LLM-Driven Kernel Evolution: Automating Driver Updates in Linux

TL;DR

This paper presents DRIVEBENCH and AUTODRIVER, a system leveraging large language models to automate Linux driver updates, ensuring compatibility and correctness amid kernel evolution.

Contribution

Introducing DRIVEBENCH and AUTODRIVER, novel tools for automated, LLM-driven Linux driver maintenance and co-evolution with the kernel.

Findings

56.4% compilation success rate for generated patches

Most patches preserve driver initialization in boot verification

DRIVEBENCH spans kernel versions v5.10-v6.10 with 235 validated cases

Abstract

Linux kernel evolution breaks drivers through API/ABI changes, semantic shifts, and security-hardening updates. We introduce DRIVEBENCH, an executable corpus of kernel$\rightarrow$driver co-evolution cases, and AUTODRIVER, a closed-loop, LLM-driven system for automating driver maintenance. The system integrates prompt engineering, multi-agent collaboration, static analysis, and iterative validation to ensure that generated patches are not only syntactically correct but also functionally and semantically consistent with kernel conventions. The corpus spans v5.10-v6.10 with 235 validated cases drawn from 612 candidates. In evaluation across 55 cases, AUTODRIVER achieves 56.4% compilation success; QEMU-based boot verification indicates that compiled patches preserve driver initialization in most instances. By releasing DRIVEBENCH and tooling, we enable reproducible research and a practical route to continuous, safe co-evolution of drivers with the Linux kernel.