Linus Torvalds has officially released Linux 4.18, the latest version of the popular open-source kernel, following a week-long delay to fix networking and driver issues – including a problem with cryptographic operations on Arm architecture processors.

Announced via the Linux Kernel Mailing List over the weekend, Linux 4.18 brings with it a range of improvements and enhancements many of which are of particular interest to embedded developers, not least of which is a patch which fixes a bug in cryptographic operations on 64-bit Arm architecture processors to boost performance. Other improvements include the completion of support for unprivileged file-system mounting, restartable sequences for improved performance and pre-emption protection, active state management for system-on-chip (SoC) power domains, and a zero-copy receive interface for TCP networking.

Embedded development specialist Bootlin has detailed its own contributions to the kernel, at 190 patches, which include enhancements for Marvell, Microsemi Ocelot, Allwinner, and Cadence hardware platforms, as well as enhancements for the MTD and RTC subsystems and fixes for the OV5640 image sensor.

The latest kernel release is available now from the Linux Kernel Archives, while the merge window for Linux 4.19 has been opened to developers.