Trustun - User-Space VPN
User-space VPN in Rust exploring secure packet transport, async I/O, and systems-level network programming without kernel modules.
The Problem
The project explores how to move IP traffic securely in user space while keeping deployment simpler than kernel-module-based VPNs. It is a systems-heavy exercise in packet handling, transport design, and performance-sensitive networking.
Solution
Trustun addresses this with a user-space architecture that emphasizes:
- User-space packet transport over UDP
- Async networking architecture in Rust with Tokio
- Authenticated encryption with ChaCha20-Poly1305
- Cross-platform design with minimal runtime assumptions
- Codebase suited for protocol-level debugging and reasoning
Engineering Highlights
- User-space architecture keeps deployment simpler while still exercising low-level packet and transport concerns.
- Async I/O in Rust keeps the implementation focused on performance-sensitive networking without dropping safety.
- The project is intentionally systems-heavy, which makes it a strong proof point for debugging, protocol reasoning, and ownership of complex backend behavior.
Tech Stack
Rust Tokio Cryptography Networking VPN UDP