[PATCH RFC v1 00/10] archs/random: fallback to using sched_clock() if no cycle counter

[Eric Biggers]

On Fri, Apr 08, 2022 at 08:21:35PM +0200, Jason A. Donenfeld wrote:
> By my first guess, we have ktime_get_boottime_ns(), jiffies, and
> sched_clock(). It seems like sched_clock() has already done a lot of
> work in being always available with some incrementing value, falling
> back to jiffies as necessary. So this series goes with that as a
> fallback, for when the architecture doesn't define random_get_entropy in
> its own way and when there's no working cycle counter.

Won't this interact badly with how try_to_generate_entropy() (a.k.a. the "Linus
Jitter Dance") detects the presence of an appropriate timer currently?

        stack.cycles = random_get_entropy();

        /* Slow counter - or none. Don't even bother */
        if (stack.cycles == random_get_entropy())
                return;

So if random_get_entropy() always returns 0, then try_to_generate_entropy()
won't run.  However, if random_get_entropy() is even just a low-precision timer,
then try_to_generate_entropy() will have a chance of running, since the timer
might change between the two calls to random_get_entropy().  And if
try_to_generate_entropy() does run, then it credits 1 bit of entropy for every
iteration, regardless of the timer's precision.

This is an existing problem, but this patchset will make it worse, as it changes
a lot of cases from "no timer" to "low precision timer".

Perhaps try_to_generate_entropy() should check the timer at least 3 times and
verify that it changed each time?

- Eric