random: create add_device_randomness() interface
authorLinus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>
Wed, 4 Jul 2012 15:16:01 +0000 (11:16 -0400)
committerTheodore Ts'o <tytso@mit.edu>
Sun, 15 Jul 2012 00:17:44 +0000 (20:17 -0400)
commita2080a67abe9e314f9e9c2cc3a4a176e8a8f8793
tree47506f87de3ec08934d3333980b29a15cc86e764
parent902c098a3663de3fa18639efbb71b6080f0bcd3c
random: create add_device_randomness() interface

Add a new interface, add_device_randomness() for adding data to the
random pool that is likely to differ between two devices (or possibly
even per boot).  This would be things like MAC addresses or serial
numbers, or the read-out of the RTC. This does *not* add any actual
entropy to the pool, but it initializes the pool to different values
for devices that might otherwise be identical and have very little
entropy available to them (particularly common in the embedded world).

[ Modified by tytso to mix in a timestamp, since there may be some
  variability caused by the time needed to detect/configure the hardware
  in question. ]

Signed-off-by: Linus Torvalds <torvalds@linux-foundation.org>
Signed-off-by: "Theodore Ts'o" <tytso@mit.edu>
Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
drivers/char/random.c
include/linux/random.h