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libbacktrace crash and os::self_exe_name race condition #21889

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semarie opened this issue Feb 3, 2015 · 11 comments
Closed

libbacktrace crash and os::self_exe_name race condition #21889

semarie opened this issue Feb 3, 2015 · 11 comments
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P-medium Medium priority T-libs-api Relevant to the library API team, which will review and decide on the PR/issue.

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@semarie
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semarie commented Feb 3, 2015

This issue is to report several problems linked:

  • libbacktrace (embeded in every rust-compiled program) is fragile (a bad input could generate a crash, I don't have checked for code-execution at this moment)
  • a race condition exists with os::self_exe_name that could permit to exploit the previous issue by replacing at runtime the binary by a specially crafted elf.

I will first speak about the race, and next about libbacktrace.

First, about os::self_exe_name: it is a function that return an Option about the running binary (the filepath to the binary used for launch the running processus).

The function is used in rustc:

  • by librustc to infer the default sysroot directory (rustc and rustdoc use it)
  • by libbacktrace under bsd system for gets the binary symbols
    (but note that for others platforms, libbacktrace obtain symbols by itself using similar method than os::self_exe_name, so there is the same problem)
  • by severals tests

The implementation (sys::os::load_self) is platform dependant:

  • freebsd: sysctl()
  • dragonfly: readlink(/proc)
  • linux, android: readlink(/proc)
  • macos, ios: _NSGetExecutablePath()
  • windows: GetModuleFileNameW()

Just returning a filepath is subject to race condition for many usages. The libbacktrace usage is one of them.

libbacktrace is initialized on sys::backtrace::print() call (so not at the beginning of the processus). This function is called by sys::backtrace::write(). And on panic, a backtrace is showed if RUST_BACKTRACE environment is setted.

So, when a panic occurs, libbacktrace will read the previously obtained filepath (from os::self_exe_name or by itself). It will open this filepath, parse the ELF structure, search for symbols and addresses... and do all the thing it need for print a pretty backtrace.

The problem is libbacktrace seems not robust enought for specially crafted ELF. I have started to test it with afl-fuzzer, and it reports severals crashs (that may or not be suceptible to produce code-execution).

As libbacktrace is embeded in (near to) every rust-compiled programs, it could be a dangerous thing.

To successfully exploit it, the following conditions are required:

  • run libbacktrace code:
    • RUST_BACKTRACE environment variable to be setted
    • trigger a panic in running process
  • have libbacktrace read a crafted-elf:
    • replace the file of the running program by another one after the start of the program, and before the panic

The conditions are relatively high for simple exploitation, but as it is a problem present in (near to) every rust-compiled code, some attention should be need.

@huonw
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huonw commented Feb 3, 2015

The possibility of code-execution seems worth nominating, however, it seems to me that you're likely to be pwned already if an attacker can modify the binary being run (on the other hand, maybe the problem described here can be exploited in other ways).

@semarie
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semarie commented Feb 3, 2015

It is heavily depending of the context, I am agreed. But it is a problem in every compiled program, not just in rustc.
And it is not possible to ensure the safetly of use of every rust-compiled-program.

As example, it could be possible to consider https://play.rust-lang.org/:

  • it is possible to call os::setenv("RUST_BACKTRACE", "1")
  • it is possible to trigger a panic
    As result, the backtrace code is runned, and the backtrace at the panic!() call will be displayed.

After, I don't known about detail of compilation and execution for this service, and if the race could be exploited to achieve code-execution.

@huonw
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huonw commented Feb 3, 2015

Yes, but it seems that the only way to exploit this is to either cause self_exe_name to point to some new file (I imagine this isn't possible on most platforms?), or to actually modify the file pointed to by self_exe_name(). The latter is the case I was referring to: if the attacker can change the executable itself on disk, you've likely got deeper problems than unsafety in libbacktrace.

@semarie
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semarie commented Feb 3, 2015

I'm not able to test every platform, and as said the exploitation possibility is dependent of the context.

A locally installed program will not be vulnerable to this kind of problem (or, as you said, without deeper problems).
I was more thinking about ephemerals binaries, that are more exposed.

Some notes about several implementations:

  • Linux: basically a readlink("/proc/self/exe")
    They should be safe, the content seems to be valid or absent: it don't point to replaced binary and the system don't permit modification a a running binary.
  • FreeBSD: use the value returned by sysctl()
    Same conclusion than for Linux.
  • DragonFly: same method as Linux (but using "/proc/curproc/file")
    If the binary is moved, the link follow it. But if it is deleted, it seems the link could point to a new file.
  • OpenBSD: it is the one I wrote, and as OpenBSD don't provide method for obtain the filepath of a running program, it use argv[0] as source of information.
    In a security perspective it is bad as argv[0] could be forged by the parent processus.
  • MacOS or Windows : not tested.

@pnkfelix
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pnkfelix commented Feb 5, 2015

P-high, not 1.0.

@pnkfelix pnkfelix added P-medium Medium priority and removed I-nominated labels Feb 5, 2015
@semarie
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semarie commented Mar 1, 2015

Just a comment about "safety" in my previous comment: the race remains even if the platform is "safe".

For example for Linux, when reading the file /proc/self/exe, you know you read the good file. But here, you dereference the link to obtain a filename, and some time after that you read the file pointed by this filename.

@steveklabnik
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Triage: no change

@brson
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brson commented May 8, 2016

cause self_exe_name to point to some new file (I imagine this isn't possible on most platforms?)

This is easy to do on Unix, since files can be deleted or moved while they are running.

In thinking about how both rustc and rustup use current_exe, it seems like it would be easy to influence what code they run by changing file at that path, particularly with rustup, which will actually execute it during uninstallation.

At the same time, when I think of bugs that could lead attackers to cause a compiler like rustc to execute arbitrary code, I start to think of all the other ways people could influence rustc to execute arbitrary code, and it seems hopeless. If an attacker has local disk access there are unlimited things they could do to cause a compiler to execute anything.

@aturon aturon added the T-libs-api Relevant to the library API team, which will review and decide on the PR/issue. label May 9, 2016
@brson
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brson commented May 9, 2016

The libs team discussed this issue recently and agreed to do two things:

  • Disable libbacktrace in configurations where we know it to be insecure.
  • Update the current_exe docs to be more explicit about the its dangers.

@brson
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brson commented May 9, 2016

An aspect that the libs team didn't consider in the discussion is the behavior of current_exe following symlinks. @semarie suggests it is insecure to do so.

steveklabnik added a commit to steveklabnik/rust that referenced this issue May 9, 2016
sfackler added a commit to sfackler/rust that referenced this issue May 11, 2016
If the path we give to libbacktrace doesn't actually correspond to the
current process, libbacktrace will segfault *at best*.

cc rust-lang#21889
Manishearth added a commit to Manishearth/rust that referenced this issue May 12, 2016
…hton

Don't use env::current_exe with libbacktrace

If the path we give to libbacktrace doesn't actually correspond to the
current process, libbacktrace will segfault *at best*.

cc rust-lang#21889

r? @alexcrichton
cc @semarie
sfackler added a commit to sfackler/rust that referenced this issue May 12, 2016
If the path we give to libbacktrace doesn't actually correspond to the
current process, libbacktrace will segfault *at best*.

cc rust-lang#21889
eddyb added a commit to eddyb/rust that referenced this issue May 13, 2016
…hton

Don't use env::current_exe with libbacktrace

If the path we give to libbacktrace doesn't actually correspond to the
current process, libbacktrace will segfault *at best*.

cc rust-lang#21889

r? @alexcrichton
cc @semarie
Manishearth added a commit to Manishearth/rust that referenced this issue May 14, 2016
…hton

Don't use env::current_exe with libbacktrace

If the path we give to libbacktrace doesn't actually correspond to the
current process, libbacktrace will segfault *at best*.

cc rust-lang#21889

r? @alexcrichton
cc @semarie
alexcrichton pushed a commit to alexcrichton/rust that referenced this issue May 17, 2016
If the path we give to libbacktrace doesn't actually correspond to the
current process, libbacktrace will segfault *at best*.

cc rust-lang#21889
bors added a commit that referenced this issue Jul 20, 2016
Add some warnings to std::env::current_exe

/cc #21889 @rust-lang/libs @semarie

I started writing this up. I'm not sure if we want to go into other things and in what depth; we don't currently have a lot of security-specific documentation to model after.

Thoughts?
@alexcrichton
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Ah this was handled awhile back, so closing.

alexcrichton added a commit to alexcrichton/rust that referenced this issue Jul 17, 2020
This commit is a proof-of-concept for switching the standard library's
backtrace symbolication mechanism on most platforms from libbacktrace to
gimli. The standard library's support for `RUST_BACKTRACE=1` requires
in-process parsing of object files and DWARF debug information to
interpret it and print the filename/line number of stack frames as part
of a backtrace.

Historically this support in the standard library has come from a
library called "libbacktrace". The libbacktrace library seems to have
been extracted from gcc at some point and is written in C. We've had a
lot of issues with libbacktrace over time, unfortunately, though. The
library does not appear to be actively maintained since we've had
patches sit for months-to-years without comments. We have discovered a
good number of soundness issues with the library itself, both when
parsing valid DWARF as well as invalid DWARF. This is enough of an issue
that the libs team has previously decided that we cannot feed untrusted
inputs to libbacktrace. This also doesn't take into account the
portability of libbacktrace which has been difficult to manage and
maintain over time. While possible there are lots of exceptions and it's
the main C dependency of the standard library right now.

For years it's been the desire to switch over to a Rust-based solution
for symbolicating backtraces. It's been assumed that we'll be using the
Gimli family of crates for this purpose, which are targeted at safely
and efficiently parsing DWARF debug information. I've been working
recently to shore up the Gimli support in the `backtrace` crate. As of a
few weeks ago the `backtrace` crate, by default, uses Gimli when loaded
from crates.io. This transition has gone well enough that I figured it
was time to start talking seriously about this change to the standard
library.

This commit is a preview of what's probably the best way to integrate
the `backtrace` crate into the standard library with the Gimli feature
turned on. While today it's used as a crates.io dependency, this commit
switches the `backtrace` crate to a submodule of this repository which
will need to be updated manually. This is not done lightly, but is
thought to be the best solution. The primary reason for this is that the
`backtrace` crate needs to do some pretty nontrivial filesystem
interactions to locate debug information. Working without `std::fs` is
not an option, and while it might be possible to do some sort of
trait-based solution when prototyped it was found to be too unergonomic.
Using a submodule allows the `backtrace` crate to build as a submodule
of the `std` crate itself, enabling it to use `std::fs` and such.

Otherwise this adds new dependencies to the standard library. This step
requires extra attention because this means that these crates are now
going to be included with all Rust programs by default. It's important
to note, however, that we're already shipping libbacktrace with all Rust
programs by default and it has a bunch of C code implementing all of
this internally anyway, so we're basically already switching
already-shipping functionality to Rust from C.

* `object` - this crate is used to parse object file headers and
  contents. Very low-level support is used from this crate and almost
  all of it is disabled. Largely we're just using struct definitions as
  well as convenience methods internally to read bytes and such.

* `addr2line` - this is the main meat of the implementation for
  symbolication. This crate depends on `gimli` for DWARF parsing and
  then provides interfaces needed by the `backtrace` crate to turn an
  address into a filename / line number. This crate is actually pretty
  small (fits in a single file almost!) and mirrors most of what
  `dwarf.c` does for libbacktrace.

* `miniz_oxide` - the libbacktrace crate transparently handles
  compressed debug information which is compressed with zlib. This crate
  is used to decompress compressed debug sections.

* `gimli` - not actually used directly, but a dependency of `addr2line`.

* `adler32`- not used directly either, but a dependency of
  `miniz_oxide`.

The goal of this change is to improve the safety of backtrace
symbolication in the standard library, especially in the face of
possibly malformed DWARF debug information. Even to this day we're still
seeing segfaults in libbacktrace which could possibly become security
vulnerabilities. This change should almost entirely eliminate this
possibility whilc also paving the way forward to adding more features
like split debug information.

Some references for those interested are:

* Original addition of libbacktrace - rust-lang#12602
* OOM with libbacktrace - rust-lang#24231
* Backtrace failure due to use of uninitialized value - rust-lang#28447
* Possibility to feed untrusted data to libbacktrace - rust-lang#21889
* Soundness fix for libbacktrace - rust-lang#33729
* Crash in libbacktrace - rust-lang#39468
* Support for macOS, never merged - ianlancetaylor/libbacktrace#2
* Performance issues with libbacktrace - rust-lang#29293, rust-lang#37477
* Update procedure is quite complicated due to how many patches we
  need to carry - rust-lang#50955
* Libbacktrace doesn't work on MinGW with dynamic libs - rust-lang#71060
* Segfault in libbacktrace on macOS - rust-lang#71397

Switching to Rust will not make us immune to all of these issues. The
crashes are expected to go away, but correctness and performance may
still have bugs arise. The gimli and `backtrace` crates, however, are
actively maintained unlike libbacktrace, so this should enable us to at
least efficiently apply fixes as situations come up.
bors added a commit to rust-lang-ci/rust that referenced this issue Jul 18, 2020
…Simulacrum

std: Switch from libbacktrace to gimli

This commit is a proof-of-concept for switching the standard library's
backtrace symbolication mechanism on most platforms from libbacktrace to
gimli. The standard library's support for `RUST_BACKTRACE=1` requires
in-process parsing of object files and DWARF debug information to
interpret it and print the filename/line number of stack frames as part
of a backtrace.

Historically this support in the standard library has come from a
library called "libbacktrace". The libbacktrace library seems to have
been extracted from gcc at some point and is written in C. We've had a
lot of issues with libbacktrace over time, unfortunately, though. The
library does not appear to be actively maintained since we've had
patches sit for months-to-years without comments. We have discovered a
good number of soundness issues with the library itself, both when
parsing valid DWARF as well as invalid DWARF. This is enough of an issue
that the libs team has previously decided that we cannot feed untrusted
inputs to libbacktrace. This also doesn't take into account the
portability of libbacktrace which has been difficult to manage and
maintain over time. While possible there are lots of exceptions and it's
the main C dependency of the standard library right now.

For years it's been the desire to switch over to a Rust-based solution
for symbolicating backtraces. It's been assumed that we'll be using the
Gimli family of crates for this purpose, which are targeted at safely
and efficiently parsing DWARF debug information. I've been working
recently to shore up the Gimli support in the `backtrace` crate. As of a
few weeks ago the `backtrace` crate, by default, uses Gimli when loaded
from crates.io. This transition has gone well enough that I figured it
was time to start talking seriously about this change to the standard
library.

This commit is a preview of what's probably the best way to integrate
the `backtrace` crate into the standard library with the Gimli feature
turned on. While today it's used as a crates.io dependency, this commit
switches the `backtrace` crate to a submodule of this repository which
will need to be updated manually. This is not done lightly, but is
thought to be the best solution. The primary reason for this is that the
`backtrace` crate needs to do some pretty nontrivial filesystem
interactions to locate debug information. Working without `std::fs` is
not an option, and while it might be possible to do some sort of
trait-based solution when prototyped it was found to be too unergonomic.
Using a submodule allows the `backtrace` crate to build as a submodule
of the `std` crate itself, enabling it to use `std::fs` and such.

Otherwise this adds new dependencies to the standard library. This step
requires extra attention because this means that these crates are now
going to be included with all Rust programs by default. It's important
to note, however, that we're already shipping libbacktrace with all Rust
programs by default and it has a bunch of C code implementing all of
this internally anyway, so we're basically already switching
already-shipping functionality to Rust from C.

* `object` - this crate is used to parse object file headers and
  contents. Very low-level support is used from this crate and almost
  all of it is disabled. Largely we're just using struct definitions as
  well as convenience methods internally to read bytes and such.

* `addr2line` - this is the main meat of the implementation for
  symbolication. This crate depends on `gimli` for DWARF parsing and
  then provides interfaces needed by the `backtrace` crate to turn an
  address into a filename / line number. This crate is actually pretty
  small (fits in a single file almost!) and mirrors most of what
  `dwarf.c` does for libbacktrace.

* `miniz_oxide` - the libbacktrace crate transparently handles
  compressed debug information which is compressed with zlib. This crate
  is used to decompress compressed debug sections.

* `gimli` - not actually used directly, but a dependency of `addr2line`.

* `adler32`- not used directly either, but a dependency of
  `miniz_oxide`.

The goal of this change is to improve the safety of backtrace
symbolication in the standard library, especially in the face of
possibly malformed DWARF debug information. Even to this day we're still
seeing segfaults in libbacktrace which could possibly become security
vulnerabilities. This change should almost entirely eliminate this
possibility whilc also paving the way forward to adding more features
like split debug information.

Some references for those interested are:

* Original addition of libbacktrace - rust-lang#12602
* OOM with libbacktrace - rust-lang#24231
* Backtrace failure due to use of uninitialized value - rust-lang#28447
* Possibility to feed untrusted data to libbacktrace - rust-lang#21889
* Soundness fix for libbacktrace - rust-lang#33729
* Crash in libbacktrace - rust-lang#39468
* Support for macOS, never merged - ianlancetaylor/libbacktrace#2
* Performance issues with libbacktrace - rust-lang#29293, rust-lang#37477
* Update procedure is quite complicated due to how many patches we
  need to carry - rust-lang#50955
* Libbacktrace doesn't work on MinGW with dynamic libs - rust-lang#71060
* Segfault in libbacktrace on macOS - rust-lang#71397

Switching to Rust will not make us immune to all of these issues. The
crashes are expected to go away, but correctness and performance may
still have bugs arise. The gimli and `backtrace` crates, however, are
actively maintained unlike libbacktrace, so this should enable us to at
least efficiently apply fixes as situations come up.

---

I want to note that my purpose for creating a PR here is to start a conversation about this. I think that all the various pieces are in place that this is compelling enough that I think this transition should be talked about seriously. There are a number of items which still need to be addressed before actually merging this PR, however:

* [ ] `gimli` needs to be published to crates.io
* [ ] `addr2line` needs a publish
* [ ] `miniz_oxide` needs a publish
* [ ] Tests probably shouldn't recommend the `gimli` crate's traits for implementing
* [ ] The `backtrace` crate's branch changes need to be merged to the master branch (rust-lang/backtrace-rs#349)
* [ ] The support for `libbacktrace` on some platforms needs to be audited to see if we should support more strategies in the gimli implementation - rust-lang/backtrace-rs#325, rust-lang/backtrace-rs#326, rust-lang/backtrace-rs#350, rust-lang/backtrace-rs#351

Most of the merging/publishing I'm not actively pushing on right now. It's a bit wonky for crates to support libstd so I'm holding off on pulling the trigger everywhere until there's a bit more discussion about how to go through with this. Namely rust-lang/backtrace-rs#349 I'm going to hold off merging until we decide to go through with the submodule strategy.

In any case this is a pretty major change, so I suspect that the compiler team is likely going to be interested in this. I don't mean to force changes by dumping a bunch of code by any means. Integration of external crates into the standard library is so difficult I wanted to have a proof-of-concept to review while talking about whether to do this at all (hence the PR), but I'm more than happy to follow any processes needed to merge this. I must admit though that I'm not entirely sure myself at this time what the process would be to decide to merge this, so I'm hoping others can help me figure that out!
alexcrichton added a commit to alexcrichton/rust that referenced this issue Jul 28, 2020
This commit is a proof-of-concept for switching the standard library's
backtrace symbolication mechanism on most platforms from libbacktrace to
gimli. The standard library's support for `RUST_BACKTRACE=1` requires
in-process parsing of object files and DWARF debug information to
interpret it and print the filename/line number of stack frames as part
of a backtrace.

Historically this support in the standard library has come from a
library called "libbacktrace". The libbacktrace library seems to have
been extracted from gcc at some point and is written in C. We've had a
lot of issues with libbacktrace over time, unfortunately, though. The
library does not appear to be actively maintained since we've had
patches sit for months-to-years without comments. We have discovered a
good number of soundness issues with the library itself, both when
parsing valid DWARF as well as invalid DWARF. This is enough of an issue
that the libs team has previously decided that we cannot feed untrusted
inputs to libbacktrace. This also doesn't take into account the
portability of libbacktrace which has been difficult to manage and
maintain over time. While possible there are lots of exceptions and it's
the main C dependency of the standard library right now.

For years it's been the desire to switch over to a Rust-based solution
for symbolicating backtraces. It's been assumed that we'll be using the
Gimli family of crates for this purpose, which are targeted at safely
and efficiently parsing DWARF debug information. I've been working
recently to shore up the Gimli support in the `backtrace` crate. As of a
few weeks ago the `backtrace` crate, by default, uses Gimli when loaded
from crates.io. This transition has gone well enough that I figured it
was time to start talking seriously about this change to the standard
library.

This commit is a preview of what's probably the best way to integrate
the `backtrace` crate into the standard library with the Gimli feature
turned on. While today it's used as a crates.io dependency, this commit
switches the `backtrace` crate to a submodule of this repository which
will need to be updated manually. This is not done lightly, but is
thought to be the best solution. The primary reason for this is that the
`backtrace` crate needs to do some pretty nontrivial filesystem
interactions to locate debug information. Working without `std::fs` is
not an option, and while it might be possible to do some sort of
trait-based solution when prototyped it was found to be too unergonomic.
Using a submodule allows the `backtrace` crate to build as a submodule
of the `std` crate itself, enabling it to use `std::fs` and such.

Otherwise this adds new dependencies to the standard library. This step
requires extra attention because this means that these crates are now
going to be included with all Rust programs by default. It's important
to note, however, that we're already shipping libbacktrace with all Rust
programs by default and it has a bunch of C code implementing all of
this internally anyway, so we're basically already switching
already-shipping functionality to Rust from C.

* `object` - this crate is used to parse object file headers and
  contents. Very low-level support is used from this crate and almost
  all of it is disabled. Largely we're just using struct definitions as
  well as convenience methods internally to read bytes and such.

* `addr2line` - this is the main meat of the implementation for
  symbolication. This crate depends on `gimli` for DWARF parsing and
  then provides interfaces needed by the `backtrace` crate to turn an
  address into a filename / line number. This crate is actually pretty
  small (fits in a single file almost!) and mirrors most of what
  `dwarf.c` does for libbacktrace.

* `miniz_oxide` - the libbacktrace crate transparently handles
  compressed debug information which is compressed with zlib. This crate
  is used to decompress compressed debug sections.

* `gimli` - not actually used directly, but a dependency of `addr2line`.

* `adler32`- not used directly either, but a dependency of
  `miniz_oxide`.

The goal of this change is to improve the safety of backtrace
symbolication in the standard library, especially in the face of
possibly malformed DWARF debug information. Even to this day we're still
seeing segfaults in libbacktrace which could possibly become security
vulnerabilities. This change should almost entirely eliminate this
possibility whilc also paving the way forward to adding more features
like split debug information.

Some references for those interested are:

* Original addition of libbacktrace - rust-lang#12602
* OOM with libbacktrace - rust-lang#24231
* Backtrace failure due to use of uninitialized value - rust-lang#28447
* Possibility to feed untrusted data to libbacktrace - rust-lang#21889
* Soundness fix for libbacktrace - rust-lang#33729
* Crash in libbacktrace - rust-lang#39468
* Support for macOS, never merged - ianlancetaylor/libbacktrace#2
* Performance issues with libbacktrace - rust-lang#29293, rust-lang#37477
* Update procedure is quite complicated due to how many patches we
  need to carry - rust-lang#50955
* Libbacktrace doesn't work on MinGW with dynamic libs - rust-lang#71060
* Segfault in libbacktrace on macOS - rust-lang#71397

Switching to Rust will not make us immune to all of these issues. The
crashes are expected to go away, but correctness and performance may
still have bugs arise. The gimli and `backtrace` crates, however, are
actively maintained unlike libbacktrace, so this should enable us to at
least efficiently apply fixes as situations come up.
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