This gives the user building their own kernel (or a Linux
distribution) the option of deciding whether or not to trust the CPU's
hardware random number generator (e.g., RDRAND for x86 CPU's) as being
correctly implemented and not having a back door introduced (perhaps
courtesy of a Nation State's law enforcement or intelligence
agencies).
This will prevent getrandom(2) from blocking, if there is a
willingness to trust the CPU manufacturer.
Signed-off-by: Theodore Ts'o <tytso@mit.edu>
endmenu
+config RANDOM_TRUST_CPU
+ bool "Trust the CPU manufacturer to initialize Linux's CRNG"
+ depends on X86 || S390 || PPC
+ default n
+ help
+ Assume that CPU manufacturer (e.g., Intel or AMD for RDSEED or
+ RDRAND, IBM for the S390 and Power PC architectures) is trustworthy
+ for the purposes of initializing Linux's CRNG. Since this is not
+ something that can be independently audited, this amounts to trusting
+ that CPU manufacturer (perhaps with the insistence or mandate
+ of a Nation State's intelligence or law enforcement agencies)
+ has not installed a hidden back door to compromise the CPU's
+ random number generation facilities.
+
static void crng_initialize(struct crng_state *crng)
{
int i;
+ int arch_init = 1;
unsigned long rv;
memcpy(&crng->state[0], "expand 32-byte k", 16);
_get_random_bytes(&crng->state[4], sizeof(__u32) * 12);
for (i = 4; i < 16; i++) {
if (!arch_get_random_seed_long(&rv) &&
- !arch_get_random_long(&rv))
+ !arch_get_random_long(&rv)) {
rv = random_get_entropy();
+ arch_init = 0;
+ }
crng->state[i] ^= rv;
}
+#ifdef CONFIG_RANDOM_TRUST_CPU
+ if (arch_init) {
+ crng_init = 2;
+ pr_notice("random: crng done (trusting CPU's manufacturer)\n");
+ }
+#endif
crng->init_time = jiffies - CRNG_RESEED_INTERVAL - 1;
}