rand_core/lib.rs
1// Copyright 2018 Developers of the Rand project.
2// Copyright 2017-2018 The Rust Project Developers.
3//
4// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 <LICENSE-APACHE or
5// https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0> or the MIT license
6// <LICENSE-MIT or https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT>, at your
7// option. This file may not be copied, modified, or distributed
8// except according to those terms.
9
10//! Random number generation traits
11//!
12//! This crate is mainly of interest to crates publishing implementations of
13//! [`RngCore`]. Other users are encouraged to use the [`rand`] crate instead
14//! which re-exports the main traits and error types.
15//!
16//! [`RngCore`] is the core trait implemented by algorithmic pseudo-random number
17//! generators and external random-number sources.
18//!
19//! [`SeedableRng`] is an extension trait for construction from fixed seeds and
20//! other random number generators.
21//!
22//! [`Error`] is provided for error-handling. It is safe to use in `no_std`
23//! environments.
24//!
25//! The [`impls`] and [`le`] sub-modules include a few small functions to assist
26//! implementation of [`RngCore`].
27//!
28//! [`rand`]: https://docs.rs/rand
29
30#![doc(
31 html_logo_url = "https://www.rust-lang.org/logos/rust-logo-128x128-blk.png",
32 html_favicon_url = "https://www.rust-lang.org/favicon.ico",
33 html_root_url = "https://rust-random.github.io/rand/"
34)]
35#![deny(missing_docs)]
36#![deny(missing_debug_implementations)]
37#![doc(test(attr(allow(unused_variables), deny(warnings))))]
38#![cfg_attr(doc_cfg, feature(doc_cfg))]
39#![no_std]
40
41use core::convert::AsMut;
42use core::default::Default;
43
44#[cfg(feature = "std")] extern crate std;
45#[cfg(feature = "alloc")] extern crate alloc;
46#[cfg(feature = "alloc")] use alloc::boxed::Box;
47
48pub use error::Error;
49#[cfg(feature = "getrandom")] pub use os::OsRng;
50
51
52pub mod block;
53mod error;
54pub mod impls;
55pub mod le;
56#[cfg(feature = "getrandom")] mod os;
57
58
59/// The core of a random number generator.
60///
61/// This trait encapsulates the low-level functionality common to all
62/// generators, and is the "back end", to be implemented by generators.
63/// End users should normally use the `Rng` trait from the [`rand`] crate,
64/// which is automatically implemented for every type implementing `RngCore`.
65///
66/// Three different methods for generating random data are provided since the
67/// optimal implementation of each is dependent on the type of generator. There
68/// is no required relationship between the output of each; e.g. many
69/// implementations of [`fill_bytes`] consume a whole number of `u32` or `u64`
70/// values and drop any remaining unused bytes. The same can happen with the
71/// [`next_u32`] and [`next_u64`] methods, implementations may discard some
72/// random bits for efficiency.
73///
74/// The [`try_fill_bytes`] method is a variant of [`fill_bytes`] allowing error
75/// handling; it is not deemed sufficiently useful to add equivalents for
76/// [`next_u32`] or [`next_u64`] since the latter methods are almost always used
77/// with algorithmic generators (PRNGs), which are normally infallible.
78///
79/// Implementers should produce bits uniformly. Pathological RNGs (e.g. always
80/// returning the same value, or never setting certain bits) can break rejection
81/// sampling used by random distributions, and also break other RNGs when
82/// seeding them via [`SeedableRng::from_rng`].
83///
84/// Algorithmic generators implementing [`SeedableRng`] should normally have
85/// *portable, reproducible* output, i.e. fix Endianness when converting values
86/// to avoid platform differences, and avoid making any changes which affect
87/// output (except by communicating that the release has breaking changes).
88///
89/// Typically an RNG will implement only one of the methods available
90/// in this trait directly, then use the helper functions from the
91/// [`impls`] module to implement the other methods.
92///
93/// It is recommended that implementations also implement:
94///
95/// - `Debug` with a custom implementation which *does not* print any internal
96/// state (at least, [`CryptoRng`]s should not risk leaking state through
97/// `Debug`).
98/// - `Serialize` and `Deserialize` (from Serde), preferably making Serde
99/// support optional at the crate level in PRNG libs.
100/// - `Clone`, if possible.
101/// - *never* implement `Copy` (accidental copies may cause repeated values).
102/// - *do not* implement `Default` for pseudorandom generators, but instead
103/// implement [`SeedableRng`], to guide users towards proper seeding.
104/// External / hardware RNGs can choose to implement `Default`.
105/// - `Eq` and `PartialEq` could be implemented, but are probably not useful.
106///
107/// # Example
108///
109/// A simple example, obviously not generating very *random* output:
110///
111/// ```
112/// #![allow(dead_code)]
113/// use rand_core::{RngCore, Error, impls};
114///
115/// struct CountingRng(u64);
116///
117/// impl RngCore for CountingRng {
118/// fn next_u32(&mut self) -> u32 {
119/// self.next_u64() as u32
120/// }
121///
122/// fn next_u64(&mut self) -> u64 {
123/// self.0 += 1;
124/// self.0
125/// }
126///
127/// fn fill_bytes(&mut self, dest: &mut [u8]) {
128/// impls::fill_bytes_via_next(self, dest)
129/// }
130///
131/// fn try_fill_bytes(&mut self, dest: &mut [u8]) -> Result<(), Error> {
132/// Ok(self.fill_bytes(dest))
133/// }
134/// }
135/// ```
136///
137/// [`rand`]: https://docs.rs/rand
138/// [`try_fill_bytes`]: RngCore::try_fill_bytes
139/// [`fill_bytes`]: RngCore::fill_bytes
140/// [`next_u32`]: RngCore::next_u32
141/// [`next_u64`]: RngCore::next_u64
142pub trait RngCore {
143 /// Return the next random `u32`.
144 ///
145 /// RNGs must implement at least one method from this trait directly. In
146 /// the case this method is not implemented directly, it can be implemented
147 /// using `self.next_u64() as u32` or via [`impls::next_u32_via_fill`].
148 fn next_u32(&mut self) -> u32;
149
150 /// Return the next random `u64`.
151 ///
152 /// RNGs must implement at least one method from this trait directly. In
153 /// the case this method is not implemented directly, it can be implemented
154 /// via [`impls::next_u64_via_u32`] or via [`impls::next_u64_via_fill`].
155 fn next_u64(&mut self) -> u64;
156
157 /// Fill `dest` with random data.
158 ///
159 /// RNGs must implement at least one method from this trait directly. In
160 /// the case this method is not implemented directly, it can be implemented
161 /// via [`impls::fill_bytes_via_next`] or
162 /// via [`RngCore::try_fill_bytes`]; if this generator can
163 /// fail the implementation must choose how best to handle errors here
164 /// (e.g. panic with a descriptive message or log a warning and retry a few
165 /// times).
166 ///
167 /// This method should guarantee that `dest` is entirely filled
168 /// with new data, and may panic if this is impossible
169 /// (e.g. reading past the end of a file that is being used as the
170 /// source of randomness).
171 fn fill_bytes(&mut self, dest: &mut [u8]);
172
173 /// Fill `dest` entirely with random data.
174 ///
175 /// This is the only method which allows an RNG to report errors while
176 /// generating random data thus making this the primary method implemented
177 /// by external (true) RNGs (e.g. `OsRng`) which can fail. It may be used
178 /// directly to generate keys and to seed (infallible) PRNGs.
179 ///
180 /// Other than error handling, this method is identical to [`RngCore::fill_bytes`];
181 /// thus this may be implemented using `Ok(self.fill_bytes(dest))` or
182 /// `fill_bytes` may be implemented with
183 /// `self.try_fill_bytes(dest).unwrap()` or more specific error handling.
184 fn try_fill_bytes(&mut self, dest: &mut [u8]) -> Result<(), Error>;
185}
186
187/// A marker trait used to indicate that an [`RngCore`] or [`BlockRngCore`]
188/// implementation is supposed to be cryptographically secure.
189///
190/// *Cryptographically secure generators*, also known as *CSPRNGs*, should
191/// satisfy an additional properties over other generators: given the first
192/// *k* bits of an algorithm's output
193/// sequence, it should not be possible using polynomial-time algorithms to
194/// predict the next bit with probability significantly greater than 50%.
195///
196/// Some generators may satisfy an additional property, however this is not
197/// required by this trait: if the CSPRNG's state is revealed, it should not be
198/// computationally-feasible to reconstruct output prior to this. Some other
199/// generators allow backwards-computation and are consided *reversible*.
200///
201/// Note that this trait is provided for guidance only and cannot guarantee
202/// suitability for cryptographic applications. In general it should only be
203/// implemented for well-reviewed code implementing well-regarded algorithms.
204///
205/// Note also that use of a `CryptoRng` does not protect against other
206/// weaknesses such as seeding from a weak entropy source or leaking state.
207///
208/// [`BlockRngCore`]: block::BlockRngCore
209pub trait CryptoRng {}
210
211/// A random number generator that can be explicitly seeded.
212///
213/// This trait encapsulates the low-level functionality common to all
214/// pseudo-random number generators (PRNGs, or algorithmic generators).
215///
216/// [`rand`]: https://docs.rs/rand
217pub trait SeedableRng: Sized {
218 /// Seed type, which is restricted to types mutably-dereferencable as `u8`
219 /// arrays (we recommend `[u8; N]` for some `N`).
220 ///
221 /// It is recommended to seed PRNGs with a seed of at least circa 100 bits,
222 /// which means an array of `[u8; 12]` or greater to avoid picking RNGs with
223 /// partially overlapping periods.
224 ///
225 /// For cryptographic RNG's a seed of 256 bits is recommended, `[u8; 32]`.
226 ///
227 ///
228 /// # Implementing `SeedableRng` for RNGs with large seeds
229 ///
230 /// Note that the required traits `core::default::Default` and
231 /// `core::convert::AsMut<u8>` are not implemented for large arrays
232 /// `[u8; N]` with `N` > 32. To be able to implement the traits required by
233 /// `SeedableRng` for RNGs with such large seeds, the newtype pattern can be
234 /// used:
235 ///
236 /// ```
237 /// use rand_core::SeedableRng;
238 ///
239 /// const N: usize = 64;
240 /// pub struct MyRngSeed(pub [u8; N]);
241 /// pub struct MyRng(MyRngSeed);
242 ///
243 /// impl Default for MyRngSeed {
244 /// fn default() -> MyRngSeed {
245 /// MyRngSeed([0; N])
246 /// }
247 /// }
248 ///
249 /// impl AsMut<[u8]> for MyRngSeed {
250 /// fn as_mut(&mut self) -> &mut [u8] {
251 /// &mut self.0
252 /// }
253 /// }
254 ///
255 /// impl SeedableRng for MyRng {
256 /// type Seed = MyRngSeed;
257 ///
258 /// fn from_seed(seed: MyRngSeed) -> MyRng {
259 /// MyRng(seed)
260 /// }
261 /// }
262 /// ```
263 type Seed: Sized + Default + AsMut<[u8]>;
264
265 /// Create a new PRNG using the given seed.
266 ///
267 /// PRNG implementations are allowed to assume that bits in the seed are
268 /// well distributed. That means usually that the number of one and zero
269 /// bits are roughly equal, and values like 0, 1 and (size - 1) are unlikely.
270 /// Note that many non-cryptographic PRNGs will show poor quality output
271 /// if this is not adhered to. If you wish to seed from simple numbers, use
272 /// `seed_from_u64` instead.
273 ///
274 /// All PRNG implementations should be reproducible unless otherwise noted:
275 /// given a fixed `seed`, the same sequence of output should be produced
276 /// on all runs, library versions and architectures (e.g. check endianness).
277 /// Any "value-breaking" changes to the generator should require bumping at
278 /// least the minor version and documentation of the change.
279 ///
280 /// It is not required that this function yield the same state as a
281 /// reference implementation of the PRNG given equivalent seed; if necessary
282 /// another constructor replicating behaviour from a reference
283 /// implementation can be added.
284 ///
285 /// PRNG implementations should make sure `from_seed` never panics. In the
286 /// case that some special values (like an all zero seed) are not viable
287 /// seeds it is preferable to map these to alternative constant value(s),
288 /// for example `0xBAD5EEDu32` or `0x0DDB1A5E5BAD5EEDu64` ("odd biases? bad
289 /// seed"). This is assuming only a small number of values must be rejected.
290 fn from_seed(seed: Self::Seed) -> Self;
291
292 /// Create a new PRNG using a `u64` seed.
293 ///
294 /// This is a convenience-wrapper around `from_seed` to allow construction
295 /// of any `SeedableRng` from a simple `u64` value. It is designed such that
296 /// low Hamming Weight numbers like 0 and 1 can be used and should still
297 /// result in good, independent seeds to the PRNG which is returned.
298 ///
299 /// This **is not suitable for cryptography**, as should be clear given that
300 /// the input size is only 64 bits.
301 ///
302 /// Implementations for PRNGs *may* provide their own implementations of
303 /// this function, but the default implementation should be good enough for
304 /// all purposes. *Changing* the implementation of this function should be
305 /// considered a value-breaking change.
306 fn seed_from_u64(mut state: u64) -> Self {
307 // We use PCG32 to generate a u32 sequence, and copy to the seed
308 fn pcg32(state: &mut u64) -> [u8; 4] {
309 const MUL: u64 = 6364136223846793005;
310 const INC: u64 = 11634580027462260723;
311
312 // We advance the state first (to get away from the input value,
313 // in case it has low Hamming Weight).
314 *state = state.wrapping_mul(MUL).wrapping_add(INC);
315 let state = *state;
316
317 // Use PCG output function with to_le to generate x:
318 let xorshifted = (((state >> 18) ^ state) >> 27) as u32;
319 let rot = (state >> 59) as u32;
320 let x = xorshifted.rotate_right(rot);
321 x.to_le_bytes()
322 }
323
324 let mut seed = Self::Seed::default();
325 let mut iter = seed.as_mut().chunks_exact_mut(4);
326 for chunk in &mut iter {
327 chunk.copy_from_slice(&pcg32(&mut state));
328 }
329 let rem = iter.into_remainder();
330 if !rem.is_empty() {
331 rem.copy_from_slice(&pcg32(&mut state)[..rem.len()]);
332 }
333
334 Self::from_seed(seed)
335 }
336
337 /// Create a new PRNG seeded from another `Rng`.
338 ///
339 /// This may be useful when needing to rapidly seed many PRNGs from a master
340 /// PRNG, and to allow forking of PRNGs. It may be considered deterministic.
341 ///
342 /// The master PRNG should be at least as high quality as the child PRNGs.
343 /// When seeding non-cryptographic child PRNGs, we recommend using a
344 /// different algorithm for the master PRNG (ideally a CSPRNG) to avoid
345 /// correlations between the child PRNGs. If this is not possible (e.g.
346 /// forking using small non-crypto PRNGs) ensure that your PRNG has a good
347 /// mixing function on the output or consider use of a hash function with
348 /// `from_seed`.
349 ///
350 /// Note that seeding `XorShiftRng` from another `XorShiftRng` provides an
351 /// extreme example of what can go wrong: the new PRNG will be a clone
352 /// of the parent.
353 ///
354 /// PRNG implementations are allowed to assume that a good RNG is provided
355 /// for seeding, and that it is cryptographically secure when appropriate.
356 /// As of `rand` 0.7 / `rand_core` 0.5, implementations overriding this
357 /// method should ensure the implementation satisfies reproducibility
358 /// (in prior versions this was not required).
359 ///
360 /// [`rand`]: https://docs.rs/rand
361 fn from_rng<R: RngCore>(mut rng: R) -> Result<Self, Error> {
362 let mut seed = Self::Seed::default();
363 rng.try_fill_bytes(seed.as_mut())?;
364 Ok(Self::from_seed(seed))
365 }
366
367 /// Creates a new instance of the RNG seeded via [`getrandom`].
368 ///
369 /// This method is the recommended way to construct non-deterministic PRNGs
370 /// since it is convenient and secure.
371 ///
372 /// In case the overhead of using [`getrandom`] to seed *many* PRNGs is an
373 /// issue, one may prefer to seed from a local PRNG, e.g.
374 /// `from_rng(thread_rng()).unwrap()`.
375 ///
376 /// # Panics
377 ///
378 /// If [`getrandom`] is unable to provide secure entropy this method will panic.
379 ///
380 /// [`getrandom`]: https://docs.rs/getrandom
381 #[cfg(feature = "getrandom")]
382 #[cfg_attr(doc_cfg, doc(cfg(feature = "getrandom")))]
383 fn from_entropy() -> Self {
384 let mut seed = Self::Seed::default();
385 if let Err(err) = getrandom::getrandom(seed.as_mut()) {
386 panic!("from_entropy failed: {}", err);
387 }
388 Self::from_seed(seed)
389 }
390}
391
392// Implement `RngCore` for references to an `RngCore`.
393// Force inlining all functions, so that it is up to the `RngCore`
394// implementation and the optimizer to decide on inlining.
395impl<'a, R: RngCore + ?Sized> RngCore for &'a mut R {
396 #[inline(always)]
397 fn next_u32(&mut self) -> u32 {
398 (**self).next_u32()
399 }
400
401 #[inline(always)]
402 fn next_u64(&mut self) -> u64 {
403 (**self).next_u64()
404 }
405
406 #[inline(always)]
407 fn fill_bytes(&mut self, dest: &mut [u8]) {
408 (**self).fill_bytes(dest)
409 }
410
411 #[inline(always)]
412 fn try_fill_bytes(&mut self, dest: &mut [u8]) -> Result<(), Error> {
413 (**self).try_fill_bytes(dest)
414 }
415}
416
417// Implement `RngCore` for boxed references to an `RngCore`.
418// Force inlining all functions, so that it is up to the `RngCore`
419// implementation and the optimizer to decide on inlining.
420#[cfg(feature = "alloc")]
421impl<R: RngCore + ?Sized> RngCore for Box<R> {
422 #[inline(always)]
423 fn next_u32(&mut self) -> u32 {
424 (**self).next_u32()
425 }
426
427 #[inline(always)]
428 fn next_u64(&mut self) -> u64 {
429 (**self).next_u64()
430 }
431
432 #[inline(always)]
433 fn fill_bytes(&mut self, dest: &mut [u8]) {
434 (**self).fill_bytes(dest)
435 }
436
437 #[inline(always)]
438 fn try_fill_bytes(&mut self, dest: &mut [u8]) -> Result<(), Error> {
439 (**self).try_fill_bytes(dest)
440 }
441}
442
443#[cfg(feature = "std")]
444impl std::io::Read for dyn RngCore {
445 fn read(&mut self, buf: &mut [u8]) -> Result<usize, std::io::Error> {
446 self.try_fill_bytes(buf)?;
447 Ok(buf.len())
448 }
449}
450
451// Implement `CryptoRng` for references to an `CryptoRng`.
452impl<'a, R: CryptoRng + ?Sized> CryptoRng for &'a mut R {}
453
454// Implement `CryptoRng` for boxed references to an `CryptoRng`.
455#[cfg(feature = "alloc")]
456impl<R: CryptoRng + ?Sized> CryptoRng for Box<R> {}
457
458#[cfg(test)]
459mod test {
460 use super::*;
461
462 #[test]
463 fn test_seed_from_u64() {
464 struct SeedableNum(u64);
465 impl SeedableRng for SeedableNum {
466 type Seed = [u8; 8];
467
468 fn from_seed(seed: Self::Seed) -> Self {
469 let mut x = [0u64; 1];
470 le::read_u64_into(&seed, &mut x);
471 SeedableNum(x[0])
472 }
473 }
474
475 const N: usize = 8;
476 const SEEDS: [u64; N] = [0u64, 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 16, -1i64 as u64];
477 let mut results = [0u64; N];
478 for (i, seed) in SEEDS.iter().enumerate() {
479 let SeedableNum(x) = SeedableNum::seed_from_u64(*seed);
480 results[i] = x;
481 }
482
483 for (i1, r1) in results.iter().enumerate() {
484 let weight = r1.count_ones();
485 // This is the binomial distribution B(64, 0.5), so chance of
486 // weight < 20 is binocdf(19, 64, 0.5) = 7.8e-4, and same for
487 // weight > 44.
488 assert!((20..=44).contains(&weight));
489
490 for (i2, r2) in results.iter().enumerate() {
491 if i1 == i2 {
492 continue;
493 }
494 let diff_weight = (r1 ^ r2).count_ones();
495 assert!(diff_weight >= 20);
496 }
497 }
498
499 // value-breakage test:
500 assert_eq!(results[0], 5029875928683246316);
501 }
502}