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Jason A. Donenfeld 6e8ec2552c random: use computational hash for entropy extraction
The current 4096-bit LFSR used for entropy collection had a few
desirable attributes for the context in which it was created. For
example, the state was huge, which meant that /dev/random would be able
to output quite a bit of accumulated entropy before blocking. It was
also, in its time, quite fast at accumulating entropy byte-by-byte,
which matters given the varying contexts in which mix_pool_bytes() is
called. And its diffusion was relatively high, which meant that changes
would ripple across several words of state rather quickly.

However, it also suffers from a few security vulnerabilities. In
particular, inputs learned by an attacker can be undone, but moreover,
if the state of the pool leaks, its contents can be controlled and
entirely zeroed out. I've demonstrated this attack with this SMT2
script, <https://xn--4db.cc/5o9xO8pb>, which Boolector/CaDiCal solves in
a matter of seconds on a single core of my laptop, resulting in little
proof of concept C demonstrators such as <https://xn--4db.cc/jCkvvIaH/c>.

For basically all recent formal models of RNGs, these attacks represent
a significant cryptographic flaw. But how does this manifest
practically? If an attacker has access to the system to such a degree
that he can learn the internal state of the RNG, arguably there are
other lower hanging vulnerabilities -- side-channel, infoleak, or
otherwise -- that might have higher priority. On the other hand, seed
files are frequently used on systems that have a hard time generating
much entropy on their own, and these seed files, being files, often leak
or are duplicated and distributed accidentally, or are even seeded over
the Internet intentionally, where their contents might be recorded or
tampered with. Seen this way, an otherwise quasi-implausible
vulnerability is a bit more practical than initially thought.

Another aspect of the current mix_pool_bytes() function is that, while
its performance was arguably competitive for the time in which it was
created, it's no longer considered so. This patch improves performance
significantly: on a high-end CPU, an i7-11850H, it improves performance
of mix_pool_bytes() by 225%, and on a low-end CPU, a Cortex-A7, it
improves performance by 103%.

This commit replaces the LFSR of mix_pool_bytes() with a straight-
forward cryptographic hash function, BLAKE2s, which is already in use
for pool extraction. Universal hashing with a secret seed was considered
too, something along the lines of <https://eprint.iacr.org/2013/338>,
but the requirement for a secret seed makes for a chicken & egg problem.
Instead we go with a formally proven scheme using a computational hash
function, described in sections 5.1, 6.4, and B.1.8 of
<https://eprint.iacr.org/2019/198>.

BLAKE2s outputs 256 bits, which should give us an appropriate amount of
min-entropy accumulation, and a wide enough margin of collision
resistance against active attacks. mix_pool_bytes() becomes a simple
call to blake2s_update(), for accumulation, while the extraction step
becomes a blake2s_final() to generate a seed, with which we can then do
a HKDF-like or BLAKE2X-like expansion, the first part of which we fold
back as an init key for subsequent blake2s_update()s, and the rest we
produce to the caller. This then is provided to our CRNG like usual. In
that expansion step, we make opportunistic use of 32 bytes of RDRAND
output, just as before. We also always reseed the crng with 32 bytes,
unconditionally, or not at all, rather than sometimes with 16 as before,
as we don't win anything by limiting beyond the 16 byte threshold.

Going for a hash function as an entropy collector is a conservative,
proven approach. The result of all this is a much simpler and much less
bespoke construction than what's there now, which not only plugs a
vulnerability but also improves performance considerably.

Cc: Theodore Ts'o <tytso@mit.edu>
Cc: Dominik Brodowski <linux@dominikbrodowski.net>
Reviewed-by: Eric Biggers <ebiggers@google.com>
Reviewed-by: Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org>
Reviewed-by: Jean-Philippe Aumasson <jeanphilippe.aumasson@gmail.com>
Signed-off-by: Jason A. Donenfeld <Jason@zx2c4.com>
2022-02-21 16:48:06 +01:00
arch - Fix the ptrace regset xfpregs_set() callback to behave according to the ABI 2022-02-20 12:46:21 -08:00
block block/wbt: fix negative inflight counter when remove scsi device 2022-02-17 07:54:03 -07:00
certs certs: Fix build error when CONFIG_MODULE_SIG_KEY is empty 2022-01-23 00:08:44 +09:00
crypto crypto: af_alg - get rid of alg_memory_allocated 2022-02-15 14:29:04 +00:00
Documentation Power Supply Fixes for 5.17 cycle 2022-02-20 11:07:46 -08:00
drivers random: use computational hash for entropy extraction 2022-02-21 16:48:06 +01:00
fs fs.mount_setattr.v5.17-rc4 2022-02-20 11:01:47 -08:00
include - Fix task exposure order when forking tasks 2022-02-20 12:40:20 -08:00
init lib/stackdepot: allow optional init and stack_table allocation by kvmalloc() 2022-01-22 08:33:37 +02:00
ipc ipc/sem: do not sleep with a spin lock held 2022-02-04 09:25:05 -08:00
kernel - Fix a NULL ptr dereference when dumping lockdep chains through /proc/lockdep_chains 2022-02-20 12:50:50 -08:00
lib lib/crypto: blake2s: avoid indirect calls to compression function for Clang CFI 2022-02-04 19:22:32 +01:00
LICENSES LICENSES/LGPL-2.1: Add LGPL-2.1-or-later as valid identifiers 2021-12-16 14:33:10 +01:00
mm mm: don't try to NUMA-migrate COW pages that have other uses 2022-02-17 08:57:47 -08:00
net ipv6: fix data-race in fib6_info_hw_flags_set / fib6_purge_rt 2022-02-17 09:48:24 -08:00
samples samples/seccomp: Adjust sample to also provide kill option 2022-02-10 19:09:12 -08:00
scripts kconfig: fix failing to generate auto.conf 2022-02-12 23:24:19 +09:00
security integrity-v5-17-fix 2022-02-07 09:55:14 -08:00
sound ASoC: intel: skylake: Set max DMA segment size 2022-02-17 09:39:44 +01:00
tools fs.mount_setattr.v5.17-rc4 2022-02-20 11:01:47 -08:00
usr kbuild: remove include/linux/cyclades.h from header file check 2022-01-27 08:51:08 +01:00
virt Two larger x86 series: 2022-01-28 19:00:26 +02:00
.clang-format genirq/msi: Make interrupt allocation less convoluted 2021-12-16 22:22:20 +01:00
.cocciconfig
.get_maintainer.ignore Opt out of scripts/get_maintainer.pl 2019-05-16 10:53:40 -07:00
.gitattributes .gitattributes: use 'dts' diff driver for dts files 2019-12-04 19:44:11 -08:00
.gitignore .gitignore: ignore only top-level modules.builtin 2021-05-02 00:43:35 +09:00
.mailmap mailmap: update Christian Brauner's email address 2022-02-01 11:21:31 -08:00
COPYING COPYING: state that all contributions really are covered by this file 2020-02-10 13:32:20 -08:00
CREDITS MAINTAINERS: Removing Ohad from remoteproc/rpmsg maintenance 2021-12-08 10:09:40 -07:00
Kbuild kbuild: rename hostprogs-y/always to hostprogs/always-y 2020-02-04 01:53:07 +09:00
Kconfig kbuild: ensure full rebuild when the compiler is updated 2020-05-12 13:28:33 +09:00
MAINTAINERS Merge branch 'i2c/for-current' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/wsa/linux 2022-02-20 11:23:48 -08:00
Makefile Linux 5.17-rc5 2022-02-20 13:07:20 -08:00
README Drop all 00-INDEX files from Documentation/ 2018-09-09 15:08:58 -06:00

Linux kernel
============

There are several guides for kernel developers and users. These guides can
be rendered in a number of formats, like HTML and PDF. Please read
Documentation/admin-guide/README.rst first.

In order to build the documentation, use ``make htmldocs`` or
``make pdfdocs``.  The formatted documentation can also be read online at:

    https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/

There are various text files in the Documentation/ subdirectory,
several of them using the Restructured Text markup notation.

Please read the Documentation/process/changes.rst file, as it contains the
requirements for building and running the kernel, and information about
the problems which may result by upgrading your kernel.