linux-kernel - Re: [2.6 patch] chsc headers userspace cleanup

lists.openwall.net		lists / announce owl-users owl-dev john-users john-dev passwdqc-users yescrypt popa3d-users / oss-security kernel-hardening musl sabotage tlsify passwords / crypt-dev xvendor / Bugtraq Full-Disclosure linux-kernel linux-netdev linux-ext4 linux-hardening linux-cve-announce PHC
Open Source and information security mailing list archives

Hash Suite: Windows password security audit tool. GUI, reports in PDF.

[<prev] [next>] [<thread-prev] [thread-next>] [day] [month] [year] [list]

Date:	Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:02:30 +0300
From:	Adrian Bunk <bunk@...nel.org>
To:	Cornelia Huck <cornelia.huck@...ibm.com>
Cc:	Martin Schwidefsky <schwidefsky@...ibm.com>,
	Heiko Carstens <heiko.carstens@...ibm.com>,
	linux-s390@...r.kernel.org, linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org
Subject: Re: [2.6 patch] chsc headers userspace cleanup

On Tue, Jul 15, 2008 at 07:17:48PM +0200, Cornelia Huck wrote:
> On Tue, 15 Jul 2008 15:58:18 +0300,
> Adrian Bunk <bunk@...nel.org> wrote:
> 
> > Kernel headers shouldn't expose functions to userspace.
> 
> Could you please elaborate? Especially as I see e.g.
> include/linux/virtio_ring.h exporting functions outside #ifdef
> __KERNEL__ as well...

Our headers are in a bad shape...

The userspace headers should contain everything that is part of the ABI 
between the kernel and userspace.

Nothing more.

The kernel is heavily changing with each release while the userspace ABI 
is cast in stone, and leaking more stuff to userspace than required only 
increases the chances of some userspace programmer using it and some 
kernel programmer then changing it.

cu
Adrian

-- 

       "Is there not promise of rain?" Ling Tan asked suddenly out
        of the darkness. There had been need of rain for many days.
       "Only a promise," Lao Er said.
                                       Pearl S. Buck - Dragon Seed

--
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in
the body of a message to majordomo@...r.kernel.org
More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
Please read the FAQ at  http://www.tux.org/lkml/