DM-INLINECRYPT Expected For Linux 7.2 To Leverage Inline Encryption

Queued for merging as part of the DeviceMapper changes for the upcoming Linux 7.2 kernel cycle is the new dm-inlinecrypt target for leveraging inline block device encryption.

The dm-inlinecrypt target was originally posted for Linux back in 2024 that unlike dm-crypt, which uses the regular Linux kernel crypto API, this new target would use the block crypto "blk-crypto" API. By using the block crypto API, it's able to make use of inline encryption hardware on capable systems -- many with UFS host controllers supporting inline encryption.

Eric Biggers of Google authored the dm-inlinecrypt target code. The dm-inlinecrypt target is derived from Android's dm-default-key with passthrough support removed as it proved controversial.

More details on dm-inlinecrypt, which can be enabled via the new DM_INLINECRYPT Kconfig option, can be found via this patch now queued in the Device Mapper's "dm-7.2" Git branch ahead of the Linux 7.2 merge window in June.