Re: [PATCH] API for true Random Number Generators to add entropy (2.6.11)

Jeff Garzik
2005-03-24T20:54:02Z

Evgeniy Polyakov wrote:
> hw_random can not and will not support HIFN, freescale, ixp and
> great majority of the existing and future HW crypto devices.
> I mean that userspace daemon(or any other one) which want to contribute
> entropy
> should use crypto framwork to obtain all it's data, but not different
> access methods for each separate driver.

I don't mean to imply that hw_random should be modified to support all
hardware RNGs. Separate drivers are perfectly OK with me. I would even
take patches that split up hw_random into an RNG registration interface,
and AMD/Intel/VIA support modules.

The part I disagree with is direct kernel->kernel RNG usage, with no
intervening checks.

This has all been discussed years ago, when the FIPS testing was in the
kernel (and then removed, per consensus).

Jeff