Linux kernel ============ The Linux kernel is the core of any Linux operating system. It manages hardware, system resources, and provides the fundamental services for all other software. Quick Start ----------- * Report a bug: See Documentation/admin-guide/reporting-issues.rst * Get the latest kernel: https://kernel.org * Build the kernel: See Documentation/admin-guide/quickly-build-trimmed-linux.rst * Join the community: https://lore.kernel.org/ Essential Documentation ----------------------- All users should be familiar with: * Building requirements: Documentation/process/changes.rst * Code of Conduct: Documentation/process/code-of-conduct.rst * License: See COPYING Documentation can be built with make htmldocs or viewed online at: https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/ Who Are You? ============ Find your role below: * New Kernel Developer - Getting started with kernel development * Academic Researcher - Studying kernel internals and architecture * Security Expert - Hardening and vulnerability analysis * Backport/Maintenance Engineer - Maintaining stable kernels * System Administrator - Configuring and troubleshooting * Maintainer - Leading subsystems and reviewing patches * Hardware Vendor - Writing drivers for new hardware * Distribution Maintainer - Packaging kernels for distros For Specific Users ================== New Kernel Developer -------------------- Welcome! Start your kernel development journey here: * Getting Started: Documentation/process/development-process.rst * Your First Patch: Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst * Coding Style: Documentation/process/coding-style.rst * Build System: Documentation/kbuild/index.rst * Development Tools: Documentation/dev-tools/index.rst * Kernel Hacking Guide: Documentation/kernel-hacking/hacking.rst * Core APIs: Documentation/core-api/index.rst Academic Researcher ------------------- Explore the kernel's architecture and internals: * Researcher Guidelines: Documentation/process/researcher-guidelines.rst * Memory Management: Documentation/mm/index.rst * Scheduler: Documentation/scheduler/index.rst * Networking Stack: Documentation/networking/index.rst * Filesystems: Documentation/filesystems/index.rst * RCU (Read-Copy Update): Documentation/RCU/index.rst * Locking Primitives: Documentation/locking/index.rst * Power Management: Documentation/power/index.rst Security Expert --------------- Security documentation and hardening guides: * Security Documentation: Documentation/security/index.rst * LSM Development: Documentation/security/lsm-development.rst * Self Protection: Documentation/security/self-protection.rst * Reporting Vulnerabilities: Documentation/process/security-bugs.rst * CVE Procedures: Documentation/process/cve.rst * Embargoed Hardware Issues: Documentation/process/embargoed-hardware-issues.rst * Security Features: Documentation/userspace-api/seccomp_filter.rst Backport/Maintenance Engineer ----------------------------- Maintain and stabilize kernel versions: * Stable Kernel Rules: Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst * Backporting Guide: Documentation/process/backporting.rst * Applying Patches: Documentation/process/applying-patches.rst * Subsystem Profile: Documentation/maintainer/maintainer-entry-profile.rst * Git for Maintainers: Documentation/maintainer/configure-git.rst System Administrator -------------------- Configure, tune, and troubleshoot Linux systems: * Admin Guide: Documentation/admin-guide/index.rst * Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst * Sysctl Tuning: Documentation/admin-guide/sysctl/index.rst * Tracing/Debugging: Documentation/trace/index.rst * Performance Security: Documentation/admin-guide/perf-security.rst * Hardware Monitoring: Documentation/hwmon/index.rst Maintainer ---------- Lead kernel subsystems and manage contributions: * Maintainer Handbook: Documentation/maintainer/index.rst * Pull Requests: Documentation/maintainer/pull-requests.rst * Managing Patches: Documentation/maintainer/modifying-patches.rst * Rebasing and Merging: Documentation/maintainer/rebasing-and-merging.rst * Development Process: Documentation/process/maintainer-handbooks.rst * Maintainer Entry Profile: Documentation/maintainer/maintainer-entry-profile.rst * Git Configuration: Documentation/maintainer/configure-git.rst Hardware Vendor --------------- Write drivers and support new hardware: * Driver API Guide: Documentation/driver-api/index.rst * Driver Model: Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/driver.rst * Device Drivers: Documentation/driver-api/infrastructure.rst * Bus Types: Documentation/driver-api/driver-model/bus.rst * Device Tree Bindings: Documentation/devicetree/bindings/ * Power Management: Documentation/driver-api/pm/index.rst * DMA API: Documentation/core-api/dma-api.rst Distribution Maintainer ----------------------- Package and distribute the kernel: * Stable Kernel Rules: Documentation/process/stable-kernel-rules.rst * ABI Documentation: Documentation/ABI/README * Kernel Configuration: Documentation/kbuild/kconfig.rst * Module Signing: Documentation/admin-guide/module-signing.rst * Kernel Parameters: Documentation/admin-guide/kernel-parameters.rst * Tainted Kernels: Documentation/admin-guide/tainted-kernels.rst Communication and Support ========================= * Mailing Lists: https://lore.kernel.org/ * IRC: #kernelnewbies on irc.oftc.net * Bugzilla: https://bugzilla.kernel.org/ * MAINTAINERS file: Lists subsystem maintainers and mailing lists * Email Clients: Documentation/process/email-clients.rst
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Pull driver core fixes from Danilo Krummrich:
- Always inline I/O and IRQ methods using build_assert!() to avoid
false positive build errors
- Do not free the driver's device private data in I2C shutdown()
avoiding race conditions that can lead to UAF bugs
- Drop the driver's device private data after the driver has been
fully unbound from its device to avoid UAF bugs from &Device<Bound>
scopes, such as IRQ callbacks
* tag 'driver-core-6.19-rc7' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/driver-core/driver-core:
rust: driver: drop device private data post unbind
rust: driver: add DriverData type to the DriverLayout trait
rust: driver: add DEVICE_DRIVER_OFFSET to the DriverLayout trait
rust: driver: introduce a DriverLayout trait
rust: auxiliary: add Driver::unbind() callback
rust: i2c: do not drop device private data on shutdown()
rust: irq: always inline functions using build_assert with arguments
rust: io: always inline functions using build_assert with arguments
Pull timer fixes from Ingo Molnar:
- Fix auxiliary timekeeper update & locking bug
- Reduce the sensitivity of the clocksource watchdog,
to fix false positive measurements that marked the
TSC clocksource unstable
* tag 'timers-urgent-2026-01-24' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tip/tip:
clocksource: Reduce watchdog readout delay limit to prevent false positives
timekeeping: Adjust the leap state for the correct auxiliary timekeeper
Currently, the driver's device private data is allocated and initialized
from driver core code called from bus abstractions after the driver's
probe() callback returned the corresponding initializer.
Similarly, the driver's device private data is dropped within the
remove() callback of bus abstractions after calling the remove()
callback of the corresponding driver.
However, commit 6f61a2637abe ("rust: device: introduce
Device::drvdata()") introduced an accessor for the driver's device
private data for a Device<Bound>, i.e. a device that is currently bound
to a driver.
Obviously, this is in conflict with dropping the driver's device private
data in remove(), since a device can not be considered to be fully
unbound after remove() has finished:
We also have to consider registrations guarded by devres - such as IRQ
or class device registrations - which are torn down after remove() in
devres_release_all().
Thus, it can happen that, for instance, a class device or IRQ callback
still calls Device::drvdata(), which then runs concurrently to remove()
(which sets dev->driver_data to NULL and drops the driver's device
private data), before devres_release_all() started to tear down the
corresponding registration. This is because devres guarded registrations
can, as expected, access the corresponding Device<Bound> that defines
their scope.
In C it simply is the driver's responsibility to ensure that its device
private data is freed after e.g. an IRQ registration is unregistered.
Typically, C drivers achieve this by allocating their device private data
with e.g. devm_kzalloc() before doing anything else, i.e. before e.g.
registering an IRQ with devm_request_threaded_irq(), relying on the
reverse order cleanup of devres.
Technically, we could do something similar in Rust. However, the
resulting code would be pretty messy:
In Rust we have to differentiate between allocated but uninitialized
memory and initialized memory in the type system. Thus, we would need to
somehow keep track of whether the driver's device private data object
has been initialized (i.e. probe() was successful and returned a valid
initializer for this memory) and conditionally call the destructor of
the corresponding object when it is freed.
This is because we'd need to allocate and register the memory of the
driver's device private data *before* it is initialized by the
initializer returned by the driver's probe() callback, because the
driver could already register devres guarded registrations within
probe() outside of the driver's device private data initializer.
Luckily there is a much simpler solution: Instead of dropping the
driver's device private data at the end of remove(), we just drop it
after the device has been fully unbound, i.e. after all devres callbacks
have been processed.
For this, we introduce a new post_unbind() callback private to the
driver-core, i.e. the callback is neither exposed to drivers, nor to bus
abstractions.
This way, the driver-core code can simply continue to conditionally
allocate the memory for the driver's device private data when the
driver's initializer is returned from probe() - no change needed - and
drop it when the driver-core code receives the post_unbind() callback.
Closes: https://lore.kernel.org/all/DEZMS6Y4A7XE.XE7EUBT5SJFJ@kernel.org/
Fixes: 6f61a2637abe ("rust: device: introduce Device::drvdata()")
Acked-by: Alice Ryhl <aliceryhl@google.com>
Acked-by: Greg Kroah-Hartman <gregkh@linuxfoundation.org>
Acked-by: Igor Korotin <igor.korotin.linux@gmail.com>
Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20260107103511.570525-7-dakr@kernel.org
[ Remove #ifdef CONFIG_RUST, rename post_unbind() to post_unbind_rust().
- Danilo]
Signed-off-by: Danilo Krummrich <dakr@kernel.org>
Pull scheduler fixes from Ingo Molnar:
- Fix PELT clock synchronization bug when entering idle
- Disable the NEXT_BUDDY feature, as during extensive testing
Mel found that the negatives outweigh the positives
- Make wakeup preemption less aggressive, which resulted in
an unreasonable increase in preemption frequency
* tag 'sched-urgent-2026-01-24' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tip/tip:
sched/fair: Revert force wakeup preemption
sched/fair: Disable scheduler feature NEXT_BUDDY
sched/fair: Fix pelt clock sync when entering idle
The "valid" readout delay between the two reads of the watchdog is larger
than the valid delta between the resulting watchdog and clocksource
intervals, which results in false positive watchdog results.
Assume TSC is the clocksource and HPET is the watchdog and both have a
uncertainty margin of 250us (default). The watchdog readout does:
1) wdnow = read(HPET);
2) csnow = read(TSC);
3) wdend = read(HPET);
The valid window for the delta between #1 and #3 is calculated by the
uncertainty margins of the watchdog and the clocksource:
m = 2 * watchdog.uncertainty_margin + cs.uncertainty margin;
which results in 750us for the TSC/HPET case.
The actual interval comparison uses a smaller margin:
m = watchdog.uncertainty_margin + cs.uncertainty margin;
which results in 500us for the TSC/HPET case.
That means the following scenario will trigger the watchdog:
Watchdog cycle N:
1) wdnow[N] = read(HPET);
2) csnow[N] = read(TSC);
3) wdend[N] = read(HPET);
Assume the delay between #1 and #2 is 100us and the delay between #1 and
Watchdog cycle N + 1:
4) wdnow[N + 1] = read(HPET);
5) csnow[N + 1] = read(TSC);
6) wdend[N + 1] = read(HPET);
If the delay between #4 and #6 is within the 750us margin then any delay
between #4 and #5 which is larger than 600us will fail the interval check
and mark the TSC unstable because the intervals are calculated against the
previous value:
wd_int = wdnow[N + 1] - wdnow[N];
cs_int = csnow[N + 1] - csnow[N];
Putting the above delays in place this results in:
cs_int = (wdnow[N + 1] + 610us) - (wdnow[N] + 100us);
-> cs_int = wd_int + 510us;
which is obviously larger than the allowed 500us margin and results in
marking TSC unstable.
Fix this by using the same margin as the interval comparison. If the delay
between two watchdog reads is larger than that, then the readout was either
disturbed by interconnect congestion, NMIs or SMIs.
Fixes: 4ac1dd3245b9 ("clocksource: Set cs_watchdog_read() checks based on .uncertainty_margin")
Reported-by: Daniel J Blueman <daniel@quora.org>
Signed-off-by: Thomas Gleixner <tglx@linutronix.de>
Reviewed-by: Paul E. McKenney <paulmck@kernel.org>
Tested-by: Paul E. McKenney <paulmck@kernel.org>
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/20250602223251.496591-1-daniel@quora.org/
Link: https://patch.msgid.link/87bjjxc9dq.ffs@tglx
Add an associated type DriverData to the DriverLayout trait indicating
the type of the driver's device private data.
Acked-by: Alice Ryhl <aliceryhl@google.com>
Acked-by: Igor Korotin <igor.korotin.linux@gmail.com>
Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20260107103511.570525-6-dakr@kernel.org
Signed-off-by: Danilo Krummrich <dakr@kernel.org>
Pull perf events fixes from Ingo Molnar:
- Fix mmap_count warning & bug when creating a group member event
with the PERF_FLAG_FD_OUTPUT flag
- Disable the sample period == 1 branch events BTS optimization
on guests, because BTS is not virtualized
* tag 'perf-urgent-2026-01-24' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tip/tip:
perf/x86/intel: Do not enable BTS for guests
perf: Fix refcount warning on event->mmap_count increment
This agressively bypasses run_to_parity and slice protection with the
assumpiton that this is what waker wants but there is no garantee that
the wakee will be the next to run. It is a better choice to use
yield_to_task or WF_SYNC in such case.
This increases the number of resched and preemption because a task becomes
quickly "ineligible" when it runs; We update the task vruntime periodically
and before the task exhausted its slice or at least quantum.
Example:
2 tasks A and B wake up simultaneously with lag = 0. Both are
eligible. Task A runs 1st and wakes up task C. Scheduler updates task
A's vruntime which becomes greater than average runtime as all others
have a lag == 0 and didn't run yet. Now task A is ineligible because
it received more runtime than the other task but it has not yet
exhausted its slice nor a min quantum. We force preemption, disable
protection but Task B will run 1st not task C.
Sidenote, DELAY_ZERO increases this effect by clearing positive lag at
wake up.
Fixes: e837456fdca8 ("sched/fair: Reimplement NEXT_BUDDY to align with EEVDF goals")
Signed-off-by: Vincent Guittot <vincent.guittot@linaro.org>
Signed-off-by: Peter Zijlstra (Intel) <peterz@infradead.org>
Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20260123102858.52428-1-vincent.guittot@linaro.org
When __do_ajdtimex() was introduced to handle adjtimex for any
timekeeper, this reference to tk_core was not updated. When called on an
auxiliary timekeeper, the core timekeeper would be updated incorrectly.
This gets caught by the lock debugging diagnostics because the
timekeepers sequence lock gets written to without holding its
associated spinlock:
WARNING: include/linux/seqlock.h:226 at __do_adjtimex+0x394/0x3b0, CPU#2: test/125
aux_clock_adj (kernel/time/timekeeping.c:2979)
__do_sys_clock_adjtime (kernel/time/posix-timers.c:1161 kernel/time/posix-timers.c:1173)
do_syscall_64 (arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:63 (discriminator 1) arch/x86/entry/syscall_64.c:94 (discriminator 1))
entry_SYSCALL_64_after_hwframe (arch/x86/entry/entry_64.S:131)
Update the correct auxiliary timekeeper.
Fixes: 775f71ebedd3 ("timekeeping: Make do_adjtimex() reusable")
Fixes: ecf3e7030491 ("timekeeping: Provide adjtimex() for auxiliary clocks")
Signed-off-by: Thomas Weißschuh <thomas.weissschuh@linutronix.de>
Signed-off-by: Thomas Gleixner <tglx@kernel.org>
Cc: stable@vger.kernel.org
Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20260120-timekeeper-auxclock-leapstate-v1-1-5b358c6b3cfd@linutronix.de
Add an associated const DEVICE_DRIVER_OFFSET to the DriverLayout trait
indicating the offset of the embedded struct device_driver within
Self::DriverType, i.e. the specific driver structs, such as struct
pci_driver or struct platform_driver.
Acked-by: Alice Ryhl <aliceryhl@google.com>
Acked-by: Igor Korotin <igor.korotin.linux@gmail.com>
Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20260107103511.570525-5-dakr@kernel.org
Signed-off-by: Danilo Krummrich <dakr@kernel.org>
Pull objtool fix from Ingo Molnar:
"Fix objtool build error in non-standard static library build
environments"
* tag 'objtool-urgent-2026-01-24' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tip/tip:
objtool: Fix libopcodes linking with static libraries
By default when users program perf to sample branch instructions
(PERF_COUNT_HW_BRANCH_INSTRUCTIONS) with a sample period of 1, perf
interprets this as a special case and enables BTS (Branch Trace Store)
as an optimization to avoid taking an interrupt on every branch.
Since BTS doesn't virtualize, this optimization doesn't make sense when
the request originates from a guest. Add an additional check that
prevents this optimization for virtualized events (exclude_host).
Reported-by: Jan H. Schönherr <jschoenh@amazon.de>
Suggested-by: Peter Zijlstra <peterz@infradead.org>
Signed-off-by: Fernand Sieber <sieberf@amazon.com>
Signed-off-by: Peter Zijlstra (Intel) <peterz@infradead.org>
Cc: <stable@vger.kernel.org>
Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20251211183604.868641-1-sieberf@amazon.com
NEXT_BUDDY was disabled with the introduction of EEVDF and enabled again
after NEXT_BUDDY was rewritten for EEVDF by commit e837456fdca8 ("sched/fair:
Reimplement NEXT_BUDDY to align with EEVDF goals"). It was not expected
that this would be a universal win without a crystal ball instruction
but the reported regressions are a concern [1][2] even if gains were
also reported. Specifically;
o mysql with client/server running on different servers regresses
o specjbb reports lower peak metrics
o daytrader regresses
The mysql is realistic and a concern. It needs to be confirmed if
specjbb is simply shifting the point where peak performance is measured
but still a concern. daytrader is considered to be representative of a
real workload.
Access to test machines is currently problematic for verifying any fix to
this problem. Disable NEXT_BUDDY for now by default until the root causes
are addressed.
Signed-off-by: Mel Gorman <mgorman@techsingularity.net>
Signed-off-by: Peter Zijlstra (Intel) <peterz@infradead.org>
Tested-by: Madadi Vineeth Reddy <vineethr@linux.ibm.com>
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/4b96909a-f1ac-49eb-b814-97b8adda6229@arm.com [1]
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/ec3ea66f-3a0d-4b5a-ab36-ce778f159b5b@linux.ibm.com [2]
Link: https://patch.msgid.link/fyqsk63pkoxpeaclyqsm5nwtz3dyejplr7rg6p74xwemfzdzuu@7m7xhs5aqpqw
The DriverLayout trait describes the layout of a specific driver
structure, such as `struct pci_driver` or `struct platform_driver`.
In a first step, this replaces the associated type RegType of the
RegistrationOps with the DriverLayout::DriverType associated type.
Acked-by: Alice Ryhl <aliceryhl@google.com>
Acked-by: Igor Korotin <igor.korotin.linux@gmail.com>
Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20260107103511.570525-4-dakr@kernel.org
[ Rename driver::Driver to driver::DriverLayout, as it represents the
layout of a driver structure rather than the driver structure itself.
- Danilo ]
Signed-off-by: Danilo Krummrich <dakr@kernel.org>
Pull irq fixes from Ingo Molnar:
- Fix spurious interrupts during resume in the renesas-rzv2h driver
- Fix a 32+ bit physical memory truncation bug in the gic-v3-its driver
* tag 'irq-urgent-2026-01-24' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/tip/tip:
irqchip/gic-v3-its: Avoid truncating memory addresses
irqchip/renesas-rzv2h: Prevent TINT spurious interrupt during resume