First Rust Code Shows Up in the Windows 11 Kernel

Rust in the Windows 11 kernel
Credit: Mark Russinovich

Recently, we learned that Microsoft will rewrite parts of the Windows kernel using the memory-safe programming language Rust. Well, it’s already happening: Azure CTO Mark Russinovich revealed that the most recent Windows 11 Insider Preview build is the first to include this code.

“If you’re on the Win11 Insider ring, you’re getting the first taste of Rust in the Windows kernel,” Russinovich tweeted last night. It’s not clear which Insider channel he is referring to, however.

Regardless, that that was quick: Microsoft only went public with its plans to replace parts of the Windows kernel with Rust code in mid-April at its BlueHat IL 2023 security conference in Israel. At that event, Microsoft vice president David Weston said that “we’re using Rust on the operating system along with other constructs” as part of an “aggressive and meaningful pursuit of memory safety,” a key source of exploits.

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And it’s not just the Windows kernel. Microsoft is bringing Rust to its Pluton security processor as well.

“We are moving towards a memory-safe language with Rust,” Weston said of Pluton. “We’re not there yet, but it’s something we’re working on … memory safety issues in the Trusted Computing Base are real, and are arguably some of the most painful, not only because if a TPM is compromised, [hackers] potentially have access to all sorts of things, but when TPMs have to be updated, they have a reset state that is very painful for the user. Having Rust there is super-critical.”

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