The State of Rust in Malware Programming - Wiki

Welcome to the comprehensive wiki for the Rust Malware Analysis & Detection PhD research project.

About This Project

This repository documents ongoing PhD research focused on the static and dynamic analysis of Rust binaries, particularly for malware reverse engineering. The goal is to advance open methodologies, tooling, and datasets that help the security community understand, detect, and analyze Rust-based threats using cutting-edge binary analysis techniques.

Quick Navigation

Getting Started

• Installation & Setup
• Building Rust Samples
• Project Structure

Documentation

• Rust Binary Analysis
  • Basic PL Concepts
  • Compilation & Optimization
  • Cross-Compilation Guide
• Malware Detection Methods
• Reverse Engineering Tools

Datasets

• Benign Samples
• Malicious Samples
• Dataset Documentation

Research & Methodology

• Research Overview
• Experimental Methodology
• Publications & References

Tools & Scripts

• Analysis Scripts
• Detection Frameworks
• Helper Tools

Key Features

• Comprehensive Rust Binary Analysis: In-depth exploration of Rust compiler output, trait objects, vtables, and monomorphization
• Malware Detection Frameworks: Scalable frameworks for automated Rust malware detection
• Open Datasets: Curated collections of benign and malicious Rust binaries
• Tool Integration: Support for IDA Pro, Ghidra, Binary Ninja, and other RE platforms
• Academic Research: Ongoing PhD research with methodology documentation

Recent Updates

• Aggressive optimization configurations for Rust binaries
• x86 and x86-64 cross-compilation documentation
• Basic programming language concepts samples
• Initial benign sample dataset

Contributing

This is an active PhD research project. Contributions, feedback, and collaboration are welcome! Please see the Contributing Guidelines for more information.

Contact & Support

For questions, issues, or collaboration opportunities:

• Open an issue on GitHub Issues
• Check the FAQ for common questions

Acknowledgements

Major inspiration for this research comes from:

• rust-re-tour
• Checkpoint Research - Rust Binary Analysis, Feature by Feature

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Note: This wiki is under active development as part of ongoing PhD research. Content is subject to regular updates and changes.