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Microsoft has announced a strategic initiative to eliminate all C and C++ code from its software portfolio by 2030, aiming to rewrite its codebase in the memory-safe language Rust. The company is leveraging a combination of AI and advanced algorithms to automate the translation of legacy code, with the goal of enabling a single engineer to convert up to one million lines of code in a month. This effort is supported by the development of new internal tools and the recruitment of specialized engineers to drive the transition, as detailed by Microsoft distinguished engineer Galen Hunt.
The move to Rust is motivated by the language's inherent memory safety features, which help prevent vulnerabilities such as out-of-bounds reads, writes, and use-after-free errors—common attack vectors in C and C++ applications. Microsoft’s leadership has publicly advocated for the adoption of memory-safe languages to reduce technical debt and improve software security, aligning with broader industry and governmental calls for safer software development practices.
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Microsoft said it will use AI and algorithmic tooling to automate translation of C and C++ code into Rust at scale, with a stated ambition of enabling one engineer to rewrite one million lines of code per month. The company also noted it has already built infrastructure for large-scale code processing and is hiring engineers to expand these capabilities.
Microsoft announced a long-term initiative to phase out C and C++ across its codebase by 2030 and replace them with Rust to improve security and reliability through memory-safe software development. Multiple reports describe this as a major strategic shift affecting Microsoft's broader software estate.
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Canonical said it has spent roughly three years moving selected low-level Ubuntu components from C to Rust as part of a broader effort to improve memory safety in security-critical code. The company highlighted **Rust rewrites of AppArmor and `snap-confine`**, arguing that replacing unsafe memory handling patterns common in C can reduce vulnerability classes that frequently affect foundational system software. Canonical also said it is investing in **automated C-to-Rust translation** and using AI-assisted techniques to analyze, migrate, and validate code during the transition. The company stressed that automation is being paired with conventional assurance measures, including **testing, fuzzing, and security review**, to harden Ubuntu’s defensive components while modernizing its codebase.
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Google has reported a significant reduction in memory safety vulnerabilities in Android, attributing this improvement to the adoption of the Rust programming language. According to Google, the proportion of memory safety bugs in Android has dropped below 20% for the first time, with Rust code demonstrating a 1000x reduction in vulnerability density compared to C and C++. The transition to Rust has also led to operational benefits, such as a lower rollback rate and faster code review cycles, and Google plans to expand Rust's use to additional components of the Android ecosystem, including the kernel, firmware, and key applications. Security experts emphasize that secure coding should focus on principles like secure by default and secure by design, rather than simply identifying vulnerabilities. The integration of Rust into Android's codebase exemplifies how adopting memory-safe languages can serve as a practical application of these secure coding principles, reducing the burden on developers and improving overall software security. Google's experience also highlights the importance of a defense-in-depth approach, as even memory-safe languages like Rust can have vulnerabilities if unsafe code is used, as demonstrated by the discovery and patching of a buffer overflow in the CrabbyAVIF parser before public release.
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Recent developments in compiler technology are enhancing both the safety and security of code used in critical and regulated environments. The Ferrocene Rust compiler toolchain has achieved IEC 61508 (SIL 2) certification for portions of its core library, enabling the use of memory-safe Rust code in devices that must meet stringent electronic system safety standards. This certification is expected to facilitate the adoption of Rust in industries where reliability and memory safety are paramount, potentially reducing memory-related vulnerabilities that are common in C and C++-based embedded systems. Separately, Trail of Bits has introduced constant-time coding support for LLVM, which will provide compiler-level guarantees to prevent timing side-channel vulnerabilities in cryptographic code. This enhancement, slated for inclusion in LLVM 22, introduces new intrinsics and infrastructure to ensure that compiler optimizations do not inadvertently introduce data-dependent branches that could leak sensitive information. Together, these advancements represent significant progress in making both safety- and security-critical software more robust against common classes of vulnerabilities, particularly in environments where failure or compromise can have severe consequences.
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