Messages in this thread | | | Subject | Re: [PATCH] (0/4) Entropy accounting fixes | From | Robert Love <> | Date | 17 Aug 2002 23:51:52 -0400 |
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On Sat, 2002-08-17 at 23:05, Linus Torvalds wrote:
> This is particularly true on things like embedded routers, where the > machine usually doesn't actually _run_ much user-level software, but is > just shuffling packets back and forth. Your logic seems to make it not add > any entropy from those packets, which can be _deadly_ if then the router > is also used for occasionally generating some random numbers for other > things.
Agreed. Further, embedded routers - since they are headless/diskless - have problems even with the _current_ /dev/random code. They simply do not generate enough entropy to fulfill sshd requests [1].
Saying "use /dev/urandom" in this case means we may as well not have a /dev/random. There is a difference between incorrect accounting (which it seems you have identified) and just too strict gathering behavior.
Robert Love
[1] this is why I wrote my netdev-random patches. some machines just have to take the entropy from the network card... there is nothing else.
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