From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Return-Path: Received: (majordomo@vger.kernel.org) by vger.kernel.org via listexpand id S1757172Ab3J1QGa (ORCPT ); Mon, 28 Oct 2013 12:06:30 -0400 Received: from out4-smtp.messagingengine.com ([66.111.4.28]:33327 "EHLO out4-smtp.messagingengine.com" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-OK) by vger.kernel.org with ESMTP id S1756532Ab3J1QG0 (ORCPT ); Mon, 28 Oct 2013 12:06:26 -0400 X-Sasl-enc: PbG64rkZw/XIF1EEA2w6+QYqSrl9IhCuhDaWhOKj5CLK 1382976385 Date: Mon, 28 Oct 2013 14:06:23 -0200 From: Henrique de Moraes Holschuh To: Stephan Mueller Cc: "Theodore Ts'o" , sandy harris , linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, linux-crypto@vger.kernel.org Subject: Re: [PATCH] CPU Jitter RNG: inclusion into kernel crypto API and /dev/random Message-ID: <20131028160623.GD15440@khazad-dum.debian.net> References: <2579337.FPgJGgHYdz@tauon> <2049321.gMV6JUDze7@tauon> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <2049321.gMV6JUDze7@tauon> X-GPG-Fingerprint1: 4096R/39CB4807 C467 A717 507B BAFE D3C1 6092 0BD9 E811 39CB 4807 X-GPG-Fingerprint2: 1024D/1CDB0FE3 5422 5C61 F6B7 06FB 7E04 3738 EE25 DE3F 1CDB 0FE3 User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.21 (2010-09-15) Sender: linux-kernel-owner@vger.kernel.org List-ID: X-Mailing-List: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org On Mon, 28 Oct 2013, Stephan Mueller wrote: > If it is accepted that the CPU Jitter RNG delivers entropy, the latter > update may now allow us to get rid of storing the seed file during > shutdown and restoring it during the next boot sequence. That's a 4096-bit safety net (uncredited entropy) which at least Debian shall not remove. I think Debian also dumps some low-entropy-per-bit crap into /dev/random during boot (again, not credited), such as the boot kernel logs. We could increase the density of that entropy a lot using gzip -0 or something like that... is an uncredited low-entropy-per-bit dump into the pool detrimental to its quality? -- "One disk to rule them all, One disk to find them. One disk to bring them all and in the darkness grind them. In the Land of Redmond where the shadows lie." -- The Silicon Valley Tarot Henrique Holschuh