Linux Kernel: Randstruct and Rust Compatibility Fix
Linus Torvalds merged a hardening fix from Kees Cook that turns off randstruct by default when Rust is enabled, improving build coverage for allmodconfig testing.
Duration: PT1M42S
Episode overview
This episode is a short developer briefing from Linux Kernel.
It explains recent repository work in plain language.
- Show: Linux Kernel
- Published: 2026-09-03T13:16:10Z
- Audio duration: PT1M42S
Transcript excerpt
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It's September 3rd, 2026, and this is your Linux Kernel briefing.
Today's activity is narrow but worth flagging: a single merge into the hardening tree, addressing a build configuration conflict between two security and language features.
The commit, from Linus Torvalds, pulls in a fix authored by Mark Brown and shepherded by Kees Cook. The change sets randstruct to be off by default when Rust support is enabled in the kernel configuration. Randstruct is a hardening feature that randomizes structure layouts to make certain exploit techniques harder.…
This is a maintainability fix more than a security rollback. By default-disabling randstruct under Rust configurations, the kernel's broad test builds can actually complete and provide meaningful coverage, rather than tripping over an incompatibility. Developers relying on allmodconfig to catch build regressions…
It's a small change, but it reflects an ongoing theme as Rust support matures in the kernel: hardening features built for C code don't always translate cleanly, and maintainers are having to make pragmatic trade-offs to keep continuous testing infrastructure functional.
What's next: expect more of these targeted compatibility…
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