Linux Kernel 6.10 RC5 Released: Key Updates and Bcachefs Fixes

Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, has announced the release of Linux Kernel 6.10 Release Candidate 5 (RC5). The Linux 6.10 Development continues without major hiccups.

In his update to the Linux kernel mailing list on June 23rd, Torvalds provided insights into the current state of kernel development.

According to Torvalds, the development of version 6.10 has been notably stable so far, with RC5 continuing this positive trend. He expressed hope that this smooth progress will persist throughout the remainder of the development cycle.

Changes in Linux Kernel Release Candidate 5

Interestingly, changes to device drivers, which typically dominate kernel updates, account for only about one-third of the modifications in RC5. Even within this category, the majority of changes are concentrated in a few specific areas:

1. The Hyper-V balloon driver (hv_balloon)
2. Broadcom's bnxt network driver
3. A Qualcomm PHY (physical layer) driver

While there are other driver updates, none are particularly extensive.

The remaining changes span various areas of the kernel:

• bcachefs filesystem fixes
• Networking self-tests improvements
• Documentation updates
• Virtual Memory (VM) enhancements
• Core networking adjustments
• Minor architecture-specific modifications

bcachefs Fixes in Linux Kernel 6.10 RC5

Just like the RC4, Linux Kernel RC5 also included many fixes and improvements specifically for the bcachefs subsystem.

The bcachefs filesystem, a modern copy-on-write (CoW) filesystem for Linux, received several important fixes in this release candidate.

Here's a summary of the key changes:

• Corrected the order of initialization for the srcu barrier in bcachefs.
• Resolved an issue where an array index was out of bounds.
• Fixed a locking problem in the do_discard_fast() function.
• Addressed a shift overflow in the read_one_super() function.
• Adjusted the bitmasks used for btree IDs in bcachefs.
• Added checks to detect invalid btree IDs.
• Improved error handling during the early initialization phase of the journal code.
• Removed the need for delete_dead_snapshots() to transition to read-write mode.
• Implemented safeguards against overflowing LRU_TIME_BITS.
• Enhanced the handling of cached data LRU wraparound.
• Corrected the bch2_sb_downgrade_update() function.
• Updated set_worker_desc() for delete_dead_snapshots.
• Fixed the bch2_trans_put() function.
• Set safe errors as the default to improve reliability.
• Changed BUG_ON() to WARN_ON() in closures to provide more informative warnings.
• Added the missing alloc_data_type_set() function.
• Replaced the bare EEXIST error with private error codes for more specific error handling.
• Addressed an I_NEW warning in the race condition path of bch2_inode_insert().
• Utilized bch2_print_string_as_lines for displaying long error messages.
• Fixed a use-after-free (UAF) issue that occurred after write_super().

Torvalds noted that the changes in RC5 are diverse but not unusual or concerning for the 6.10 release. He indicated that a complete changelog is available for those interested in the technical details.

Test Linux Kernel 6.10 RC5

Users are encouraged to test the latest release candidate by downloading it from the Kernel.org website or the Linus Torvalds's git tree.

Please note that these development versions should not be used on production systems due to their experimental nature.

Read Next:

• Linux Kernel 6.10 RC6 Released: A Calm And Focused Update