“Linux 5.8” Released

August 2, Linus Torvalds released the latest Linux kernel “Linux 5.8”. This big release introduces Kernel Concurrency Sanitizer and other features.

The latest kernel Linux 5.8 is the successor of v5.7, released at the end of May. It was released after the seventh release candidate (RC).

This release includes Kernel Concurrency Sanitizer (KCSAN), which detects data races within the kernel by measuring memory access when compiling. Kernel event-notification subsystem has been added. It splices messages from the kernel into pipes opened by userspace, and the internal ring buffer is used to hold messages that are generated by the kernel. These messages are then read out by read(2).

It also introduces Inline Encryption support for the block layer. Inline Encryption hardware can now specify an encryption key and algorithm along with a data request to a storage device.

This release extends the Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) support to IPv6. It also adds support for Media Redundancy Protocol (MPLS), standardized as IEC 62439-2.

BPF (Berkeley Packet Filter) is added with CAP_BPF, which controls actions that can be carried out with the bpm system, and performance monitoring CAP_PERFMON.

It also adds small features like updates on hardware and drivers.

kernel.org
https://www.kernel.org/