Overview#

The WinCAPISeedGenerator.c file for Windows defines a method called nativeGenerateSeed, which retrieves random seeds from the MS CryptoAPI¹. Prior to this method, there was a comment regarding early versions of Windows 95 that did not support certain required functions and suggested using runtime linking to avoid issues².

However, JDK no longer supports Windows 95. Therefore, this outdated comment is no longer useful and could potentially cause confusion about whether consideration for Windows 95 is still necessary.

In the recent update, only the obsolete comments related to Windows 95 were removed³. Since there was no change in functionality, it did not require additional tests, so a noreg-doc label was assigned on JBS instead of adding new tests.

Discovered on JBS 2025/11/02#

The bug was discovered on JBS and the relevant file was reviewed. The problematic comment was part of the description for the nativeGenerateSeed method but had no relevance to currently supported Windows versions.

The fix involved only removing these four lines⁴:

- *
- * Some early versions of Windows 95 do not support the required functions.
- * Use runtime linking to avoid problems.
- *

Immediately after creating the PR, a core-libs label was automatically assigned. However, since the affected code is part of security-related native implementations, Alan Bateman⁵ changed it to a security label.

Reviewed 2026/01/05#

Sean Mullan⁶ reviewed and approved the changes. Additionally, he suggested adding a noreg-doc label on JBS, which was implemented accordingly.

After confirming there were no issues, I requested integration of the changes.

Integrated 2026/01/05#

Mullan⁶ sponsored the PR, and it was integrated into JDK as commit eee5854⁷.

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Footnotes#

1. jdk/src/java.base/windows/native/libjava/WinCAPISeedGenerator.c at e8a1a8707ee6192c85ac62a2a51c815e07613c38 · openjdk/j…JDK main-line development https://openjdk.org/projects/jdk - jdk/src/java.base/windows/native/libjava/WinCAPISeedGenerator.c at e8a1a8707ee6192c85ac62a2a51c815e07613c38 · openjdk/…GitHub
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2. jdk/src/java.base/windows/native/libjava/WinCAPISeedGenerator.c at e8a1a8707ee6192c85ac62a2a51c815e07613c38 · openjdk/j…JDK main-line development https://openjdk.org/projects/jdk - jdk/src/java.base/windows/native/libjava/WinCAPISeedGenerator.c at e8a1a8707ee6192c85ac62a2a51c815e07613c38 · openjdk/…GitHub
   ↩
3. 8366058: Outdated comment in WinCAPISeedGenerator by PeyaPeyaPeyang · Pull Request #28105 · openjdk/jdkJDK main-line development https://openjdk.org/projects/jdk - 8366058: Outdated comment in WinCAPISeedGenerator by PeyaPeyaPeyang · Pull Request #28105 · openjdk/jdkGitHub
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4. 8366058: Outdated comment in WinCAPISeedGenerator by PeyaPeyaPeyang · Pull Request #28105 · openjdk/jdkRemoved comment about Windows 95 runtime linking, since Windows 95 is no longer supported: Some early versions of Windows 95 do not support the required functions. Use runtime lin…GitHub
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5. https://openjdk.org/census#alanbopenjdk.org
   ↩
6. https://openjdk.org/census#mullanopenjdk.org
   ↩ ↩²
7. 8366058: Outdated comment in WinCAPISeedGenerator · openjdk/jdk@eee5854JDK main-line development https://openjdk.org/projects/jdk - 8366058: Outdated comment in WinCAPISeedGenerator · openjdk/jdk@eee5854GitHub
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