.. _stable_kernel_rules:

Everything you ever wanted to know about Linux -stable releases

Rules on what kind of patches are accepted, and which ones are not, into the "-stable" tree:

It or an equivalent fix must already exist in Linus' tree (upstream).
It must be obviously correct and tested.
It cannot be bigger than 100 lines, with context.
It must follow the :ref:Documentation/process/submitting-patches.rst <submittingpatches> rules.
It must either fix a real bug that bothers people or just add a device ID. To elaborate on the former:
- It fixes a problem like an oops, a hang, data corruption, a real security issue, a hardware quirk, a build error (but not for things marked CONFIG_BROKEN), or some "oh, that's not good" issue.
- Serious issues as reported by a user of a distribution kernel may also be considered if they fix a notable performance or interactivity issue. As these fixes are not as obvious and have a higher risk of a subtle regression they should only be submitted by a distribution kernel maintainer and include an addendum linking to a bugzilla entry if it exists and additional information on the user-visible impact.
- No "This could be a problem..." type of things like a "theoretical race condition", unless an explanation of how the bug can be exploited is also provided.
- No "trivial" fixes without benefit for users (spelling changes, whitespace cleanups, etc).

Procedure for submitting patches to the -stable tree

.. note::

Security patches should not be handled (solely) by the -stable review process but should follow the procedures in :ref:Documentation/process/security-bugs.rst <securitybugs>.

There are three options to submit a change to -stable trees:

Add a 'stable tag' to the description of a patch you then submit for mainline inclusion.
Ask the stable team to pick up a patch already mainlined.
Submit a patch to the stable team that is equivalent to a change already mainlined.

The sections below describe each of the options in more detail.

:ref:option_1 is strongly preferred, it is the easiest and most common. :ref:option_2 is mainly meant for changes where backporting was not considered at the time of submission. :ref:option_3 is an alternative to the two earlier options for cases where a mainlined patch needs adjustments to apply in older series (for example due to API changes).

When using option 2 or 3 you can ask for your change to be included in specific stable series. When doing so, ensure the fix or an equivalent is applicable, submitted, or already present in all newer stable trees still supported. This is meant to prevent regressions that users might later encounter on updating, if e.g. a fix merged for 5.19-rc1 would be backported to 5.10.y, but not to 5.15.y.

.. _option_1:

Option 1

To have a patch you submit for mainline inclusion later automatically picked up for stable trees, add the tag

.. code-block:: none

 Cc: [email protected]

in the sign-off area. Once the patch is mainlined it will be applied to the stable tree without anything else needing to be done by the author or subsystem maintainer.

To sent additional instructions to the stable team, use a shell-style inline comment:

To specify any additional patch prerequisites for cherry picking use the following format in the sign-off area:

.. code-block:: none

Cc: [email protected] # 3.3.x: a1f84a3: sched: Check for idle Cc: [email protected] # 3.3.x: 1b9508f: sched: Rate-limit newidle Cc: [email protected] # 3.3.x: fd21073: sched: Fix affinity logic Cc: [email protected] # 3.3.x Signed-off-by: Ingo Molnar [email protected]

The tag sequence has the meaning of:

.. code-block:: none

git cherry-pick a1f84a3 git cherry-pick 1b9508f git cherry-pick fd21073 git cherry-pick <this commit>
For patches that may have kernel version prerequisites specify them using the following format in the sign-off area:

.. code-block:: none

Cc: [email protected] # 3.3.x

The tag has the meaning of:

.. code-block:: none

git cherry-pick <this commit>

For each "-stable" tree starting with the specified version.

Note, such tagging is unnecessary if the stable team can derive the appropriate versions from Fixes: tags.
To delay pick up of patches, use the following format:

.. code-block:: none

Cc: [email protected] # after 4 weeks in mainline
For any other requests, just add a note to the stable tag. This for example can be used to point out known problems:

.. code-block:: none

Cc: [email protected] # see patch description, needs adjustments for <= 6.3

.. _option_2:

Option 2

If the patch already has been merged to mainline, send an email to [email protected] containing the subject of the patch, the commit ID, why you think it should be applied, and what kernel versions you wish it to be applied to.

.. _option_3:

Option 3

Send the patch, after verifying that it follows the above rules, to [email protected] and mention the kernel versions you wish it to be applied to. When doing so, you must note the upstream commit ID in the changelog of your submission with a separate line above the commit text, like this:

.. code-block:: none

commit <sha1> upstream.

or alternatively:

.. code-block:: none

[ Upstream commit <sha1> ]

If the submitted patch deviates from the original upstream patch (for example because it had to be adjusted for the older API), this must be very clearly documented and justified in the patch description.

Following the submission

The sender will receive an ACK when the patch has been accepted into the queue, or a NAK if the patch is rejected. This response might take a few days, according to the schedules of the stable team members.

If accepted, the patch will be added to the -stable queue, for review by other developers and by the relevant subsystem maintainer.

Review cycle

When the -stable maintainers decide for a review cycle, the patches will be sent to the review committee, and the maintainer of the affected area of the patch (unless the submitter is the maintainer of the area) and CC: to the linux-kernel mailing list.
The review committee has 48 hours in which to ACK or NAK the patch.
If the patch is rejected by a member of the committee, or linux-kernel members object to the patch, bringing up issues that the maintainers and members did not realize, the patch will be dropped from the queue.
The ACKed patches will be posted again as part of release candidate (-rc) to be tested by developers and testers.
Usually only one -rc release is made, however if there are any outstanding issues, some patches may be modified or dropped or additional patches may be queued. Additional -rc releases are then released and tested until no issues are found.
Responding to the -rc releases can be done on the mailing list by sending a "Tested-by:" email with any testing information desired. The "Tested-by:" tags will be collected and added to the release commit.
At the end of the review cycle, the new -stable release will be released containing all the queued and tested patches.
Security patches will be accepted into the -stable tree directly from the security kernel team, and not go through the normal review cycle. Contact the kernel security team for more details on this procedure.

Trees

The queues of patches, for both completed versions and in progress versions can be found at:

https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/stable-queue.git
The finalized and tagged releases of all stable kernels can be found in separate branches per version at:

https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux.git
The release candidate of all stable kernel versions can be found at:
```
 https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/stable/linux-stable-rc.git/
```
.. warning:: The -stable-rc tree is a snapshot in time of the stable-queue tree and will change frequently, hence will be rebased often. It should only be used for testing purposes (e.g. to be consumed by CI systems).

Review committee

This is made up of a number of kernel developers who have volunteered for this task, and a few that haven't.