[PATCH v16 02/10] rust: types: Add Ownable/Owned types
From: Andreas Hindborg
Date: Tue Feb 24 2026 - 06:21:52 EST
From: Asahi Lina <lina+kernel@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
By analogy to `AlwaysRefCounted` and `ARef`, an `Ownable` type is a
(typically C FFI) type that *may* be owned by Rust, but need not be. Unlike
`AlwaysRefCounted`, this mechanism expects the reference to be unique
within Rust, and does not allow cloning.
Conceptually, this is similar to a `KBox<T>`, except that it delegates
resource management to the `T` instead of using a generic allocator.
[ om:
- Split code into separate file and `pub use` it from types.rs.
- Make from_raw() and into_raw() public.
- Remove OwnableMut, and make DerefMut dependent on Unpin instead.
- Usage example/doctest for Ownable/Owned.
- Fixes to documentation and commit message.
]
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/all/20250202-rust-page-v1-1-e3170d7fe55e@xxxxxxxxxxxxx/
Signed-off-by: Asahi Lina <lina+kernel@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Co-developed-by: Oliver Mangold <oliver.mangold@xxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Oliver Mangold <oliver.mangold@xxxxx>
Reviewed-by: Boqun Feng <boqun.feng@xxxxxxxxx>
Reviewed-by: Daniel Almeida <daniel.almeida@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
[ Andreas: Updated documentation, examples, and formatting. Change safety
requirements, safety comments. Use a reference for `release`. ]
Reviewed-by: Gary Guo <gary@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Co-developed-by: Andreas Hindborg <a.hindborg@xxxxxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Andreas Hindborg <a.hindborg@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
rust/kernel/lib.rs | 1 +
rust/kernel/owned.rs | 181 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
rust/kernel/sync/aref.rs | 5 ++
rust/kernel/types.rs | 11 ++-
4 files changed, 197 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
diff --git a/rust/kernel/lib.rs b/rust/kernel/lib.rs
index 696f62f85eb5f..a2bec807f03f1 100644
--- a/rust/kernel/lib.rs
+++ b/rust/kernel/lib.rs
@@ -121,6 +121,7 @@
pub mod of;
#[cfg(CONFIG_PM_OPP)]
pub mod opp;
+pub mod owned;
pub mod page;
#[cfg(CONFIG_PCI)]
pub mod pci;
diff --git a/rust/kernel/owned.rs b/rust/kernel/owned.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..26bc325eee406
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rust/kernel/owned.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,181 @@
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0
+
+//! Unique owned pointer types for objects with custom drop logic.
+//!
+//! These pointer types are useful for C-allocated objects which by API-contract
+//! are owned by Rust, but need to be freed through the C API.
+
+use core::{
+ mem::ManuallyDrop,
+ ops::{
+ Deref,
+ DerefMut, //
+ },
+ pin::Pin,
+ ptr::NonNull, //
+};
+
+/// Types that specify their own way of performing allocation and destruction. Typically, this trait
+/// is implemented on types from the C side.
+///
+/// Implementing this trait allows types to be referenced via the [`Owned<Self>`] pointer type. This
+/// is useful when it is desirable to tie the lifetime of the reference to an owned object, rather
+/// than pass around a bare reference. [`Ownable`] types can define custom drop logic that is
+/// executed when the owned reference [`Owned<Self>`] pointing to the object is dropped.
+///
+/// Note: The underlying object is not required to provide internal reference counting, because it
+/// represents a unique, owned reference. If reference counting (on the Rust side) is required,
+/// [`AlwaysRefCounted`](crate::types::AlwaysRefCounted) should be implemented.
+///
+/// # Examples
+///
+/// A minimal example implementation of [`Ownable`] and its usage with [`Owned`] looks like
+/// this:
+///
+/// ```
+/// # #![expect(clippy::disallowed_names)]
+/// # use core::cell::Cell;
+/// # use core::ptr::NonNull;
+/// # use kernel::sync::global_lock;
+/// # use kernel::alloc::{flags, kbox::KBox, AllocError};
+/// # use kernel::types::{Owned, Ownable};
+///
+/// // Let's count the allocations to see if freeing works.
+/// kernel::sync::global_lock! {
+/// // SAFETY: we call `init()` right below, before doing anything else.
+/// unsafe(uninit) static FOO_ALLOC_COUNT: Mutex<usize> = 0;
+/// }
+/// // SAFETY: We call `init()` only once, here.
+/// unsafe { FOO_ALLOC_COUNT.init() };
+///
+/// struct Foo;
+///
+/// impl Foo {
+/// fn new() -> Result<Owned<Self>> {
+/// // We are just using a `KBox` here to handle the actual allocation, as our `Foo` is
+/// // not actually a C-allocated object.
+/// let result = KBox::new(
+/// Foo {},
+/// flags::GFP_KERNEL,
+/// )?;
+/// let result = KBox::into_nonnull(result);
+/// // Count new allocation
+/// *FOO_ALLOC_COUNT.lock() += 1;
+/// // SAFETY:
+/// // - We just allocated the `Self`, thus it is valid and we own it.
+/// // - We can transfer this ownership to the `from_raw` method.
+/// Ok(unsafe { Owned::from_raw(result) })
+/// }
+/// }
+///
+/// impl Ownable for Foo {
+/// unsafe fn release(&mut self) {
+/// // SAFETY: The [`KBox<Self>`] is still alive. We can pass ownership to the [`KBox`], as
+/// // by requirement on calling this function.
+/// drop(unsafe { KBox::from_raw(self) });
+/// // Count released allocation
+/// *FOO_ALLOC_COUNT.lock() -= 1;
+/// }
+/// }
+///
+/// {
+/// let foo = Foo::new()?;
+/// assert!(*FOO_ALLOC_COUNT.lock() == 1);
+/// }
+/// // `foo` is out of scope now, so we expect no live allocations.
+/// assert!(*FOO_ALLOC_COUNT.lock() == 0);
+/// # Ok::<(), Error>(())
+/// ```
+pub trait Ownable {
+ /// Tear down this `Ownable`.
+ ///
+ /// Implementers of `Ownable` can use this function to clean up the use of `Self`. This can
+ /// include freeing the underlying object.
+ ///
+ /// # Safety
+ ///
+ /// Callers must ensure that the caller has exclusive ownership of `T`, and this ownership can
+ /// be transferred to the `release` method.
+ unsafe fn release(&mut self);
+}
+
+/// A mutable reference to an owned `T`.
+///
+/// The [`Ownable`] is automatically freed or released when an instance of [`Owned`] is
+/// dropped.
+///
+/// # Invariants
+///
+/// - Until `T::release` is called, this `Owned<T>` exclusively owns the underlying `T`.
+/// - The `T` value is pinned.
+pub struct Owned<T: Ownable> {
+ ptr: NonNull<T>,
+}
+
+impl<T: Ownable> Owned<T> {
+ /// Creates a new instance of [`Owned`].
+ ///
+ /// This function takes over ownership of the underlying object.
+ ///
+ /// # Safety
+ ///
+ /// Callers must ensure that:
+ /// - `ptr` points to a valid instance of `T`.
+ /// - Until `T::release` is called, the returned `Owned<T>` exclusively owns the underlying `T`.
+ pub unsafe fn from_raw(ptr: NonNull<T>) -> Self {
+ // INVARIANT: By funvtion safety requirement we satisfy the first invariant of `Self`.
+ // We treat `T` as pinned from now on.
+ Self { ptr }
+ }
+
+ /// Consumes the [`Owned`], returning a raw pointer.
+ ///
+ /// This function does not drop the underlying `T`. When this function returns, ownership of the
+ /// underlying `T` is with the caller.
+ pub fn into_raw(me: Self) -> NonNull<T> {
+ ManuallyDrop::new(me).ptr
+ }
+
+ /// Get a pinned mutable reference to the data owned by this `Owned<T>`.
+ pub fn as_pin_mut(&mut self) -> Pin<&mut T> {
+ // SAFETY: The type invariants guarantee that the object is valid, and that we can safely
+ // return a mutable reference to it.
+ let unpinned = unsafe { self.ptr.as_mut() };
+
+ // SAFETY: By type invariant `T` is pinned.
+ unsafe { Pin::new_unchecked(unpinned) }
+ }
+}
+
+// SAFETY: It is safe to send an [`Owned<T>`] to another thread when the underlying `T` is [`Send`],
+// because of the ownership invariant. Sending an [`Owned<T>`] is equivalent to sending the `T`.
+unsafe impl<T: Ownable + Send> Send for Owned<T> {}
+
+// SAFETY: It is safe to send [`&Owned<T>`] to another thread when the underlying `T` is [`Sync`],
+// because of the ownership invariant. Sending an [`&Owned<T>`] is equivalent to sending the `&T`.
+unsafe impl<T: Ownable + Sync> Sync for Owned<T> {}
+
+impl<T: Ownable> Deref for Owned<T> {
+ type Target = T;
+
+ fn deref(&self) -> &Self::Target {
+ // SAFETY: The type invariants guarantee that the object is valid.
+ unsafe { self.ptr.as_ref() }
+ }
+}
+
+impl<T: Ownable + Unpin> DerefMut for Owned<T> {
+ fn deref_mut(&mut self) -> &mut Self::Target {
+ // SAFETY: The type invariants guarantee that the object is valid, and that we can safely
+ // return a mutable reference to it.
+ unsafe { self.ptr.as_mut() }
+ }
+}
+
+impl<T: Ownable> Drop for Owned<T> {
+ fn drop(&mut self) {
+ // SAFETY: By existence of `&mut self` we exclusively own `self` and the underlying `T`. As
+ // we are dropping `self`, we can transfer ownership of the `T` to the `release` method.
+ unsafe { T::release(self.ptr.as_mut()) };
+ }
+}
diff --git a/rust/kernel/sync/aref.rs b/rust/kernel/sync/aref.rs
index 0d24a0432015d..e175aefe86151 100644
--- a/rust/kernel/sync/aref.rs
+++ b/rust/kernel/sync/aref.rs
@@ -29,6 +29,11 @@
/// Rust code, the recommendation is to use [`Arc`](crate::sync::Arc) to create reference-counted
/// instances of a type.
///
+/// Note: Implementing this trait allows types to be wrapped in an [`ARef<Self>`]. It requires an
+/// internal reference count and provides only shared references. If unique references are required
+/// [`Ownable`](crate::types::Ownable) should be implemented which allows types to be wrapped in an
+/// [`Owned<Self>`](crate::types::Owned).
+///
/// # Safety
///
/// Implementers must ensure that increments to the reference count keep the object alive in memory
diff --git a/rust/kernel/types.rs b/rust/kernel/types.rs
index 9c5e7dbf16323..4aec7b699269a 100644
--- a/rust/kernel/types.rs
+++ b/rust/kernel/types.rs
@@ -11,7 +11,16 @@
};
use pin_init::{PinInit, Wrapper, Zeroable};
-pub use crate::sync::aref::{ARef, AlwaysRefCounted};
+pub use crate::{
+ owned::{
+ Ownable,
+ Owned, //
+ },
+ sync::aref::{
+ ARef,
+ AlwaysRefCounted, //
+ }, //
+};
/// Used to transfer ownership to and from foreign (non-Rust) languages.
///
--
2.51.2