• Linus Torvalds Drops Old Linux Kconfig Option To Address Tiresome Kernel Log Spam Following yesterday’s Linux 7.0-rc1 release, Linus Torvalds authored and merged a patch to get rid of the Linux kernel’s WARN_ALL_UNSEEDED_RANDOM Kconfig option. • While that option was added with good intentions, on some systems it can yield a lot of unnecessary kernel log spam. • The WARN_ALL_UNSEEDED_RANDOM option has for many years been part of the Linux kernel and enabling it will provide a warning whenever there is a use of unseeded randomness within the kernel. • To help spot situations of random number generation use prior to being able to securely use RNG on the system, this option was added long ago to help spot such uses of unseeded randomness by kernel code. • But due to caveats on some CPUs around a fully-seeded CRNG, the WARN_ALL_UNSEEDED_RANDOM can become like an endless stream of spam. • After encountering a bug report where much of the kernel log were just messages about unseeded randomness and in turn losing some of the initial boot log, Torvalds had enough and gutted out this option.

Article Summaries:

  • Linus Torvalds has removed the Linux kernel’s WARN_ALL_UNSEEDED_RANDOM configuration option, citing excessive log spam that obscures real issues. The option, originally added to warn about unseeded randomness, can flood the kernel log on some CPUs, causing boot messages to be truncated. Torvalds noted that the broad, non‑rate‑limited warnings were not helpful and that many users ignore them, leading to noise. In addition to dropping the option, he introduced the default_gfp() helper macro and updated existing code to use it, streamlining memory allocation handling in the kernel.
  • Linus Torvalds has removed the long‑standing WARN_ALL_UNSEEDED_RANDOM Kconfig option from the Linux kernel, citing excessive log spam that obscures real issues. The option, originally added to warn about unseeded randomness, often flooded the kernel log on some CPUs, causing boot logs to be truncated. After a bug report highlighted the problem, Torvalds merged a patch that deletes the option, noting that the broader warnings were not helpful and could hide critical messages. In the same update, he introduced the default_gfp() helper macro and updated existing code to use it, streamlining memory allocation handling.

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