linux-kernel - Re: [PATCH] docs: ABI: sysfs-module: list all taint flags

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Message-ID: <7e793098-ff46-4840-a5e0-18c42ae1c145@infradead.org>
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2025 10:38:27 -0700
From: Randy Dunlap <rdunlap@...radead.org>
To: Petr Pavlu <petr.pavlu@...e.com>
Cc: Jonathan Corbet <corbet@....net>, linux-doc@...r.kernel.org,
 Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@...uxfoundation.org>,
 Luis Chamberlain <mcgrof@...nel.org>, Daniel Gomez <da.gomez@...nel.org>,
 Sami Tolvanen <samitolvanen@...gle.com>, linux-kernel@...r.kernel.org,
 linux-modules@...r.kernel.org
Subject: Re: [PATCH] docs: ABI: sysfs-module: list all taint flags



On 10/17/25 4:38 AM, Petr Pavlu wrote:
> On 10/16/25 12:13 AM, Randy Dunlap wrote:
>> The list of module taint flags has not been updated lately as the
>> taint flags list grows. Instead of trying to keep multiple lists
>> updated, just refer to the list of kernel taint flags since they are
>> the same.
>>
>> Signed-off-by: Randy Dunlap <rdunlap@...radead.org>
>> ---
>> Cc: Jonathan Corbet <corbet@....net>
>> Cc: linux-doc@...r.kernel.org
>> Cc: Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@...uxfoundation.org>
>> Cc: Luis Chamberlain <mcgrof@...nel.org>
>> Cc: Petr Pavlu <petr.pavlu@...e.com>
>> Cc: Daniel Gomez <da.gomez@...nel.org>
>> Cc: Sami Tolvanen <samitolvanen@...gle.com>
>> Cc: linux-modules@...r.kernel.org
>> ---
>>  Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-module        |   10 ++--------
>>  Documentation/admin-guide/tainted-kernels.rst |    2 ++
>>  2 files changed, 4 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)
>>
>> --- linux-next-20251014.orig/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-module
>> +++ linux-next-20251014/Documentation/ABI/testing/sysfs-module
>> @@ -52,14 +52,8 @@ What:		/sys/module/*/taint
>>  Date:		Jan 2012
>>  KernelVersion:	3.3
>>  Contact:	Kay Sievers <kay.sievers@...y.org>
>> -Description:	Module taint flags:
>> -			==  =====================
>> -			P   proprietary module
>> -			O   out-of-tree module
>> -			F   force-loaded module
>> -			C   staging driver module
>> -			E   unsigned module
>> -			==  =====================
>> +Description:	Module taint flags: same as the kernel taint flags.
>> +		See: :ref:`taint_flags` in Documentation/admin-guide/tainted-kernels.rst
> 
> The module taint flags that can appear in /sys/module/*/taint are
> a subset of the kernel taint flags. By looking at the calls to
> add_taint_module(), they are as follows:
> 
> Present:
> TAINT_PROPRIETARY_MODULE
> TAINT_OOT_MODULE
> TAINT_FORCED_MODULE
> TAINT_CRAP
> TAINT_UNSIGNED_MODULE
> 
> Missing:
> TAINT_LIVEPATCH
> TAINT_TEST
> 
> + potentially TEST_AUX.
> 
> Since this text specifically documents what can appear in
> /sys/module/*/taint, I think we should still maintain a list of these
> flags for accuracy.
> 
> Additionally, Documentation/admin-guide/tainted-kernels.rst provides
> taint descriptions for the kernel as a whole, which can be misleading
> for individual modules. For instance, for TAINT_LIVEPATCH, the document
> says "kernel has been live patched", but in the context of
> /sys/module/*/taint, it means "this is a livepatch module".


Hi Petr,

Thank you for your comments and corrections.

I'll drop this patch.

-- 
~Randy