Linus Torvalds merged the Device Mapper “DM” changes overnight that include one stand-out change for Linux 6.19.
Most exciting with the DM changes for Linux 6.19 is adapting the crypto hashing code to make direct use of the Linux kernel’s crypto library with simpler integration yet faster performance and lowering the kernel stack usage. As part of the conversion, the DM-VERITY code has been adapted to support two-way interleaved hashing for furthering the performance.
DM-VERITY is the Device Mapper target providing block device integrity that checks cryptographic hashes on reads to ensure no data tampering. This DM target is important for verified boot purposes, bootloader protection on embedded/mobile devices, and other similar uses.
With these DM-VERITY updates for Linux 6.19, on some processors the hashing performance can be about doubled compared to prior versions of the Linux kernel. Some really nice work by Google’s crypto performance expert Eric Biggers.
More details on other Device Mapper changes to find with Linux 6.19 via the Git merge.
