History log of /src/share/man/man9/rnd.9
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Revision tags: perseant-exfatfs-base-20250801 netbsd-11-base
# 1.33 25-Dec-2024 andvar

fix typo in rnd(9) documentation.


Revision tags: perseant-exfatfs-base-20240630 perseant-exfatfs-base
# 1.32 04-Aug-2023 riastradh

branches: 1.32.2;
entropy(9): Simplify stages. Split interrupt vs non-interrupt paths.

- Nix the entropy stage (cold, warm, hot). Just use the usual kernel
`cold' (cold: single-core, single-thread; interrupts may happen),
and don't make any three-way distinction about whether interrupts
or threads or other CPUs can be running.

Instead, while cold, use splhigh/splx or forbid paths to come from
interrupt context, and while warm, use mutex or the per-CPU hard
and soft interrupt paths for low latency. This comes at a small
cost to some interrupt latency, since we may stir the pool in
interrupt context -- but only for a very short window early at boot
between configure and configure2, so it's hard to imagine it
matters much.

- Allow rnd_add_uint32 to run in hard interrupt context or with spin
locks held, but defer processing to softint and drop samples on the
floor if buffer is full. This is mainly used for cheaply tossing
samples from drivers for non-HWRNG devices into the entropy pool,
so it is often used from interrupt context and/or under spin locks.

- New rnd_add_data_intr provides the interrupt-like data entry path
for arbitrary buffers and driver-specified entropy estimates: defer
processing to softint and drop samples on the floor if buffer is
full.

- Document that rnd_add_data is forbidden under spin locks outside
interrupt context (will crash in LOCKDEBUG), and inadvisable in
interrupt context (but technically permitted just in case there are
compatibility issues for now); later we can forbid it altogether in
interrupt context or under spin locks.

- Audit all uses of rnd_add_data to use rnd_add_data_intr where it
might be used in interrupt context or under a spin lock.

This fixes a regression from last year when the global entropy lock
was changed from IPL_VM (spin) to IPL_SOFTSERIAL (adaptive). Thought
I'd caught all the problems from that, but another one bit three
different people this week, presumably because of recent changes that
led to more non-HWRNG drivers entering the entropy consolidation
path from rnd_add_uint32.

In my attempt to preserve the rnd(9) API for the (now long-since
abandoned) prospect of pullup to netbsd-9 in my rewrite of the
entropy subsystem in 2020, I didn't introduce a separate entry point
for entering entropy from interrupt context or equivalent, i.e., spin
locks held, and instead made rnd_add_data rely on cpu_intr_p() to
decide whether to process the whole sample under a lock or only take
as much as there's buffer space for before scheduling a softint. In
retrospect, that was a mistake (though perhaps not as much of a
mistake as other entropy API decisions...), a mistake which is
finally getting rectified now by rnd_add_data_intr.

XXX pullup-10


Revision tags: netbsd-10-base
# 1.31 17-May-2022 riastradh

branches: 1.31.2;
rnd(9): Note that rndsource callbacks are never run in hardint.

But they may be run in softint at IPL_SOFTSERIAL.


# 1.30 19-Mar-2022 riastradh

rnd(9): Document the serial use of rndsource callbacks.

This simplifies the rndsource API -- no need to lock, unless you're
also coordinating with other driver logic like concurrent
opencrypto(4) requests that share device requests.


Revision tags: cjep_sun2x-base1 cjep_sun2x-base cjep_staticlib_x-base1 cjep_staticlib_x-base
# 1.29 04-May-2020 wiz

Improve markup.


# 1.28 30-Apr-2020 riastradh

Rewrite entropy subsystem.

Primary goals:

1. Use cryptography primitives designed and vetted by cryptographers.
2. Be honest about entropy estimation.
3. Propagate full entropy as soon as possible.
4. Simplify the APIs.
5. Reduce overhead of rnd_add_data and cprng_strong.
6. Reduce side channels of HWRNG data and human input sources.
7. Improve visibility of operation with sysctl and event counters.

Caveat: rngtest is no longer used generically for RND_TYPE_RNG
rndsources. Hardware RNG devices should have hardware-specific
health tests. For example, checking for two repeated 256-bit outputs
works to detect AMD's 2019 RDRAND bug. Not all hardware RNGs are
necessarily designed to produce exactly uniform output.

ENTROPY POOL

- A Keccak sponge, with test vectors, replaces the old LFSR/SHA-1
kludge as the cryptographic primitive.

- `Entropy depletion' is available for testing purposes with a sysctl
knob kern.entropy.depletion; otherwise it is disabled, and once the
system reaches full entropy it is assumed to stay there as far as
modern cryptography is concerned.

- No `entropy estimation' based on sample values. Such `entropy
estimation' is a contradiction in terms, dishonest to users, and a
potential source of side channels. It is the responsibility of the
driver author to study the entropy of the process that generates
the samples.

- Per-CPU gathering pools avoid contention on a global queue.

- Entropy is occasionally consolidated into global pool -- as soon as
it's ready, if we've never reached full entropy, and with a rate
limit afterward. Operators can force consolidation now by running
sysctl -w kern.entropy.consolidate=1.

- rndsink(9) API has been replaced by an epoch counter which changes
whenever entropy is consolidated into the global pool.
. Usage: Cache entropy_epoch() when you seed. If entropy_epoch()
has changed when you're about to use whatever you seeded, reseed.
. Epoch is never zero, so initialize cache to 0 if you want to reseed
on first use.
. Epoch is -1 iff we have never reached full entropy -- in other
words, the old rnd_initial_entropy is (entropy_epoch() != -1) --
but it is better if you check for changes rather than for -1, so
that if the system estimated its own entropy incorrectly, entropy
consolidation has the opportunity to prevent future compromise.

- Sysctls and event counters provide operator visibility into what's
happening:
. kern.entropy.needed - bits of entropy short of full entropy
. kern.entropy.pending - bits known to be pending in per-CPU pools,
can be consolidated with sysctl -w kern.entropy.consolidate=1
. kern.entropy.epoch - number of times consolidation has happened,
never 0, and -1 iff we have never reached full entropy

CPRNG_STRONG

- A cprng_strong instance is now a collection of per-CPU NIST
Hash_DRBGs. There are only two in the system: user_cprng for
/dev/urandom and sysctl kern.?random, and kern_cprng for kernel
users which may need to operate in interrupt context up to IPL_VM.

(Calling cprng_strong in interrupt context does not strike me as a
particularly good idea, so I added an event counter to see whether
anything actually does.)

- Event counters provide operator visibility into when reseeding
happens.

INTEL RDRAND/RDSEED, VIA C3 RNG (CPU_RNG)

- Unwired for now; will be rewired in a subsequent commit.


Revision tags: phil-wifi-20200421 phil-wifi-20200411 is-mlppp-base phil-wifi-20200406
# 1.27 07-Dec-2019 wiz

Simplify macro usage.


# 1.26 04-Dec-2019 riastradh

Update rnd(9) man page to reflect reality since netbsd-7.

- Note rndsource_setcb, RND_FLAG_HASCB, and rnd_add_data_sync.
- Note user's obligation to serialize access to each rndsource.


Revision tags: netbsd-8-3-RELEASE netbsd-8-2-RELEASE netbsd-9-0-RELEASE netbsd-9-0-RC2 netbsd-9-0-RC1 phil-wifi-20191119 netbsd-9-base phil-wifi-20190609 netbsd-8-1-RELEASE netbsd-8-1-RC1 pgoyette-compat-merge-20190127 pgoyette-compat-20190127 pgoyette-compat-20190118 pgoyette-compat-1226 pgoyette-compat-1126 pgoyette-compat-1020 pgoyette-compat-0930 pgoyette-compat-0906 pgoyette-compat-0728 netbsd-8-0-RELEASE phil-wifi-base pgoyette-compat-0625 netbsd-8-0-RC2 pgoyette-compat-0521 pgoyette-compat-0502 pgoyette-compat-0422 netbsd-8-0-RC1 pgoyette-compat-0415 pgoyette-compat-0407 pgoyette-compat-0330 pgoyette-compat-0322 pgoyette-compat-0315 pgoyette-compat-base matt-nb8-mediatek-base perseant-stdc-iso10646-base netbsd-8-base prg-localcount2-base3 prg-localcount2-base2 prg-localcount2-base1 prg-localcount2-base pgoyette-localcount-20170426 bouyer-socketcan-base1 pgoyette-localcount-20170320 bouyer-socketcan-base pgoyette-localcount-20170107 pgoyette-localcount-20161104 localcount-20160914 pgoyette-localcount-20160806 pgoyette-localcount-20160726 pgoyette-localcount-base
# 1.25 13-Apr-2015 riastradh

branches: 1.25.16; 1.25.18;
Update header file references in rnd man pages.


Revision tags: netbsd-7-2-RELEASE netbsd-7-1-2-RELEASE netbsd-7-1-1-RELEASE netbsd-7-1-RELEASE netbsd-7-1-RC2 netbsd-7-nhusb-base-20170116 netbsd-7-1-RC1 netbsd-7-0-2-RELEASE netbsd-7-nhusb-base netbsd-7-0-1-RELEASE netbsd-7-0-RELEASE netbsd-7-0-RC3 netbsd-7-0-RC2 netbsd-7-0-RC1 netbsd-7-base tls-maxphys-base
# 1.24 10-Aug-2014 wiz

Markup simplifications and improvements. Bump date for previous.


# 1.23 10-Aug-2014 tls

Merge tls-earlyentropy branch into HEAD.


Revision tags: yamt-pagecache-base9 tls-earlyentropy-base riastradh-xf86-video-intel-2-7-1-pre-2-21-15 riastradh-drm2-base3 riastradh-drm2-base2 riastradh-drm2-base1 riastradh-drm2-base agc-symver-base yamt-pagecache-base8 yamt-pagecache-base7 yamt-pagecache-base6
# 1.22 12-Jul-2012 pgoyette

branches: 1.22.2; 1.22.8;
More updates, since the structure name has changed from rndsourc_element_t
to krndsource_t. While here, add RND_TYPE_ENV to the list of source types.


# 1.21 11-Jul-2012 pgoyette

Use correct source file reference


Revision tags: netbsd-6-0-6-RELEASE netbsd-6-1-5-RELEASE netbsd-6-1-4-RELEASE netbsd-6-0-5-RELEASE netbsd-6-1-3-RELEASE netbsd-6-0-4-RELEASE netbsd-6-1-2-RELEASE netbsd-6-0-3-RELEASE netbsd-6-1-1-RELEASE netbsd-6-0-2-RELEASE netbsd-6-1-RELEASE netbsd-6-1-RC4 netbsd-6-1-RC3 netbsd-6-1-RC2 netbsd-6-1-RC1 netbsd-6-0-1-RELEASE matt-nb6-plus-nbase netbsd-6-0-RELEASE netbsd-6-0-RC2 matt-nb6-plus-base netbsd-6-0-RC1 yamt-pagecache-base5 yamt-pagecache-base4 netbsd-6-base
# 1.20 17-Dec-2011 wiz

New sentence, new line. Fix some markup. Bump date for previous.


# 1.19 17-Dec-2011 tls

Separate /dev/random pseudodevice implemenation from kernel entropy pool
implementation. Rewrite pseudodevice code to use cprng_strong(9).

The new pseudodevice is cloning, so each caller gets bits from a stream
generated with its own key. Users of /dev/urandom get their generators
keyed on a "best effort" basis -- the kernel will rekey generators
whenever the entropy pool hits the high water mark -- while users of
/dev/random get their generators rekeyed every time key-length bits
are output.

The underlying cprng_strong API can use AES-256 or AES-128, but we use
AES-128 because of concerns about related-key attacks on AES-256. This
improves performance (and reduces entropy pool depletion) significantly
for users of /dev/urandom but does cause users of /dev/random to rekey
twice as often.

Also fixes various bugs (including some missing locking and a reseed-counter
overflow in the CTR_DRBG code) found while testing this.

For long reads, this generator is approximately 20 times as fast as the
old generator (dd with bs=64K yields 53MB/sec on 2Ghz Core2 instead of
2.5MB/sec) and also uses a separate mutex per instance so concurrency
is greatly improved. For reads of typical key sizes for modern
cryptosystems (16-32 bytes) performance is about the same as the old
code: a little better for 32 bytes, a little worse for 16 bytes.


# 1.18 28-Nov-2011 tls

Add cprng(9) manual page, remove arc4random(9) manual page


Revision tags: netbsd-5-2-3-RELEASE netbsd-5-1-5-RELEASE netbsd-5-2-2-RELEASE netbsd-5-1-4-RELEASE netbsd-5-2-1-RELEASE netbsd-5-1-3-RELEASE netbsd-5-2-RELEASE netbsd-5-2-RC1 netbsd-5-1-2-RELEASE netbsd-5-1-1-RELEASE yamt-pagecache-base3 yamt-pagecache-base2 yamt-pagecache-base cherry-xenmp-base uebayasi-xip-base7 bouyer-quota2-nbase bouyer-quota2-base matt-mips64-premerge-20101231 matt-nb5-mips64-premerge-20101231 matt-nb5-pq3-base uebayasi-xip-base6 uebayasi-xip-base5 netbsd-5-1-RELEASE uebayasi-xip-base4 uebayasi-xip-base3 netbsd-5-1-RC4 matt-nb5-mips64-k15 uebayasi-xip-base2 netbsd-5-1-RC3 uebayasi-xip-base1 netbsd-5-1-RC2 netbsd-5-1-RC1 netbsd-5-0-2-RELEASE matt-nb5-mips64-premerge-20091211 matt-premerge-20091211 matt-nb5-mips64-u2-k2-k4-k7-k8-k9 matt-nb4-mips64-k7-u2a-k9b matt-nb5-mips64-u1-k1-k5 netbsd-5-0-1-RELEASE jym-xensuspend-nbase netbsd-5-0-RELEASE netbsd-5-0-RC4 netbsd-5-0-RC3 netbsd-5-0-RC2 jym-xensuspend-base netbsd-5-0-RC1 netbsd-5-base matt-mips64-base2 wrstuden-revivesa-base-3 mjf-devfs2-base
# 1.17 16-Sep-2008 jmcneill

branches: 1.17.20;
Mention RND_TYPE_RNG type for rnd_attach_source


Revision tags: wrstuden-revivesa-base-2 wrstuden-revivesa-base-1 yamt-pf42-base4 yamt-pf42-base3 hpcarm-cleanup-nbase yamt-pf42-base2 wrstuden-revivesa-base
# 1.16 30-Apr-2008 martin

branches: 1.16.2;
Convert TNF licenses to new 2 clause variant


Revision tags: netbsd-4-0-1-RELEASE wrstuden-fixsa-newbase yamt-pf42-baseX yamt-pf42-base keiichi-mipv6-nbase keiichi-mipv6-base matt-armv6-nbase matt-armv6-prevmlocking wrstuden-fixsa-base-1 netbsd-4-0-RELEASE cube-autoconf-base netbsd-4-0-RC5 netbsd-4-0-RC4 netbsd-4-0-RC3 netbsd-4-0-RC2 netbsd-4-0-RC1 matt-armv6-base matt-mips64-base hpcarm-cleanup-base wrstuden-fixsa-base abandoned-netbsd-4-base netbsd-4-base chap-midi-nbase chap-midi-base
# 1.15 26-Dec-2005 perry

branches: 1.15.20; 1.15.22;
u_intN_t -> uintN_t


Revision tags: netbsd-3-1-1-RELEASE netbsd-3-0-3-RELEASE netbsd-3-1-RELEASE netbsd-3-0-2-RELEASE netbsd-3-1-RC4 netbsd-3-1-RC3 netbsd-3-1-RC2 netbsd-3-1-RC1 netbsd-3-0-1-RELEASE netbsd-3-0-RELEASE netbsd-3-0-RC6 netbsd-3-0-RC5 netbsd-3-0-RC4 netbsd-3-0-RC3 netbsd-3-0-RC2 netbsd-3-0-RC1 netbsd-2-0-3-RELEASE netbsd-2-1-RELEASE netbsd-2-1-RC6 netbsd-2-1-RC5 netbsd-2-1-RC4 netbsd-2-1-RC3 netbsd-2-1-RC2 netbsd-2-1-RC1 netbsd-2-0-2-RELEASE netbsd-3-base netbsd-2-0-1-RELEASE netbsd-2-base netbsd-2-0-RELEASE netbsd-2-0-RC5 netbsd-2-0-RC4 netbsd-2-0-RC3 netbsd-2-0-RC2 netbsd-2-0-RC1 netbsd-2-0-base
# 1.14 16-Apr-2003 wiz

Use
.In header.h
instead of
.Fd #include \*[Lt]header.h\*[Gt]
Much easier to read and write, and supported by groff for ages.
Okayed by ross.


Revision tags: fvdl_fs64_base
# 1.13 14-Oct-2002 wiz

New sentence, new line.


# 1.12 19-Aug-2002 wiz

It's RND_FLAG_*, not RND_FLAGS*. Noted by Christian Biere in kern/17992.
Also fix an unrelated mdoc error.


Revision tags: netbsd-1-6-PATCH002-RELEASE netbsd-1-6-PATCH002 netbsd-1-6-PATCH002-RC4 netbsd-1-6-PATCH002-RC3 netbsd-1-6-PATCH002-RC2 netbsd-1-6-PATCH002-RC1 netbsd-1-6-PATCH001 netbsd-1-6-PATCH001-RELEASE netbsd-1-6-PATCH001-RC3 netbsd-1-6-PATCH001-RC2 netbsd-1-6-PATCH001-RC1 netbsd-1-6-RELEASE netbsd-1-6-RC3 netbsd-1-6-RC2 netbsd-1-6-RC1 netbsd-1-6-base
# 1.11 13-Feb-2002 ross

Generate <>& symbolically. I'm avoiding .../dist/... directories for now.


# 1.10 26-Dec-2001 wiz

Sort sections.


# 1.9 10-Sep-2001 wiz

Use standard section headers.


# 1.8 04-Sep-2001 wiz

Boring whitespace fixes.


Revision tags: kqueue-base
# 1.7 07-Nov-2000 lukem

fix up various .Nm abuses:
- keep the case consistent between the actual name and what's referenced.
e.g, if it's `foo', don't use '.Nm Foo' at the start of a sentence.
- remove unnecessary `.Nm foo' after the first occurrence (except for
using `.Nm ""' if there's stuff following, or for the 2nd and so on
occurrences in a SYNOPSIS
- use Sx, Ic, Li, Em, Sq, and Xr as appropriate


Revision tags: netbsd-1-5-PATCH003 netbsd-1-5-PATCH002 netbsd-1-5-PATCH001 netbsd-1-5-RELEASE netbsd-1-5-BETA2 netbsd-1-5-BETA netbsd-1-4-PATCH003 netbsd-1-5-ALPHA2 netbsd-1-5-base minoura-xpg4dl-base netbsd-1-4-PATCH002 wrstuden-devbsize-19991221 wrstuden-devbsize-base comdex-fall-1999-base netbsd-1-4-PATCH001 netbsd-1-4-RELEASE netbsd-1-4-base
# 1.6 16-Mar-1999 garbled

More .Os cleanups. .Os is defined in the tmac.doc-common file,
so we shouldn't override it with versions in the manpages. Many more to
come.


# 1.5 06-Mar-1999 mycroft

Fix formatting errors (bad sentence breaks).


# 1.4 28-Feb-1999 explorer

Update to slightly altered rnd_attach_source() api


# 1.3 03-Sep-1998 msaitoh

Eliminate extra comma in SEE ALSO section


# 1.2 12-Nov-1997 mrg

add missing .Nm calls and MLINKS. from spz@serpens.swb.de


# 1.1 01-Nov-1997 explorer

branches: 1.1.2;
Add rnd.9