Linus Torvalds ponders limits of automation as kernel release delayed
(2022/03/14)
- Reference: 1647223026
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/03/14/linux_5_17_rc8/
- Source link:
Linux kernel development boss Linus Torvalds's [1]prediction that Linux 5.17 would be released this week "unless something surprising comes up" has come to pass. Not in the good way.
The surprise was CVE-2021-26341 – a flaw in some AMD processors found to have new Spectre-and-Meltdown-like speculative execution issues. AMD has described the flaw as meaning its processors "may transiently execute instructions following an unconditional direct branch that may result in detectable cache activity."
While the flaw was rated just 4.7/10 on the CVSS scale and AMD could not find any active exploitation, the chipmaker [2]warned the problem is present in 14 client CPUs and first- and second-gen EPYC silicon for servers. The issue was detected in October 2021 and [3]detailed by Grsecurity, which after disclosure worked to deliver a fix by February 8 but later agreed to an extended deadline of March 8.
[4]
Torvalds said the patches that arrived for the kernel ahead of the March deadline "were mostly fine" and the flaw "was not one of the 'big disaster' hw speculation things." But the embargo meant that automated testing found "a (small) flurry of fixes for the fixes."
[5]
[6]
"None of this was really surprising, but I naïvely thought I'd be able to do the final release this weekend anyway," Torvalds wrote. The penguin emperor nonetheless pondered sending version 5.17 out the door regardless but decided "we also really don't have any reason _not_ to give it another week with all the proper automated testing."
[7]Linus Torvalds 'starting to get worried' as Linux kernel 5.17 rc6 lands
[8]For first time in nearly 17 years, stable Linux kernel version has over 999 commits – but not everyone heard about it
[9]Technology can sometimes go from east to west: Ubuntu DDE 21.10 remix ships in 22.01
[10]But why that VPN? How WireGuard made it into Linux
Torvalds also wants developers to get their hands dirty.
"Anyway, let's not keep the testing _just_ to automation," he [11]suggested in his weekly kernel progress update. "The more the merrier, and real-life loads are always more interesting than what the automation farms do. So please do give this last rc a quick try," he added.
Release candidate 8 also includes what Torvalds described as "a couple of mislaid patches that had been on the regression list."
[12]
The signs are therefore very good for a March 20 debut for version 5.17 of the kernel, which lays the groundwork for Intel's Raptor Lake processors among many other enhancements. The Register keenly awaits version 5.18, as that's the version expected to reveal more the software-defined silicon tech that Intel has [13]teased but declined to explain. ®
Get our [14]Tech Resources
[1] https://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/2203.0/06186.html
[2] https://www.amd.com/en/corporate/product-security/bulletin/amd-sb-1026
[3] https://grsecurity.net/amd_branch_mispredictor_part_2_where_no_cpu_has_gone_before
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Yi7L@KFKsaTh1PBajpTBVQAAAI0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Yi7L@KFKsaTh1PBajpTBVQAAAI0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Yi7L@KFKsaTh1PBajpTBVQAAAI0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/28/linux_kernel_5_17_rc6/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/27/linux_999_commits/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/07/ubuntu_dde_2110/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/08/wireguard_linux/
[11] https://lkml.org/lkml/2022/3/13/341
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Yi7L@KFKsaTh1PBajpTBVQAAAI0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/14/intel_sdsi_linux_5_18/
[14] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The surprise was CVE-2021-26341 – a flaw in some AMD processors found to have new Spectre-and-Meltdown-like speculative execution issues. AMD has described the flaw as meaning its processors "may transiently execute instructions following an unconditional direct branch that may result in detectable cache activity."
While the flaw was rated just 4.7/10 on the CVSS scale and AMD could not find any active exploitation, the chipmaker [2]warned the problem is present in 14 client CPUs and first- and second-gen EPYC silicon for servers. The issue was detected in October 2021 and [3]detailed by Grsecurity, which after disclosure worked to deliver a fix by February 8 but later agreed to an extended deadline of March 8.
[4]
Torvalds said the patches that arrived for the kernel ahead of the March deadline "were mostly fine" and the flaw "was not one of the 'big disaster' hw speculation things." But the embargo meant that automated testing found "a (small) flurry of fixes for the fixes."
[5]
[6]
"None of this was really surprising, but I naïvely thought I'd be able to do the final release this weekend anyway," Torvalds wrote. The penguin emperor nonetheless pondered sending version 5.17 out the door regardless but decided "we also really don't have any reason _not_ to give it another week with all the proper automated testing."
[7]Linus Torvalds 'starting to get worried' as Linux kernel 5.17 rc6 lands
[8]For first time in nearly 17 years, stable Linux kernel version has over 999 commits – but not everyone heard about it
[9]Technology can sometimes go from east to west: Ubuntu DDE 21.10 remix ships in 22.01
[10]But why that VPN? How WireGuard made it into Linux
Torvalds also wants developers to get their hands dirty.
"Anyway, let's not keep the testing _just_ to automation," he [11]suggested in his weekly kernel progress update. "The more the merrier, and real-life loads are always more interesting than what the automation farms do. So please do give this last rc a quick try," he added.
Release candidate 8 also includes what Torvalds described as "a couple of mislaid patches that had been on the regression list."
[12]
The signs are therefore very good for a March 20 debut for version 5.17 of the kernel, which lays the groundwork for Intel's Raptor Lake processors among many other enhancements. The Register keenly awaits version 5.18, as that's the version expected to reveal more the software-defined silicon tech that Intel has [13]teased but declined to explain. ®
Get our [14]Tech Resources
[1] https://lkml.iu.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/2203.0/06186.html
[2] https://www.amd.com/en/corporate/product-security/bulletin/amd-sb-1026
[3] https://grsecurity.net/amd_branch_mispredictor_part_2_where_no_cpu_has_gone_before
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Yi7L@KFKsaTh1PBajpTBVQAAAI0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Yi7L@KFKsaTh1PBajpTBVQAAAI0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Yi7L@KFKsaTh1PBajpTBVQAAAI0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/28/linux_kernel_5_17_rc6/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/27/linux_999_commits/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/07/ubuntu_dde_2110/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/12/08/wireguard_linux/
[11] https://lkml.org/lkml/2022/3/13/341
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Yi7L@KFKsaTh1PBajpTBVQAAAI0&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2022/02/14/intel_sdsi_linux_5_18/
[14] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/