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-rw-r--r--drivers/char/random.c30
1 files changed, 30 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/drivers/char/random.c b/drivers/char/random.c
index 0275a98..7637412 100644
--- a/drivers/char/random.c
+++ b/drivers/char/random.c
@@ -146,6 +146,35 @@
* possibility. Nonetheless, a pseudorandom distribution of numbers
* should be useful for a wide range of purposes.
+ * Low-entropy case; startup transient
+ * ===================================
+
+ * The following applies to the input pool.
+
+ * Scenario #1: Suppose the pool starts out with all zeros, or in some
+ * other state that the attacker knows or could readily guess. This
+ * is a definite possibility immediately after startup. If we add N=8
+ * bits of entropy to the pool and then extract one 8-bit byte, that
+ * byte will have an entropy of approximately 7.18 bits, as can be
+ * verified by Monte Carlo integration over the ensemble. That is an
+ * entropy density of just under 90%, which we consider too low.
+
+ * Scenario #2: Same as above, except that we load 18 bits before
+ * extracting the first byte. In other words, there is 10 bits of
+ * /margin/. Then the first byte will contain 7.99935 bits. That is
+ * an entropy density of 99.992%, which should be acceptable for a
+ * wide range of purposes.
+
+ * The idea of margin extends to larger N. Let's keep the margin at
+ * 10 bits. If we load 16+10 = 26 bits into the pool before
+ * extracting the first two bytes, the output entropy will be
+ * approximately 15.9993 bits. The entropy density will be
+ * approximately 99.996%. Again, you can verify this by Monte Carlo
+ * integration over the ensemble.
+
+ * The margin is easily implemented by initializing the entropy_count
+ * of the input pool to a negative number.
+
* Strategy for reseeding the PRNG
* ===============================
*
@@ -658,6 +687,7 @@ static struct Pool input_pool = {
.name = "input",
.blockable = 1,
.lock = __SPIN_LOCK_UNLOCKED(input_pool.lock),
+ .entropy_count = -10,
.pooldata = input_pool_data
};