add MaybeDangling to core

Co-authored-by: Ralf Jung <post@ralfj.de>

Author: WaffleLapkin

library/core/src/mem/maybe_dangling.rs

@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+#![unstable(feature = "maybe_dangling", issue = "118166")]
+
+use crate::{mem, ptr};
+
+/// Allows wrapped [references] and [boxes] to dangle.
+///
+/// That is, if a reference (or a `Box`) is wrapped in `MaybeDangling` (including when in a
+/// (nested) field of a compound type wrapped in `MaybeDangling`), it does not have to follow
+/// pointer aliasing rules or be dereferenceable.
+///
+/// This can be useful when the value can become dangling while the function holding it is still
+/// executing (particularly in concurrent code). As a somewhat absurd example, consider this code:
+///
+/// ```rust,no_run
+/// #![feature(box_as_ptr)]
+/// # use std::alloc::{dealloc, Layout};
+/// # use std::mem;
+///
+/// let mut boxed = Box::new(0_u32);
+/// let ptr = Box::as_mut_ptr(&mut boxed);
+///
+/// // Safety: the pointer comes from a box and thus was allocated before; `box` is not used afterwards
+/// unsafe { dealloc(ptr.cast(), Layout::new::<u32>()) };
+///
+/// mem::forget(boxed); // <-- this is UB!
+/// ```
+///
+/// Even though the `Box`e's destructor is not run (and thus we don't have a double free bug), this
+/// code is still UB. This is because when moving `boxed` into `forget`, its validity invariants
+/// are asserted, causing UB since the `Box` is dangling.
+///
+/// To fix this we could use `MaybeDangling`:
+///
+/// ```rust
+/// #![feature(maybe_dangling, box_as_ptr)]
+/// # use std::alloc::{dealloc, Layout};
+/// # use std::mem::{self, MaybeDangling};
+///
+/// let mut boxed = MaybeDangling::new(Box::new(0_u32));
+/// let ptr = Box::as_mut_ptr(boxed.as_mut());
+///
+/// // Safety: the pointer comes from a box and thus was allocated before; `box` is not used afterwards
+/// unsafe { dealloc(ptr.cast(), Layout::new::<u32>()) };
+///
+/// mem::forget(boxed); // <-- this is OK!
+/// ```
+///
+/// Note that the bit pattern must still be valid for the wrapped type. That is, [references]
+/// (and [boxes]) still must be aligned and non-null.
+///
+/// Additionally note that safe code can still assume that the inner value in a `MaybeDangling` is
+/// **not** dangling -- functions like [`as_ref`] and [`into_inner`] are safe. It is not sound to
+/// return a dangling reference in a `MaybeDangling` to safe code. However, it *is* sound
+/// to hold such values internally inside your code -- and there's no way to do that without
+/// this type.
+///
+/// [references]: prim@reference
+/// [boxes]: ../../std/boxed/struct.Box.html
+/// [`into_inner`]: MaybeDangling::into_inner
+/// [`as_ref`]: MaybeDangling::as_ref
+#[repr(transparent)]
+#[rustc_pub_transparent]
+#[derive(Debug, Copy, Clone, Default)]
+pub struct MaybeDangling<P: ?Sized>(P);
+
+impl<P: ?Sized> MaybeDangling<P> {
+    /// Wraps a value in a `MaybeDangling`, allowing it to dangle.
+    pub const fn new(x: P) -> Self
+    where
+        P: Sized,
+    {
+        MaybeDangling(x)
+    }
+
+    /// Returns a reference to the inner value.
+    ///
+    /// Note that this is UB if the inner value is currently dangling.
+    pub const fn as_ref(&self) -> &P {
+        &self.0
+    }
+
+    /// Returns a mutable reference to the inner value.
+    ///
+    /// Note that this is UB if the inner value is currently dangling.
+    pub const fn as_mut(&mut self) -> &mut P {
+        &mut self.0
+    }
+
+    /// Extracts the value from the `MaybeDangling` container.
+    ///
+    /// Note that this is UB if the inner value is currently dangling.
+    pub const fn into_inner(self) -> P
+    where
+        P: Sized,
+    {
+        // FIXME: replace this with `self.0` when const checker can figure out that `self` isn't actually dropped
+        // SAFETY: this is equivalent to `self.0`
+        let x = unsafe { ptr::read(&self.0) };
+        mem::forget(self);
+        x
+    }
+}

library/core/src/mem/mod.rs

@@ -19,6 +19,10 @@ mod maybe_uninit;
 #[stable(feature = "maybe_uninit", since = "1.36.0")]
 pub use maybe_uninit::MaybeUninit;
 
+mod maybe_dangling;
+#[unstable(feature = "maybe_dangling", issue = "118166")]
+pub use maybe_dangling::MaybeDangling;
+
 mod transmutability;
 #[unstable(feature = "transmutability", issue = "99571")]
 pub use transmutability::{Assume, TransmuteFrom};