Rust Wrapper

The wolftpm crate provides safe Rust bindings for wolfTPM. The raw FFI is generated with bindgen and kept in the sys module. The rest of the crate is a safe API: functions return Result, TPM handles are released when they go out of scope, and all unsafe stays inside the crate. The crate lives in wrapper/rust/wolftpm in the wolfTPM source tree.

Requirements

• Rust and Cargo, stable, rustc 1.81 or newer.
• A built wolfTPM C library (libwolftpm) and its wolfSSL dependency (libwolfssl). The crate links a prebuilt library. It does not build the C code itself.
• For the tests, a software TPM. wolfTPM's own fwtpm_server works, or any other TPM emulator or software TPM. See fwTPM and SWTPM.

Step 1: Build the C Library

Run these from the wolfTPM repository root:

./autogen.sh
./configure --enable-swtpm --enable-fwtpm
make

This produces src/.libs/libwolftpm. With --enable-fwtpm it also builds the software TPM server at src/fwtpm/fwtpm_server.

Step 2: Build the Crate

cd wrapper/rust/wolftpm
cargo build

The build finds the libraries in this order:

1. If WOLFTPM_PREFIX or WOLFSSL_PREFIX are set, it uses $PREFIX/include and $PREFIX/lib of an installed copy.
2. Otherwise it uses the in-tree build: headers from the repo root, libraries from src/.libs. wolfSSL is located with pkg-config, then a local ./wolfssl or a sibling ../wolfssl checkout.

Shared libraries are preferred. Static is used when no shared library is present.

The library is no_std and uses alloc for owned keys, blobs, and output buffers. Bare-metal applications must provide a global allocator. The build script translates Rust cross-compilation targets such as riscv32imac-unknown-none-elf to clang's target spelling when generating the FFI bindings.

The wrapper/rust directory also has a Makefile for the common tasks. After building the C library, make -C wrapper/rust builds, lints, and documents the crate, and make -C wrapper/rust test runs the tests (a software TPM must be listening on localhost:2321).

Step 3: Run the Tests

The integration tests talk to a software TPM over a socket. They are behind the swtpm-tests feature, so a plain cargo test does not need a running server.

Start a server on port 2321 (from the repo root):

./src/fwtpm/fwtpm_server --clear --port 2321 --platform-port 2322 &

Run the tests against it:

cd wrapper/rust/wolftpm
TPM2_SWTPM_HOST=localhost TPM2_SWTPM_PORT=2321 \
    cargo test --features swtpm-tests -- --test-threads=1

Use --test-threads=1 because the software TPM serves one client at a time.

Run a single test file, for example the signing tests:

cargo test --features swtpm-tests --test sign -- --test-threads=1

The default host and port are localhost:2321, so the environment variables can be omitted when the server is on that address.

What the Tests Check

Each file under tests/ exercises one area against the software TPM:

File	Checks
tests/smoke.rs	Random bytes differ across draws, and a primary key loads.
tests/keys.rs	Create and load a child key, blob round-trip, short-auth blob round-trip, and an auth-protected parent.
tests/sign.rs	Sign a digest and verify it, and reject a tampered signature.
tests/seal.rs	Seal a secret and unseal it, and fail with the wrong auth.
tests/seal_pcr.rs	PCR-bound seal and unseal, unseal fails after a PCR changes, and an invalid PCR selection is rejected.
tests/nv.rs	Define an NV index, write and read it, then delete it.
tests/pcr.rs	Read a PCR, extend it, and confirm the value changed.
tests/certify.rs	An attestation key (ECC and RSA) certifies another key.
tests/quote.rs	Quote PCRs with an ECC and RSA AIK, and reject a bad PCR selection.
tests/credential.rs	MakeCredential then ActivateCredential round-trip.
tests/ek.rs	Create the endorsement key and export its public part.
tests/persist.rs	Persist a key, read it back, and evict it.
tests/rsa.rs	RSA-OAEP encrypt and decrypt, and an explicit OAEP-SHA1 round-trip.
tests/hmac.rs	Raw-key HMAC and a TPM-resident keyed-hash key HMAC.
tests/caps.rs	Self-test and capability query.
tests/ecdh.rs	ECDH generate then recover the same shared secret.
tests/symmetric.rs	AES-CFB encrypt and decrypt round-trip.
tests/import.rs	Import an external RSA and ECC private key.

Example Test Output

running 2 tests
test certify_with_ecc_aik ... ok
test certify_with_rsa_aik ... ok
test result: ok. 2 passed; 0 failed; 0 ignored

running 4 tests
test create_and_load_child ... ok
test key_blob_roundtrip_then_load ... ok
test key_blob_roundtrip_preserves_short_auth ... ok
test auth_protected_parent_loads_child ... ok
test result: ok. 4 passed; 0 failed; 0 ignored

running 2 tests
test sign_then_verify ... ok
test verify_rejects_tampered_signature ... ok
test result: ok. 2 passed; 0 failed; 0 ignored

running 2 tests
test rsa_oaep_roundtrip ... ok
test rsa_oaep_sha1_roundtrip ... ok
test result: ok. 2 passed; 0 failed; 0 ignored

running 1 test
test make_and_activate_credential ... ok
test result: ok. 1 passed; 0 failed; 0 ignored

Step 4: Run the Examples

There are two examples. The first is minimal:

cargo run --example create_primary

It opens the software TPM, reads random bytes, and creates an RSA and an ECC storage root key.

The second runs the whole API in one pass:

cargo run --example full_flow

Expected output. The random bytes and handle values differ between runs:

device            connected to software TPM
get_random        a91b37b1838d002453f1632ba2c0adbc
create_primary    ECC SRK handle 0x80000000
create_and_load   signing key handle 0x80000001
sign/verify       64 byte signature, verified
seal/unseal       recovered "my secret"
key blob          257 bytes, reloaded as handle 0x80000002
pcr read/extend   PCR16 000000000000.. -> debb3e7acfff..
nv define/rw      32 bytes at index 0x01500100
certify           157 byte attestation
done              all operations succeeded

If the wolfTPM C library was built with debug output, you will also see verbose TPM2_* traces from the library. A normal build prints only the lines above.

Using the Wrapper

use wolftpm::{Device, HashAlg, Hierarchy, KeyAlg, KeyBlob, Template};

fn main() -> Result<(), wolftpm::TpmError> {
    // Connect to a software TPM. Use Device::open() for the platform default.
    let dev = Device::open_swtpm()?;

    // Random bytes from the TPM.
    let mut nonce = [0u8; 32];
    dev.get_random(&mut nonce)?;

    // Storage root key under the owner hierarchy.
    let srk = dev.create_primary(Hierarchy::Owner, KeyAlg::EccP256, None)?;

    // Signing key under the SRK, then sign and verify a digest.
    let signer = dev.create_and_load(&srk, &Template::signing(KeyAlg::EccP256)?, None)?;
    let digest = [0x11u8; 32];
    let sig = signer.sign_hash(&digest)?;
    signer.verify_hash(&digest, &sig)?;

    // Seal a secret to the TPM and read it back.
    let sealed = dev.seal(&srk, b"my secret", None)?;
    let _secret = dev.unseal(sealed, &srk, None)?;

    // Persist a key as bytes, then load it again. Scope the reloaded key so it
    // releases its TPM handle before more transient objects are created below
    // (many TPMs allow only three transient objects at once).
    let bytes = {
        let blob = dev.create_key(&srk, &Template::signing(KeyAlg::EccP256)?, None)?;
        blob.to_bytes()?
    };
    {
        let restored = KeyBlob::from_bytes(&dev, &bytes)?;
        let _loaded = restored.load(&srk, None)?;
    }

    // Read and extend a PCR.
    let _value = dev.pcr_read(16, HashAlg::Sha256)?;
    dev.pcr_extend(16, HashAlg::Sha256, &[0xAB; 32])?;

    // Define, write, read, and delete an NV index.
    let mut slot = dev.nv_create(0x0150_0100, 32, None)?;
    dev.nv_write(&mut slot, b"metadata", 0)?;
    let mut buf = [0u8; 32];
    dev.nv_read(&mut slot, &mut buf, 0)?;
    dev.nv_delete(0x0150_0100)?;

    // Attest that a key lives in this TPM, signed by an attestation key.
    let aik = dev.create_and_load(&srk, &Template::attestation(KeyAlg::EccP256)?, None)?;
    let _attestation = dev.certify(&signer, &aik, &nonce)?;

    Ok(())
}

Keys and the device release their TPM handles automatically when they drop.

What the Crate Covers

• Device open and cleanup, TPM random numbers, self-test, and capability query.
• Primary and child keys. Templates for storage, signing, attestation, EK, RSA decrypt, keyed-hash HMAC, symmetric AES, and ECDH keys.
• Key blob serialize and load for persistence, and external RSA and ECC key import.
• Persistent key handles: store, read back, and evict.
• Sign and verify.
• RSA-OAEP encrypt and decrypt, including an explicit label hash (SHA-1 for Microsoft enrollment interop).
• Symmetric AES-CFB encrypt and decrypt.
• ECDH key agreement.
• HMAC, both raw-key and with a TPM-resident keyed-hash key.
• Seal and unseal, plain and bound to a PCR policy.
• PCR read and extend.
• NV define, write, read, delete, and certificate read (EK certificate).
• Attestation: certify a key, and quote PCRs.
• Credential activation: MakeCredential and ActivateCredential.

Recovered secrets (unseal, RSA decrypt, ECDH, AES decrypt, credential activation) are returned in a Secret that zeroizes its buffer on drop.

Transport Security

For confidentiality on the TPM transport, start a parameter-encryption session with Device::start_encrypted_session before the secret-bearing operations:

let srk = dev.create_primary(Hierarchy::Owner, KeyAlg::EccP256, None)?;
let _session = dev.start_encrypted_session(&srk)?;  // salted HMAC + AES-CFB
let sealed = dev.seal(&srk, b"secret", None)?;      // command param encrypted
let plain = dev.unseal(sealed, &srk, None)?;        // response param encrypted

While the session is alive its salted HMAC session occupies auth slot 1, so wolfTPM encrypts the sensitive command and response parameters of seal/unseal, RSA and AES encrypt/decrypt, HMAC, NV, ECDH, and key create/load. Only one session is allowed at a time. The attestation commands (certify, quote, activate_credential) need the same auth slot and are refused while a session is active, so drop the session before calling them.

Warning

Without a session, parameters cross the transport in the clear. Either use a session or run over a trusted local transport (the Linux kernel device or a local socket) rather than a remote TPM2_SWTPM_HOST or an observable physical bus.

License

GPLv3, or a commercial wolfSSL license, matching wolfTPM.

See Also

• fwTPM
• SWTPM
• Build Options
• C# Wrapper