Linux 6.8-rc5 Released With Documented Process For CVE Security Vulnerabilities

Linux 6.8-rc5 is out as the latest weekly test release of Linux 6.8 ahead of its stable debut in March.

Linux 6.8-rc5 mostly incorporates the routine churn of bug/regression fixes over the past week with the usual assortment of changes over the past week. One documentation change worth mentioning is now having an established guide for dealing with CVE security vulnerability issuance. With the Linux kernel project now being a CVE Numbering Authority (CVA) for vulnerabilities found in Linux, a guide has been posted over CVE handling for the Linux kernel to explicitly detail the process. Those interested can find that Linux CVE documentation via this CVE documentation page.

Linux creator Linus Torvalds wrote in the 6.8-rc5 announcement:

"Ho humm.. Absolutely nothing stands out here, although I do wish things should have calmed down a bit more at this point in the release process.

But while there's a bit more changes here than I would have wished for, there's not anything big or scary going on that I can see: just small things all over. In fact, a fair chunk of the changes are in the selftests, not kernel code itself (mainly kvm, but also some continued work on the networking side). The documentation subdirectory also stands out a bit, although that's at least partly due to Greg having worked on the whole CVE process and documenting that.
...
Anyway, I think (and hope) we'll start seeing things calm down, and the next few rc's are smaller.

Please commence testing,

Linus"

Here's to a smooth rest of the Linux 6.8 cycle!