The Linux Kernel Working On A Rust-Based Untrusted Data API

One of the newest interfaces being worked on for the Rust programming language support within the Linux kernel is an Untrusted Data API for data received into the kernel from user-space.

For further enhancing the security of the Linux kernel from Rust code, an Untrusted Data API has been in development for being able to explicitly mark data received from user-space or other external data. As such data should first be validated/sanitized before making use of it within the kernel to prevent any security issues or bugs, the new API introduces a new wrapper type for marking said data as untrusted.

This patch provides the basic API and documentation that explains this untrusted data API usage and reasoning. Open-source developer Benno Lossin is the one leading the effort on this new API.

In addition, the added is a new validate trait and functions for validating the untrusted data. The initial user of this untrusted data API is the I/O vector "IOV" code.

Greg Kroah-Hartman has queued these Rust API patches into a new "untrusted" branch of driver-core.git. With the addition beginning to make its way into one of these formal code branches, we'll see if this Untrusted Data API is deemed ready and works its way soon into the driver-core next branch soon where it could potentially premiere in the upcoming Linux v7.2 merge window.