Re: [PATCH v2] mm: Add kvfree_sensitive() for freeing sensitive data objects

[David Howells]

Linus Torvalds <torvalds@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> > It might be worth asking the compiler folks to give us an __attribute__ for
> > that - even if they don't do anything with it immediately.  So we might have
> > something like:
> >
> >         void free(const volatile void *ptr) __attribute__((free(1)));
> 
> Yeah, that sounds sane.

https://gcc.gnu.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=94527

> Even if it wasn't initially used for anything it wouldn't hurt, and maybe
> some day it would improve warnings (and allow the compiler to do the dead
> store elimination that started this whole long set of threads in the first
> place..)

With regard to this, I've got back "not sure what Linus was talking about WRT
DSE, if he's got examples he could pass along, they'd be appreciated"

David