netdev - Re: [PATCH] Add IRQF_SAMPLE_RANDOM Flag to forcedeth

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Message-ID: <20101010010924.GB15074@solarflare.com>
Date:	Sun, 10 Oct 2010 02:09:24 +0100
From:	Ben Hutchings <bhutchings@...arflare.com>
To:	Patrick Simmons <linuxrocks123@...scape.net>
Cc:	netdev@...r.kernel.org
Subject: Re: [PATCH] Add IRQF_SAMPLE_RANDOM Flag to forcedeth

Patrick Simmons wrote:
> This patch adds the IRQF_SAMPLE_RANDOM flag to the forcedeth driver, 
> allowing the interrupt timing for forcedeth to be used for entropy 
> generation.  This should help /dev/random generate more secure random 
> numbers on machines using this driver.
[...]

We don't enable this for network drivers any more because:

1. At high packet rates, interrupt moderation makes interrupts very
regular.
2. At low packet rates, a malicious sender can control the interrupt
timing.

Ben.

-- 
Ben Hutchings, Senior Software Engineer, Solarflare Communications
Not speaking for my employer; that's the marketing department's job.
They asked us to note that Solarflare product names are trademarked.
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