"LRNG" Patches Posted To Implement New /dev/random For Linux 4.9

Earlier this year patches were posted for a new /dev/random implementation for the Linux kernel dubbed LRNG -- simply, the Linux Random Number Generator. The LRNG work has yet to be merged in the mainline kernel but the code has now been updated for Linux 4.9.

Stephan Mueller who has been working on this new /dev/random approach has posted the latest patches for LRNG that are compatible with Linux 4.9-rc1. It doesn't appear there are any design changes to LRNG besides ensuring the random number generator is working with the 4.9 code-base.

Mueller continued to describe this new random number generator as, "The patch set that can be downloaded provides a different approach to /dev/random which I call Linux Random Number Generator (LRNG) to collect entropy within the Linux kernel. The main improvements compared to the legacy /dev/random is to provide sufficient entropy during boot time as well as in virtual environments and when using SSDs or Device Mapper targets. A secondary design goal is to limit the impact of the entropy collection on massive parallel systems and also allow the use accelerated cryptographic primitives. Also, all steps of the entropic data processing are testable. Finally performance improvements are visible at /dev/urandom and get_random_bytes."

Those interested can find the latest announcement on the kernel mailing list or the LRNG site.