rndtest — FIPS 140-2 random number generator test monitor
Contents
Bugs
Crypto device drivers must be compiled specially to make use of this driver; this should not be
necessary. This feature might better be integrated into the random(4) subsystem where it can be applied
to devices that claim to supply “pure entropy”.
Debian March 11, 2003 RNDTEST(4)
Description
The rndtest driver “hooks up” to hardware crypto devices to monitor the entropy data passed to the
random(4) subsystem. This data is periodically tested for FIPS 140-2 compliance and statistics are
collected. If the harvested entropy fails any of the FIPS test suite, then it is discarded and testing
is continuously applied until “good data” is received from the device. Failures are optionally reported
on the console.
History
The idea for this and the original code came from Jason L. Wright. The rndtest device driver first
appeared in FreeBSD 5.0.
Name
rndtest — FIPS 140-2 random number generator test monitor
See Also
crypto(4), hifn(4), random(4), safe(4), ubsec(4), crypto(9)
Synopsis
devicerndtest
