Windows Setup

It's possible to use cargo-fuzz to fuzz Rust code on Windows. This guide aims to shed some light on how you can get cargo-fuzz up and running on a Windows system.

1. Install Visual Studio

Make sure you have Visual Studio installed; there are a number of features that need to be installed alongside it in order for the fuzzing code to build. Follow this guide to install the "Visual Studio Installer". Use it to make sure you have the following individual components installed:

  • MSVC v143 - VS 2022 C++ x64/x86 build tools
    • (This was the latest at the time of writing - you may install a newer version if you're reading this at a later point in time!)
  • C++ AddressSanitizer

2. Set up PowerShell

Certain directories must be on the PowerShell system $env:PATH in order for builds to succeed and for certain cargo-fuzz commands to work. The Developer PowerShell for VS 2022 and/or x64 Native Tools Command Prompt for VS 2022 may have these directories already on the path. If they don't, or you are using a different PowerShell, make sure these directories are added to the shell's $env:PATH:

  • C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\Community\VC\Tools\MSVC\<VERSION_NUMBER>\bin\Hostx86\64
    • Where <VERSION_NUMBER> is the MSVC version you have installed.
  • (Optional) C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Debuggers\x64
    • Add this if you want to use the Windows Debugger to debug your fuzzing targets.

These paths may very slightly on your machine, but the main idea is that your shell needs to be able to find the MSVC-based AddressSanitizer DLL as well as the other MSVC-related binaries.