linux-drivers/
drivers/firmware/efi

UEFI/EFI platform firmware support

Core kernel support for talking to UEFI/EFI firmware on modern PCs, servers, and virtual machines. It covers runtime services, capsule firmware updates, the EFI boot stub, Secure Boot hooks, persistent crash storage in EFI variables, boot graphics handoff, and the other plumbing every contemporary x86 and arm64 system relies on to start Linux.

keep conf=0.98 last_sold=2025 deploy=high replacement=none subsystem=firmware category=firmware
98%

recommendation

It should stay because UEFI is the standard firmware interface on essentially all new PCs, servers, and virtualised guests using OVMF/edk2, and the UEFI Forum is still publishing fresh specifications (2.11 landed in December 2024). The subsystem sees frequent upstream commits and merged efi-next pulls through 2025, with no removal discussion in sight, and there is no alternative implementation in the kernel.

repository signals

82 files
18,935 source lines
439 commits, 5y
+9,852 / −7,412 lines added / removed, 5y
138 authors, 5y
monthly commits · 2021-04-21 → 2026-04-21 · 439 total · active in 58/61 months
2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2021-04: 5 commits · +25 −46 2021-05: 0 commits · +0 −0 2021-06: 2 commits · +360 −92 2021-07: 11 commits · +94 −24 2021-08: 3 commits · +4 −4 2021-09: 4 commits · +7 −4 2021-10: 0 commits · +0 −0 2021-11: 4 commits · +108 −45 2021-12: 2 commits · +7 −0 2022-01: 5 commits · +28 −14 2022-02: 1 commit · +4 −1 2022-03: 10 commits · +283 −35 2022-04: 2 commits · +27 −0 2022-05: 8 commits · +725 −50 2022-06: 15 commits · +487 −2,427 2022-07: 1 commit · +11 −10 2022-08: 5 commits · +149 −20 2022-09: 28 commits · +629 −445 2022-10: 40 commits · +1,302 −1,391 2022-11: 12 commits · +218 −264 2022-12: 6 commits · +52 −18 2023-01: 13 commits · +209 −119 2023-02: 11 commits · +121 −34 2023-03: 11 commits · +62 −40 2023-04: 5 commits · +100 −65 2023-05: 4 commits · +18 −5 2023-06: 7 commits · +565 −39 2023-07: 8 commits · +402 −222 2023-08: 15 commits · +375 −184 2023-09: 4 commits · +32 −49 2023-10: 6 commits · +88 −11 2023-11: 5 commits · +897 −6 2023-12: 8 commits · +55 −27 2024-01: 9 commits · +96 −32 2024-02: 8 commits · +166 −46 2024-03: 14 commits · +119 −53 2024-04: 3 commits · +7 −11 2024-05: 4 commits · +31 −17 2024-06: 9 commits · +97 −23 2024-07: 9 commits · +55 −55 2024-08: 2 commits · +21 −13 2024-09: 7 commits · +24 −17 2024-10: 10 commits · +68 −37 2024-11: 3 commits · +165 −71 2024-12: 13 commits · +223 −479 2025-01: 7 commits · +296 −133 2025-02: 6 commits · +66 −35 2025-03: 3 commits · +9 −1 2025-04: 3 commits · +3 −255 2025-05: 6 commits · +68 −10 2025-06: 5 commits · +5 −7 2025-07: 3 commits · +134 −6 2025-08: 11 commits · +145 −70 2025-09: 1 commit · +6 −4 2025-10: 10 commits · +148 −78 2025-11: 7 commits · +300 −176 2025-12: 11 commits · +87 −41 2026-01: 3 commits · +16 −6 2026-02: 8 commits · +48 −43 2026-03: 0 commits · +0 −0 2026-04: 1 commit · +1 −1

sources

  1. git.kernel.org

    This directory is the in-tree Linux EFI/UEFI firmware support subsystem, including runtime services, capsule loading, pstore, BGRT, TPM hooks, sysfb glue, and EFI stub support rather than a legacy peripheral driver.

  2. git.kernel.org

    Upstream activity on drivers/firmware/efi is ongoing and current, consistent with a maintained subsystem rather than retirement candidate.

  3. uefi.org

    UEFI remains an actively maintained industry standard; the forum lists UEFI Specification 2.11 released in December 2024, indicating continued relevance for new hardware.

  4. learn.microsoft.com

    Modern OEM platform requirements still depend on UEFI features such as Secure Boot and runtime services, showing EFI firmware interfaces remain standard on new PCs.

  5. developers.redhat.com

    Current enterprise Linux deployments still depend on UEFI on both bare metal and VMs; Red Hat documents 2026 Secure Boot and OVMF handling for new VM deployments using edk2-ovmf.

codex reasoning notes (technical)

Classified as a real firmware-facing kernel subsystem, not an early-exit non-driver: local shell inspection of drivers/firmware/efi/Kconfig and file list shows exported EFI runtime, capsule, pstore, test, reboot, sysfb, and EFI-stub interfaces. Local shell git log (with safe.directory override) shows frequent substantive activity through 2025-2026, including fixes and merged efi-next tags, so this is actively maintained. I attempted lore-oriented web searches for removal/deprecation discussion and found no removal signal; combined with strong current git activity, that argues against deprecate/remove. Deployment remains high because UEFI is standard on contemporary PCs/servers and is also active in virtualization via OVMF. No natural replacement driver exists because this directory is the kernel's primary EFI/UEFI support stack. URL provenance: kernel.org tree/log URLs are canonical recall; uefi.org, Microsoft Learn, and Red Hat URLs were obtained via web search/open tool calls.