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[PATCH]: New implementation for /dev/[u]random
- To: cygdev <cygwin-developers at sources dot redhat dot com>, cygpatch <cygwin-patches at sources dot redhat dot com>
- Subject: [PATCH]: New implementation for /dev/[u]random
- From: Corinna Vinschen <vinschen at cygnus dot com>
- Date: Mon, 24 Jul 2000 13:43:33 +0200
Hi all,
I have checked in a patch which changes the implementation
of /dev/random and /dev/urandom as follows:
- If initialization of the system crypto provider or retrieving
the entropy source fails, reading from /dev/random fails as well.
- If that happens when using /dev/urandom, a pseudo random number
generator (the same as used in DJGPP) is used as a fallback
entropy source.
- In either case it's now possible to thrill the entropy source
(system _and_ pseudo) by writing to the device.
The difference in handling /dev/random in contrast to /dev/urandom
is reasoned by it's purpose as a source for "very high quality
randomness" as it's described in the Linux man page random(4)
while /dev/urandom is explicitly allowed to use a substitute.
For clearness: `sshd' uses /dev/urandom so it should work now under
any circumstances.
Corinna
--
Corinna Vinschen
Cygwin Developer
Cygnus Solutions, a Red Hat company