Module vec_utils

Secure Vector Utilities Module

This module provides secure memory management utilities for vectors and slices, designed specifically for handling sensitive cryptographic material.

Key Features

• Memory Zeroing: Securely clear sensitive data from memory
• Memory Locking: Prevent sensitive data from being swapped to disk
• Secure Vectors: A vector-like container with enhanced memory protection

Security Considerations

When working with cryptographic keys, passwords, or other sensitive data, it’s crucial to handle memory securely. This module provides tools to:

• Prevent sensitive data from being written to disk via swap
• Ensure memory is properly zeroed when no longer needed
• Protect against memory-related vulnerabilities

Usage Example

use libsodium_rs as sodium;
use libsodium_rs::utils::vec_utils;
use sodium::ensure_init;

fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
    ensure_init()?;

    // Create a secure vector for a cryptographic key
    let mut secure_key = vec_utils::secure_vec::<u8>(32)?;

    // Fill it with random data or your key material
    for i in 0..secure_key.len() {
        secure_key[i] = i as u8;
    }

    // Use the key for cryptographic operations...

    // When secure_key goes out of scope, the memory is
    // automatically zeroed and freed
    Ok(())
}

Relationship to Other Modules

This module is part of the utils module and complements the core memory management functions with vector-specific utilities.

Structs

SecureVec

A secure vector with enhanced memory protection

Functions

memzero

Securely zero a slice’s memory

mlock

Lock a vector’s memory to prevent it from being swapped to disk

munlock

Unlock a previously locked vector’s memory

secure_vec

Create a new secure vector with enhanced memory protection