Non-constant-time code generation on ARM32 targets
## Summary While the `cmov` crate has a special backend for `aarch64` which uses special CSEL instructions, on 32-bit ARM it uses a portable pure Rust fallback implementation. This implementation uses a combination of bitwise arithmetic and `core::hint::black_box` to attempt to coerce constant-time code generation out of the optimizer, but the implementation in v0.4.3 and earlier failed to do this on 32-bit ARM targets. ## Impact Branch instructions inserted by the LLVM optimizer on 32-bit targets can be leveraged using various microarchitectural sidechannels like cache timing attacks to learn secret information that `cmov` is designed to protect. ## Details The following assembly was emitted when using `Cmov::cmovnz`, a function which implements a conditional move when a provided value is non-zero: ```asm bne .LBB0_2 mvns r3, r3 ``` This includes a branch instruction `bne`: Branch if Not Equal. ## PoC The following code reproduces the issue: ```rust #![no_std] use cmov::Cmov; #[inline(never)] pub fn test_ct_cmov(a: &mut u8, b: u8, c: u8) { a.cmovnz(&b, c); } ``` ## Resolution `cmov` v0.4.4 includes a portable `black_box`-based tactical mitigation for the issue which coerced the compiler into producing the expected codegen, and additionally v0.4.5 added an `asm!` reimplementation of the problematic mask generation function for ARM32 targets which should guarantee that particular function never contains a branch on such targets.
describes (1)
Related CVEs.
| ID | severity | exploitable | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2026-23519US | critical9.8 | — | ||
RustCrypto CMOV provides conditional move CPU intrinsics which are guaranteed on major platforms to execute in constant-time and not be rewritten as branches by the compiler. Prior… | ||||
references
External citations — patches, advisories, analysis.
Advisories like this name the exposed products attackers go after on your perimeter. See what is exposed on your perimeter with a free passive scan.
Free scan