Audit kernel repository

Clone this repo:
  1. 401fb9b audit: add a Linux Audit specific README.md and SECURITY.md by Paul Moore · 4 years, 6 months ago main
  2. e8f897f Linux 6.8 by Linus Torvalds · 8 days ago v6.8
  3. fa4b851 Merge tag 'trace-ring-buffer-v6.8-rc7' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/trace/linux-trace by Linus Torvalds · 8 days ago
  4. 210ee63 Merge tag 'phy-fixes3-6.8' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/phy/linux-phy by Linus Torvalds · 8 days ago
  5. e5d7c19 tracing: Use .flush() call to wake up readers by Steven Rostedt (Google) · 10 days ago

Linux Kernel Audit Subsystem

https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/pcmoore/audit.git
https://github.com/linux-audit/audit-kernel

The Linux Audit subsystem provides a secure logging framework that is used to capture and record security relevant events. It consists of a kernel component which generates audit records based on system activity, a userspace daemon which logs these records to a local file or a remote aggregation server, and a set of userspace tools to for audit log inspection and post-processing.

The main Linux Kernel README can be found at Documentation/admin-guide/README.rst

Online Resources

The canonical audit kernel repository is hosted by kernel.org:

There is also an officially maintained GitHub mirror:

Kernel Source Branches and Development Process

Kernel Source Branches

There are four primary git branches associated with the development process: stable-X.Y, dev, dev-staging, and next. In addition to these four primary branches there are also topic specific, work in progress branches that start with a “working-” prefix; these branches can generally be ignored unless you happen to be involved in the development of that particular topic. The management of these topic branches can vary depending on a number of factors, but the details of each branch will be communicated in the relevant discussion threads on the upstream mailing list.

stable-X.Y branch

The stable-X.Y branch is intended for stable kernel patches and is based on Linus' X.Y-rc1 tag, or a later X.Y.Z stable kernel release tag as needed. If serious problems are identified and a patch is developed during the kernel‘s release candidate cycle, it may be a candidate for stable kernel marking and inclusion into the stable-X.Y branch. The main Linux kernel’s documentation on stable kernel patches has more information both on what patches may be stable kernel candidates, and how to mark those patches appropriately; upstream mailing list discussions on the merits of marking the patch for stable can also be expected. Once a patch has been merged into the stable-X.Y branch and spent a day or two in the next branch (see the next branch notes), it will be sent to Linus for merging into the next release candidate or final kernel release (see the notes on pull requests in this document). If the patch has been properly marked for stable, the other stable kernel trees will attempt to backport the patch as soon as it is present in Linus' tree, see the main Linux kernel documentation for more details.

Unless specifically requested, developers should not base their patches on the stable-X.Y branch. Any merge conflicts that arise from merging patches submitted upstream will be handled by the maintainer, although help and/or may be requested in extreme cases.

dev branch

The dev branch is intended for development patches targeting the upcoming merge window, and is based on Linus' latest X.Y-rc1 tag, or a later rc tag as needed to avoid serious bugs, merge conflicts, or other significant problems. This branch is the primary development branch where the majority of patches are merged during the normal kernel development cycle. Patches merged into the dev branch will be present in the next branch (see the next branch notes) and will be sent to Linus during the next merge window.

Developers should use the dev branch a stable basis for their own development work, only under extreme circumstances will the dev branch be rebased during the X.Y-rc cycle and the maintainer will be responsible for resolving any merge conflicts, although help and/or may be requested in extreme cases.

dev-staging branch

The dev-staging branch is intended for development patches that are not targeting a specific merge window. The dev-staging branch exists as a staging area for the main dev branch and as such its use will be unpredictable and it will be rebased as needed. Patches merged into the dev-staging branch should find their way into the primary dev branch at some point in the future, although that is not guaranteed.

Unless specifically requested, developers should not use the dev-staging branch as a basis for any development work.

next branch

The next branch is a composite branch built by merging the latest stable-X.Y and dev branches in that order. The main focus of the next branch is to provide a single branch for linux-next integration testing that contains all of the commits from the component branches. The next branch will be updated whenever there is a change to any one of the component branches, but it will remain frozen during the merge window so as to cooperate with the wishes of the linux-next team.

While developers can use the next branch as a basis for development, the dev branch would likely be a more suitable, and stable, base.

Kernel Development Process

After Linus closes the kernel merge window closes upstream, the stable-X.Y branch associated with the current kernel release candidate, the dev branch, and potentially the dev-staging branch (see the dev-staging branch notes) will be reset to match the latest vX.Y-rc1 tag in Linus' tree. The next branch, as a composite branch composed from these branches, will be updated as a result.

During the development cycle that starts with the close of the kernel merge window and ends with the tagged kernel release, patches will be accepted into the stable-X.Y and dev branches as described in their respective sections in this document. While patches will be accepted into the stable-X.Y branch at any point in time, significant changes will likely not be accepted into the dev branch when there are two or less weeks left in the development cycle; this typically means that only critical bugfixes are accepted once the vX.Y-rc6 kernel is released. During this time the next branch will be regenerated on an as needed basis based on changes in the component branches, and pull requests will be sent as needed to Linus for patches in the stable-X.Y branch.

Once Linus releases the final vX.Y kernel and the merge window opens, two things will happen. The first is that the dev branch will be duplicated into a new stable-X'.Y' branch, representing the new upcoming kernel release, and the second is that a pull request will be sent from this branch for inclusion into the current merge window. During the merge window process the dev and next branches should be frozen, although there is a possibility that some patches may be merged merged into dev-staging for testing or process related reasons.

Pull Requests for Linus

In order to send a pull request to Linus, either for a critical bugfix or as part of the merge window, a signed git tag must be created that points to the pull request point. The tag should be named using the “{subsystem}-pr-{date}” format and can be generated with the following git command:

% git tag -s -m "{subsystem}/stable-X'.Y' PR {date}" {subsystem}-pr-{date}

Once the signed tag has been created, it should be used as the basis for the pull request.

Userspace Tools and Test Suites

The audit userspace tools and test suites are hosted by GitHub: