linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH 1/9] random32: introduce random32_get_bytes() and prandom32_get

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Message-ID: <20121029203937.GC7098@thunk.org>
Date:	Mon, 29 Oct 2012 16:39:37 -0400
From:	Theodore Ts'o <tytso@....edu>
To:	Akinobu Mita <akinobu.mita@...il.com>
Cc:	linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org, akpm@...ux-foundation.org,
	Artem Bityutskiy <dedekind1@...il.com>,
	Adrian Hunter <adrian.hunter@...el.com>,
	David Woodhouse <dwmw2@...radead.org>,
	linux-mtd@...ts.infradead.org
Subject: Re: [PATCH 1/9] random32: introduce random32_get_bytes() and
 prandom32_get_bytes()

On Sun, Oct 28, 2012 at 04:18:58PM +0900, Akinobu Mita wrote:
>  /**
> + *	prandom32_get_bytes - get the requested number of pseudo-random bytes
> + *	@state: pointer to state structure holding seeded state.
> + *	@buf: where to copy the pseudo-random bytes to
> + *	@bytes: the requested number of bytes
> + *
> + *	This is used for pseudo-randomness with no outside seeding.
> + *	For more random results, use random32_get_bytes().
> + */
> +
> +/**
> + *	random32_get_bytes - get the requested number of pseudo-random bytes
> + *	@buf: where to copy the pseudo-random bytes to
> + *	@bytes: the requested number of bytes
> + */

This naming scheme is going to be very confusing.  If the function is
going to return a pseudo-random number, it *must* have a "prandom"
suffix.  Otherwise some kernel developer, somewhere, will get confused
between get_random_bytes() and random32_get_bytes(), and the result
may be a very embarassing security exposure.

How about prandom32_get_bytes_state() and prandom32_get_bytes() instead?

						- Ted
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