化为RFC（请求评论）文档，并使其成为标准。作为推广工作的一部分，该项目的数据和结果将被纳入计算机科学和网络安全的本科课程。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Resource-constrained systems run on resource-constrained devices, which have low computation power, and limited memory and storage with the advantage of low-electrical-power consumption. They are increasingly used nowadays, including IoT (Internet of Things) devices (e.g., smart home devices) and embedded devices (e.g., Bluetooth/Wi-Fi modules in the desktop/mobile platform). However, the advantage comes with the expense of no or limited software and hardware protections. As a result, new vulnerabilities are being discovered in resource-constrained systems. To mitigate this problem, Rust is gaining popularity in implementing these systems due to its safety and close performance to C/C++, while a Rust compiler enforces restrictive rules and leverages the unsafe keyword to bypass them. Unfortunately, the introduction of unsafe Rust code also introduces potential safety issues defeating the purpose of using Rust to enhance resource-constrained systems. This project addresses this challenge by exploring, designing and experimenting with various tools and frameworks in the context of resource-constrained systems, and provides insights on unsafe Rust code in these systems. In this way, this project targets reducing the negative effect of using the unsafe keyword and support developers with more confidence in safety guarantee. This project aims to improve using Rust in resource-constrained systems by eliminating unnecessary usage of the unsafe keyword or preventing the potential issues caused by unsafe Rust code. As a result, resource-constrained systems written in Rust would be more secure, even if the unsafe keyword is used. Furthermore, tools and frameworks developed in this project will be open-source. They will not only be helpful to resource-constrained system developers, but also contribute to the Rust community. The best practices concluded and lessons learned during this project will also be open to the community. The goal is to elaborate the result as RFC (Request for Comments) documents and make them the standard. As part of the outreach effort, the data and the results of this project will be incorporated into undergraduate courses in both computer science and cybersecurity.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.