linux/Documentation/admin-guide
Linus Torvalds 48ea09cdda hardening updates for v6.2-rc1
- Convert flexible array members, fix -Wstringop-overflow warnings,
   and fix KCFI function type mismatches that went ignored by
   maintainers (Gustavo A. R. Silva, Nathan Chancellor, Kees Cook).
 
 - Remove the remaining side-effect users of ksize() by converting
   dma-buf, btrfs, and coredump to using kmalloc_size_roundup(),
   add more __alloc_size attributes, and introduce full testing
   of all allocator functions. Finally remove the ksize() side-effect
   so that each allocation-aware checker can finally behave without
   exceptions.
 
 - Introduce oops_limit (default 10,000) and warn_limit (default off)
   to provide greater granularity of control for panic_on_oops and
   panic_on_warn (Jann Horn, Kees Cook).
 
 - Introduce overflows_type() and castable_to_type() helpers for
   cleaner overflow checking.
 
 - Improve code generation for strscpy() and update str*() kern-doc.
 
 - Convert strscpy and sigphash tests to KUnit, and expand memcpy
   tests.
 
 - Always use a non-NULL argument for prepare_kernel_cred().
 
 - Disable structleak plugin in FORTIFY KUnit test (Anders Roxell).
 
 - Adjust orphan linker section checking to respect CONFIG_WERROR
   (Xin Li).
 
 - Make sure siginfo is cleared for forced SIGKILL (haifeng.xu).
 
 - Fix um vs FORTIFY warnings for always-NULL arguments.
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Merge tag 'hardening-v6.2-rc1' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/kees/linux

Pull kernel hardening updates from Kees Cook:

 - Convert flexible array members, fix -Wstringop-overflow warnings, and
   fix KCFI function type mismatches that went ignored by maintainers
   (Gustavo A. R. Silva, Nathan Chancellor, Kees Cook)

 - Remove the remaining side-effect users of ksize() by converting
   dma-buf, btrfs, and coredump to using kmalloc_size_roundup(), add
   more __alloc_size attributes, and introduce full testing of all
   allocator functions. Finally remove the ksize() side-effect so that
   each allocation-aware checker can finally behave without exceptions

 - Introduce oops_limit (default 10,000) and warn_limit (default off) to
   provide greater granularity of control for panic_on_oops and
   panic_on_warn (Jann Horn, Kees Cook)

 - Introduce overflows_type() and castable_to_type() helpers for cleaner
   overflow checking

 - Improve code generation for strscpy() and update str*() kern-doc

 - Convert strscpy and sigphash tests to KUnit, and expand memcpy tests

 - Always use a non-NULL argument for prepare_kernel_cred()

 - Disable structleak plugin in FORTIFY KUnit test (Anders Roxell)

 - Adjust orphan linker section checking to respect CONFIG_WERROR (Xin
   Li)

 - Make sure siginfo is cleared for forced SIGKILL (haifeng.xu)

 - Fix um vs FORTIFY warnings for always-NULL arguments

* tag 'hardening-v6.2-rc1' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/kees/linux: (31 commits)
  ksmbd: replace one-element arrays with flexible-array members
  hpet: Replace one-element array with flexible-array member
  um: virt-pci: Avoid GCC non-NULL warning
  signal: Initialize the info in ksignal
  lib: fortify_kunit: build without structleak plugin
  panic: Expose "warn_count" to sysfs
  panic: Introduce warn_limit
  panic: Consolidate open-coded panic_on_warn checks
  exit: Allow oops_limit to be disabled
  exit: Expose "oops_count" to sysfs
  exit: Put an upper limit on how often we can oops
  panic: Separate sysctl logic from CONFIG_SMP
  mm/pgtable: Fix multiple -Wstringop-overflow warnings
  mm: Make ksize() a reporting-only function
  kunit/fortify: Validate __alloc_size attribute results
  drm/sti: Fix return type of sti_{dvo,hda,hdmi}_connector_mode_valid()
  drm/fsl-dcu: Fix return type of fsl_dcu_drm_connector_mode_valid()
  driver core: Add __alloc_size hint to devm allocators
  overflow: Introduce overflows_type() and castable_to_type()
  coredump: Proactively round up to kmalloc bucket size
  ...
2022-12-14 12:20:00 -08:00
..
acpi Documentation: ACPI: Prune DSDT override documentation from index 2022-10-13 20:33:12 +02:00
aoe
auxdisplay
blockdev zram: add incompressible flag to read_block_state() 2022-11-30 15:58:53 -08:00
cgroup-v1 docs: admin-guide: cgroup-v1: update description of inactive_file 2022-11-30 15:58:54 -08:00
cifs Documentation, arch: Remove leftovers from CIFS_WEAK_PW_HASH 2021-12-17 14:12:03 +01:00
device-mapper dm init: add dm-mod.waitfor to wait for asynchronously probed block devices 2022-12-02 17:37:45 -05:00
gpio gpio: sim: add doc file to index file 2022-01-24 09:21:28 +01:00
hw-vuln There's not a huge amount of activity in the docs tree this time around, 2022-10-03 10:23:32 -07:00
kdump Remove duplicate words inside documentation 2022-09-27 13:21:43 -06:00
laptops lg-laptop: Move setting of battery charge limit to common location 2022-02-23 11:36:24 +01:00
LSM
media media: vivid.rst: fix TV and S-Video Inputs section 2022-11-25 11:18:25 +00:00
mm MM patches for 6.2-rc1. 2022-12-13 19:29:45 -08:00
namespaces
nfs NFS: update documentation for the nfs4_unique_id parameter 2022-05-17 15:30:03 -04:00
perf drivers/perf: hisi: Add TLP filter support 2022-11-29 14:30:55 +00:00
pm linux-kselftest-next-6.2-rc1 2022-12-12 16:39:38 -08:00
sysctl hardening updates for v6.2-rc1 2022-12-14 12:20:00 -08:00
abi-obsolete.rst
abi-removed.rst
abi-stable.rst
abi-testing.rst
abi.rst
bcache.rst
binderfs.rst
binfmt-misc.rst
bootconfig.rst Documentation: Fixed a typo in bootconfig.rst 2022-12-03 03:48:29 -07:00
braille-console.rst
btmrvl.rst
bug-bisect.rst
bug-hunting.rst
cgroup-v2.rst mm: add nodes= arg to memory.reclaim 2022-12-11 18:12:19 -08:00
clearing-warn-once.rst
cpu-load.rst
cputopology.rst topology/sysfs: get rid of htmldoc warning 2021-12-07 11:20:45 +01:00
dell_rbu.rst
devices.rst docs: admin: devices: drop confusing outdated statement on Latex 2022-07-14 15:03:56 -06:00
devices.txt drivers/accel: define kconfig and register a new major 2022-11-22 13:13:51 +02:00
dynamic-debug-howto.rst doc-dyndbg: edit dynamic-debug-howto for brevity, audience 2022-09-07 17:04:49 +02:00
edid.rst
efi-stub.rst docs: efi-stub: Fix paths for x86 / arm stubs 2022-07-28 09:41:56 -06:00
ext4.rst
features.rst
filesystem-monitoring.rst
highuid.rst
hw_random.rst docs: admin-guide: hw_random: Make document title more generic and concise 2022-11-09 14:02:40 -07:00
index.rst docs: add two documents about regression handling 2022-02-24 12:57:25 -07:00
init.rst
initrd.rst
iostats.rst Documentation: block/diskstats: update function names 2022-02-24 12:18:54 -07:00
java.rst
jfs.rst
kernel-parameters.rst Docs/admin: alphabetize some kernel-parameters (part 1) 2022-04-16 02:49:05 -06:00
kernel-parameters.txt drm for 6.2: 2022-12-13 11:59:58 -08:00
kernel-per-CPU-kthreads.rst doc: Remove obsolete kernel-per-CPU-kthreads RCU_FAST_NO_HZ advice 2021-11-30 17:23:06 -08:00
lcd-panel-cgram.rst
ldm.rst
lockup-watchdogs.rst
md.rst
module-signing.rst
mono.rst
numastat.rst
parport.rst
perf-security.rst
pnp.rst
pstore-blk.rst
ramoops.rst
rapidio.rst
ras.rst
README.rst There's not a huge amount of activity in the docs tree this time around, 2022-10-03 10:23:32 -07:00
reporting-issues.rst docs: reporting-issues.rst: link new document about regressions 2022-02-24 12:57:25 -07:00
reporting-regressions.rst docs: *-regressions.rst: explain how quickly issues should be handled 2022-02-24 12:57:25 -07:00
rtc.rst
security-bugs.rst
serial-console.rst
spkguide.txt
svga.rst
syscall-user-dispatch.rst
sysfs-rules.rst
sysrq.rst
tainted-kernels.rst x86/microcode: Document the whole late loading problem 2022-08-18 15:57:53 +02:00
thunderbolt.rst
ufs.rst
unicode.rst
vga-softcursor.rst
video-output.rst
xfs.rst

.. _readme:

Linux kernel release 6.x <http://kernel.org/>
=============================================

These are the release notes for Linux version 6.  Read them carefully,
as they tell you what this is all about, explain how to install the
kernel, and what to do if something goes wrong.

What is Linux?
--------------

  Linux is a clone of the operating system Unix, written from scratch by
  Linus Torvalds with assistance from a loosely-knit team of hackers across
  the Net. It aims towards POSIX and Single UNIX Specification compliance.

  It has all the features you would expect in a modern fully-fledged Unix,
  including true multitasking, virtual memory, shared libraries, demand
  loading, shared copy-on-write executables, proper memory management,
  and multistack networking including IPv4 and IPv6.

  It is distributed under the GNU General Public License v2 - see the
  accompanying COPYING file for more details.

On what hardware does it run?
-----------------------------

  Although originally developed first for 32-bit x86-based PCs (386 or higher),
  today Linux also runs on (at least) the Compaq Alpha AXP, Sun SPARC and
  UltraSPARC, Motorola 68000, PowerPC, PowerPC64, ARM, Hitachi SuperH, Cell,
  IBM S/390, MIPS, HP PA-RISC, Intel IA-64, DEC VAX, AMD x86-64 Xtensa, and
  ARC architectures.

  Linux is easily portable to most general-purpose 32- or 64-bit architectures
  as long as they have a paged memory management unit (PMMU) and a port of the
  GNU C compiler (gcc) (part of The GNU Compiler Collection, GCC). Linux has
  also been ported to a number of architectures without a PMMU, although
  functionality is then obviously somewhat limited.
  Linux has also been ported to itself. You can now run the kernel as a
  userspace application - this is called UserMode Linux (UML).

Documentation
-------------

 - There is a lot of documentation available both in electronic form on
   the Internet and in books, both Linux-specific and pertaining to
   general UNIX questions.  I'd recommend looking into the documentation
   subdirectories on any Linux FTP site for the LDP (Linux Documentation
   Project) books.  This README is not meant to be documentation on the
   system: there are much better sources available.

 - There are various README files in the Documentation/ subdirectory:
   these typically contain kernel-specific installation notes for some
   drivers for example. Please read the
   :ref:`Documentation/process/changes.rst <changes>` file, as it
   contains information about the problems, which may result by upgrading
   your kernel.

Installing the kernel source
----------------------------

 - If you install the full sources, put the kernel tarball in a
   directory where you have permissions (e.g. your home directory) and
   unpack it::

     xz -cd linux-6.x.tar.xz | tar xvf -

   Replace "X" with the version number of the latest kernel.

   Do NOT use the /usr/src/linux area! This area has a (usually
   incomplete) set of kernel headers that are used by the library header
   files.  They should match the library, and not get messed up by
   whatever the kernel-du-jour happens to be.

 - You can also upgrade between 6.x releases by patching.  Patches are
   distributed in the xz format.  To install by patching, get all the
   newer patch files, enter the top level directory of the kernel source
   (linux-6.x) and execute::

     xz -cd ../patch-6.x.xz | patch -p1

   Replace "x" for all versions bigger than the version "x" of your current
   source tree, **in_order**, and you should be ok.  You may want to remove
   the backup files (some-file-name~ or some-file-name.orig), and make sure
   that there are no failed patches (some-file-name# or some-file-name.rej).
   If there are, either you or I have made a mistake.

   Unlike patches for the 6.x kernels, patches for the 6.x.y kernels
   (also known as the -stable kernels) are not incremental but instead apply
   directly to the base 6.x kernel.  For example, if your base kernel is 6.0
   and you want to apply the 6.0.3 patch, you must not first apply the 6.0.1
   and 6.0.2 patches. Similarly, if you are running kernel version 6.0.2 and
   want to jump to 6.0.3, you must first reverse the 6.0.2 patch (that is,
   patch -R) **before** applying the 6.0.3 patch. You can read more on this in
   :ref:`Documentation/process/applying-patches.rst <applying_patches>`.

   Alternatively, the script patch-kernel can be used to automate this
   process.  It determines the current kernel version and applies any
   patches found::

     linux/scripts/patch-kernel linux

   The first argument in the command above is the location of the
   kernel source.  Patches are applied from the current directory, but
   an alternative directory can be specified as the second argument.

 - Make sure you have no stale .o files and dependencies lying around::

     cd linux
     make mrproper

   You should now have the sources correctly installed.

Software requirements
---------------------

   Compiling and running the 6.x kernels requires up-to-date
   versions of various software packages.  Consult
   :ref:`Documentation/process/changes.rst <changes>` for the minimum version numbers
   required and how to get updates for these packages.  Beware that using
   excessively old versions of these packages can cause indirect
   errors that are very difficult to track down, so don't assume that
   you can just update packages when obvious problems arise during
   build or operation.

Build directory for the kernel
------------------------------

   When compiling the kernel, all output files will per default be
   stored together with the kernel source code.
   Using the option ``make O=output/dir`` allows you to specify an alternate
   place for the output files (including .config).
   Example::

     kernel source code: /usr/src/linux-6.x
     build directory:    /home/name/build/kernel

   To configure and build the kernel, use::

     cd /usr/src/linux-6.x
     make O=/home/name/build/kernel menuconfig
     make O=/home/name/build/kernel
     sudo make O=/home/name/build/kernel modules_install install

   Please note: If the ``O=output/dir`` option is used, then it must be
   used for all invocations of make.

Configuring the kernel
----------------------

   Do not skip this step even if you are only upgrading one minor
   version.  New configuration options are added in each release, and
   odd problems will turn up if the configuration files are not set up
   as expected.  If you want to carry your existing configuration to a
   new version with minimal work, use ``make oldconfig``, which will
   only ask you for the answers to new questions.

 - Alternative configuration commands are::

     "make config"      Plain text interface.

     "make menuconfig"  Text based color menus, radiolists & dialogs.

     "make nconfig"     Enhanced text based color menus.

     "make xconfig"     Qt based configuration tool.

     "make gconfig"     GTK+ based configuration tool.

     "make oldconfig"   Default all questions based on the contents of
                        your existing ./.config file and asking about
                        new config symbols.

     "make olddefconfig"
                        Like above, but sets new symbols to their default
                        values without prompting.

     "make defconfig"   Create a ./.config file by using the default
                        symbol values from either arch/$ARCH/defconfig
                        or arch/$ARCH/configs/${PLATFORM}_defconfig,
                        depending on the architecture.

     "make ${PLATFORM}_defconfig"
                        Create a ./.config file by using the default
                        symbol values from
                        arch/$ARCH/configs/${PLATFORM}_defconfig.
                        Use "make help" to get a list of all available
                        platforms of your architecture.

     "make allyesconfig"
                        Create a ./.config file by setting symbol
                        values to 'y' as much as possible.

     "make allmodconfig"
                        Create a ./.config file by setting symbol
                        values to 'm' as much as possible.

     "make allnoconfig" Create a ./.config file by setting symbol
                        values to 'n' as much as possible.

     "make randconfig"  Create a ./.config file by setting symbol
                        values to random values.

     "make localmodconfig" Create a config based on current config and
                           loaded modules (lsmod). Disables any module
                           option that is not needed for the loaded modules.

                           To create a localmodconfig for another machine,
                           store the lsmod of that machine into a file
                           and pass it in as a LSMOD parameter.

                           Also, you can preserve modules in certain folders
                           or kconfig files by specifying their paths in
                           parameter LMC_KEEP.

                   target$ lsmod > /tmp/mylsmod
                   target$ scp /tmp/mylsmod host:/tmp

                   host$ make LSMOD=/tmp/mylsmod \
                           LMC_KEEP="drivers/usb:drivers/gpu:fs" \
                           localmodconfig

                           The above also works when cross compiling.

     "make localyesconfig" Similar to localmodconfig, except it will convert
                           all module options to built in (=y) options. You can
                           also preserve modules by LMC_KEEP.

     "make kvm_guest.config"   Enable additional options for kvm guest kernel
                               support.

     "make xen.config"   Enable additional options for xen dom0 guest kernel
                         support.

     "make tinyconfig"  Configure the tiniest possible kernel.

   You can find more information on using the Linux kernel config tools
   in Documentation/kbuild/kconfig.rst.

 - NOTES on ``make config``:

    - Having unnecessary drivers will make the kernel bigger, and can
      under some circumstances lead to problems: probing for a
      nonexistent controller card may confuse your other controllers.

    - A kernel with math-emulation compiled in will still use the
      coprocessor if one is present: the math emulation will just
      never get used in that case.  The kernel will be slightly larger,
      but will work on different machines regardless of whether they
      have a math coprocessor or not.

    - The "kernel hacking" configuration details usually result in a
      bigger or slower kernel (or both), and can even make the kernel
      less stable by configuring some routines to actively try to
      break bad code to find kernel problems (kmalloc()).  Thus you
      should probably answer 'n' to the questions for "development",
      "experimental", or "debugging" features.

Compiling the kernel
--------------------

 - Make sure you have at least gcc 5.1 available.
   For more information, refer to :ref:`Documentation/process/changes.rst <changes>`.

 - Do a ``make`` to create a compressed kernel image. It is also
   possible to do ``make install`` if you have lilo installed to suit the
   kernel makefiles, but you may want to check your particular lilo setup first.

   To do the actual install, you have to be root, but none of the normal
   build should require that. Don't take the name of root in vain.

 - If you configured any of the parts of the kernel as ``modules``, you
   will also have to do ``make modules_install``.

 - Verbose kernel compile/build output:

   Normally, the kernel build system runs in a fairly quiet mode (but not
   totally silent).  However, sometimes you or other kernel developers need
   to see compile, link, or other commands exactly as they are executed.
   For this, use "verbose" build mode.  This is done by passing
   ``V=1`` to the ``make`` command, e.g.::

     make V=1 all

   To have the build system also tell the reason for the rebuild of each
   target, use ``V=2``.  The default is ``V=0``.

 - Keep a backup kernel handy in case something goes wrong.  This is
   especially true for the development releases, since each new release
   contains new code which has not been debugged.  Make sure you keep a
   backup of the modules corresponding to that kernel, as well.  If you
   are installing a new kernel with the same version number as your
   working kernel, make a backup of your modules directory before you
   do a ``make modules_install``.

   Alternatively, before compiling, use the kernel config option
   "LOCALVERSION" to append a unique suffix to the regular kernel version.
   LOCALVERSION can be set in the "General Setup" menu.

 - In order to boot your new kernel, you'll need to copy the kernel
   image (e.g. .../linux/arch/x86/boot/bzImage after compilation)
   to the place where your regular bootable kernel is found.

 - Booting a kernel directly from a floppy without the assistance of a
   bootloader such as LILO, is no longer supported.

   If you boot Linux from the hard drive, chances are you use LILO, which
   uses the kernel image as specified in the file /etc/lilo.conf.  The
   kernel image file is usually /vmlinuz, /boot/vmlinuz, /bzImage or
   /boot/bzImage.  To use the new kernel, save a copy of the old image
   and copy the new image over the old one.  Then, you MUST RERUN LILO
   to update the loading map! If you don't, you won't be able to boot
   the new kernel image.

   Reinstalling LILO is usually a matter of running /sbin/lilo.
   You may wish to edit /etc/lilo.conf to specify an entry for your
   old kernel image (say, /vmlinux.old) in case the new one does not
   work.  See the LILO docs for more information.

   After reinstalling LILO, you should be all set.  Shutdown the system,
   reboot, and enjoy!

   If you ever need to change the default root device, video mode,
   etc. in the kernel image, use your bootloader's boot options
   where appropriate.  No need to recompile the kernel to change
   these parameters.

 - Reboot with the new kernel and enjoy.

If something goes wrong
-----------------------

If you have problems that seem to be due to kernel bugs, please follow the
instructions at 'Documentation/admin-guide/reporting-issues.rst'.

Hints on understanding kernel bug reports are in
'Documentation/admin-guide/bug-hunting.rst'. More on debugging the kernel
with gdb is in 'Documentation/dev-tools/gdb-kernel-debugging.rst' and
'Documentation/dev-tools/kgdb.rst'.