Linux Kernel 6.12.68 released
Linux Kernel Version 6.12.68 has been released with numerous bug fixes and enhancements.
There are some notable changes worth mentioning in this release, particularly within certain network modules dealing with vsock/virtio. A previous problem where communication performance regressed has been fixed using a new function called skb_copy_datagram_from_iter_full(). The important thing there is that it now properly resets things when errors happen, keeping everything lined up correctly as data gets sent.
Over in the filesystem area, this version also tackles some security-related headaches spotted by KMSAN. It found multiple spots where uninitialized memory might leak sensitive information. The fix involved ensuring specific structures are fully cleared before being used, swapping out kmem_cache_alloc() for a function called kmem_cache_zalloc(). This is just another step towards making the core handling safer.
Beyond those headline fixes, there's plenty else happening under the hood. Patches were landed to prevent potential slowdowns caused by scheduling glitches in related subsystems and also addressed bitfield write issues specifically within Btrfs, that file system used for Linux virtual machines often enough.
Also noteworthy is some extra checking added to the tests themselves, particularly those involving the BPF framework's test infrastructure. This prevents it from accidentally generating invalid network packet types, which could confuse systems further down the line.
Accelerator users should be aware that a tricky race condition has been smoothed out too when unbinding certain buffer objects (BOs). And finally, there was some cleaning up in device tree source files by removing redundant declarations, this means things are set up more cleanly for driver rebinding situations.
Linux kernel 6.12.68 released
Linux kernel version 6.12.68 is now available:
Full source: https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v6.x/linux-6.12.68.tar.xz
Patch: https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v6.x/patch-6.12.68.xz
PGP Signature: https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v6.x/linux-6.12.68.tar.sign
You can view the summary of the changes at the following URL:
https://git.kernel.org/stable/ds/v6.12.68/v6.12.67
