From: Russ Dill <Russ.Dill@asu.edu>
To: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org
Subject: Re: Why does reading from /dev/urandom deplete entropy so much?
Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2007 18:49:40 +0000 (UTC) [thread overview]
Message-ID: <loom.20071204T184742-19@post.gmane.org> (raw)
In-Reply-To: 20071204114125.GA17310@torres.zugschlus.de
Marc Haber <mh+linux-kernel <at> zugschlus.de> writes:
>
> While debugging Exim4's GnuTLS interface, I recently found out that
> reading from /dev/urandom depletes entropy as much as reading from
> /dev/random would. This has somehow surprised me since I have always
> believed that /dev/urandom has lower quality entropy than /dev/random,
> but lots of it.
>
> This also means that I can "sabotage" applications reading from
> /dev/random just by continuously reading from /dev/urandom, even not
> meaning to do any harm.
An application either needs to be cryptographically secure, or it doesn't. If it
doesn't, then just use /dev/urandom to seed a PRNG.
prev parent reply other threads:[~2007-12-04 19:13 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 77+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2007-12-04 11:41 Why does reading from /dev/urandom deplete entropy so much? Marc Haber
2007-12-04 14:16 ` Eric Dumazet
2007-12-04 16:18 ` Adrian Bunk
2007-12-04 16:47 ` Alan Cox
2007-12-04 18:17 ` Eric Dumazet
2007-12-05 21:26 ` Matt Mackall
2007-12-06 7:02 ` Eric Dumazet
2007-12-06 16:09 ` Matt Mackall
2007-12-09 12:42 ` Marc Haber
2007-12-09 16:16 ` Matt Mackall
2007-12-10 23:06 ` Marc Haber
2007-12-10 23:35 ` Matt Mackall
2007-12-11 1:34 ` Theodore Tso
2007-12-11 19:46 ` Phillip Susi
2007-12-11 20:02 ` Ray Lee
2007-12-12 5:34 ` David Schwartz
2007-12-04 16:54 ` Ray Lee
2007-12-04 16:55 ` Alan Cox
2007-12-04 18:02 ` Matt Mackall
2007-12-04 19:50 ` Theodore Tso
2007-12-04 20:36 ` Matt Mackall
2007-12-04 20:40 ` Alan Cox
2007-12-04 20:48 ` Mike McGrath
2007-12-04 21:54 ` Matt Mackall
2007-12-04 22:03 ` Theodore Tso
2007-12-04 22:12 ` Mike McGrath
2007-12-04 22:28 ` Matt Mackall
2007-12-04 21:08 ` Matt Mackall
2007-12-04 21:18 ` Mike McGrath
2007-12-04 22:15 ` Matt Mackall
2007-12-04 22:23 ` Mike McGrath
2007-12-04 22:33 ` Matt Mackall
2007-12-05 14:26 ` Mike McGrath
2007-12-05 14:49 ` Theodore Tso
2007-12-08 7:38 ` Jon Masters
2007-12-08 17:32 ` Theodore Tso
2007-12-08 17:33 ` Mike McGrath
2007-12-08 17:49 ` Theodore Tso
2007-12-08 17:54 ` Jon Masters
2007-12-08 18:15 ` Matt Mackall
2007-12-08 18:24 ` Theodore Tso
2007-12-08 19:36 ` entropy gathering (was Re: Why does reading from /dev/urandom deplete entropy so much?) Jeff Garzik
2007-12-08 19:53 ` Matt Mackall
2007-12-08 20:04 ` Jeff Garzik
2007-12-08 20:19 ` Matt Mackall
2007-12-08 21:07 ` Willy Tarreau
2007-12-08 20:31 ` Theodore Tso
2007-12-08 20:47 ` Jeff Garzik
2007-12-08 20:42 ` Willy Tarreau
2007-12-08 23:47 ` Theodore Tso
2007-12-09 1:07 ` Jon Masters
2007-12-08 18:31 ` Why does reading from /dev/urandom deplete entropy so much? Jeff Garzik
2007-12-08 20:26 ` David Schwartz
2007-12-08 17:43 ` Matt Mackall
2007-12-08 17:47 ` Jon Masters
2007-12-08 18:05 ` Theodore Tso
2007-12-08 17:45 ` Jon Masters
2007-12-10 16:37 ` Pavel Machek
2007-12-04 18:01 ` Matt Mackall
2007-12-06 20:08 ` Bill Davidsen
2007-12-05 12:23 ` Marc Haber
2007-12-05 12:29 ` Marc Haber
2007-12-05 13:33 ` Theodore Tso
2007-12-05 15:10 ` Marc Haber
2007-12-06 19:32 ` Bill Davidsen
2007-12-08 22:03 ` Adrian Bunk
2007-12-08 22:10 ` Ismail Dönmez
2007-12-08 23:46 ` Theodore Tso
2007-12-09 5:21 ` Willy Tarreau
2007-12-09 6:52 ` Jon Masters
2007-12-09 6:21 ` Ismail Dönmez
2007-12-09 12:31 ` Theodore Tso
2007-12-09 14:06 ` Ismail Dönmez
2007-12-11 15:42 ` Bill Davidsen
2007-12-20 22:27 ` Marc Haber
2007-12-26 18:27 ` Phillip Susi
2007-12-04 18:49 ` Russ Dill [this message]
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