Messages in this thread |  | | Date | Wed, 15 May 1996 17:16:55 -0400 | From | Robert L Krawitz <> | Subject | Re: CONFIG_RANDOM option for 1.99.2 |
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Date: Wed, 15 May 1996 14:22:28 -0400 From: "Theodore Y. Ts'o" <tytso@mit.edu> Cc: linux-kernel@vger.rutgers.edu
From: Martin Mares <mj@k332.feld.cvut.cz> Date: Wed, 15 May 1996 19:40:38 +0200 (MET DST)
No, I didn't say /dev/random should be repaced by LCG, I said if someone decides to disable /dev/random, there should be a _kernel_ function purely for inside-kernel random number generation (for such cases as the BOOP code).
Yes, but what if the kernel needs high-quality random numbers? Some of the schemes which prevent the sequence-numbering attacks that allow crackers to hijack TCP connections require good random numbers.
What if someone's running in very tight memory (2-4 MB) and for one reason or another doesn't care about crackers (isn't on the net, or just doesn't care about security)? The only feasible thing that the kernel needs good random numbers for is security, and people should have the option to turn that off if the memory and CPU cycles are too critical.
-- Robert Krawitz <rlk@tiac.net> http://www.tiac.net/users/rlk/
Member of the League for Programming Freedom -- mail lpf@uunet.uu.net Tall Clubs International -- tci-request@aptinc.com or 1-800-521-2512
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