On Thu, Jul 04, 2024 at 08:14:15AM -0600, Theo de Raadt wrote:
> In glibc, getauxval(3) is a monster API that keeps growing additional
> heads and tentacles.  Exporting a tiny version of it to userland is
> worrying.

Agreed about getauxval.

> When the real problem here is a tiny little check to use done only
> internal to only our libc, and therefore why not use an OpenBSD private
> interface.

Indeed we could use a private API for this specific need.  But the
problem is not just about our libc, ports also want a way to query
hardware capabilities.  We usually have to patch them to use a
sysctl(2) or just drop the code that detects such capabilities.
I feel like implementing elf_aux_info(3) should be considered.  Has
someone already tried that?  If people don't object, that could be a
todo entry for c2k24.

> This means it could be built upon the assumption "this is an
> openbsd binary", and use a sysctl interface.  After 2 months, there will
> be only one kind of binary.
> 

-- 
jca