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SubjectRe: /dev/random in 2.4.6
Date
Theodore Tso  wrote:
>On Fri, Aug 17, 2001 at 03:05:39PM -0700, David Schwartz wrote:
>> This is a non-issue providing the entropy pool code correctly
>> estimates the amount of entropy. The Linux entropy code is written
>> so that there is no harm from putting fully known or partially known
>> numbers into the pool provided that the pool does not overestimate
>> the amount of entropy in those numbers.
>
>The problem is that by being able to perfectly observe packets on the
>LAN, you know a lot more about the numbers that are going in, and it's
>therefore extremely likely that the entropy estimate will be
>overestimated.

Right. Therefore, it seems to me that the correct thing to do is to
add network timings into the pool using an entropy estimate of zero.
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