From: Felix Fietkau <nbd@nbd.name>
To: linux-wireless@vger.kernel.org
Cc: johannes@sipsolutions.net
Subject: [PATCH wireless] wifi: mac80211: always free skb on ieee80211_tx_prepare_skb() failure
Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2026 06:54:55 +0000 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260314065455.2462900-1-nbd@nbd.name> (raw)
ieee80211_tx_prepare_skb() has three error paths, but only two of them
free the skb. The first error path (ieee80211_tx_prepare() returning
TX_DROP) does not free it, while invoke_tx_handlers() failure and the
fragmentation check both do.
Add kfree_skb() to the first error path so all three are consistent,
and remove the now-redundant frees in callers (ath9k, mt76,
mac80211_hwsim) to avoid double-free.
Document the skb ownership guarantee in the function's kdoc.
Signed-off-by: Felix Fietkau <nbd@nbd.name>
---
drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/channel.c | 6 ++----
drivers/net/wireless/mediatek/mt76/scan.c | 4 +---
drivers/net/wireless/virtual/mac80211_hwsim.c | 1 -
include/net/mac80211.h | 4 +++-
net/mac80211/tx.c | 4 +++-
5 files changed, 9 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-)
diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/channel.c b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/channel.c
index 121e51ce1bc0..8b27d8cc086a 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/channel.c
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath9k/channel.c
@@ -1006,7 +1006,7 @@ static void ath_scan_send_probe(struct ath_softc *sc,
skb_set_queue_mapping(skb, IEEE80211_AC_VO);
if (!ieee80211_tx_prepare_skb(sc->hw, vif, skb, band, NULL))
- goto error;
+ return;
txctl.txq = sc->tx.txq_map[IEEE80211_AC_VO];
if (ath_tx_start(sc->hw, skb, &txctl))
@@ -1119,10 +1119,8 @@ ath_chanctx_send_vif_ps_frame(struct ath_softc *sc, struct ath_vif *avp,
skb->priority = 7;
skb_set_queue_mapping(skb, IEEE80211_AC_VO);
- if (!ieee80211_tx_prepare_skb(sc->hw, vif, skb, band, &sta)) {
- dev_kfree_skb_any(skb);
+ if (!ieee80211_tx_prepare_skb(sc->hw, vif, skb, band, &sta))
return false;
- }
break;
default:
return false;
diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/mediatek/mt76/scan.c b/drivers/net/wireless/mediatek/mt76/scan.c
index ff9176cdee3d..63b0447e55c1 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/mediatek/mt76/scan.c
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/mediatek/mt76/scan.c
@@ -63,10 +63,8 @@ mt76_scan_send_probe(struct mt76_dev *dev, struct cfg80211_ssid *ssid)
rcu_read_lock();
- if (!ieee80211_tx_prepare_skb(phy->hw, vif, skb, band, NULL)) {
- ieee80211_free_txskb(phy->hw, skb);
+ if (!ieee80211_tx_prepare_skb(phy->hw, vif, skb, band, NULL))
goto out;
- }
info = IEEE80211_SKB_CB(skb);
if (req->no_cck)
diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/virtual/mac80211_hwsim.c b/drivers/net/wireless/virtual/mac80211_hwsim.c
index 82adcc848189..721775d1426a 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/virtual/mac80211_hwsim.c
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/virtual/mac80211_hwsim.c
@@ -3157,7 +3157,6 @@ static void hw_scan_work(struct work_struct *work)
hwsim->tmp_chan->band,
NULL)) {
rcu_read_unlock();
- kfree_skb(probe);
continue;
}
diff --git a/include/net/mac80211.h b/include/net/mac80211.h
index 310546d4fca6..afe0bf29a9df 100644
--- a/include/net/mac80211.h
+++ b/include/net/mac80211.h
@@ -7411,7 +7411,9 @@ void ieee80211_report_wowlan_wakeup(struct ieee80211_vif *vif,
* @band: the band to transmit on
* @sta: optional pointer to get the station to send the frame to
*
- * Return: %true if the skb was prepared, %false otherwise
+ * Return: %true if the skb was prepared, %false otherwise.
+ * On failure, the skb is freed by this function; callers must not
+ * free it again.
*
* Note: must be called under RCU lock
*/
diff --git a/net/mac80211/tx.c b/net/mac80211/tx.c
index 04a3ea9beae5..d4527b19b48e 100644
--- a/net/mac80211/tx.c
+++ b/net/mac80211/tx.c
@@ -1896,8 +1896,10 @@ bool ieee80211_tx_prepare_skb(struct ieee80211_hw *hw,
struct ieee80211_tx_data tx;
struct sk_buff *skb2;
- if (ieee80211_tx_prepare(sdata, &tx, NULL, skb) == TX_DROP)
+ if (ieee80211_tx_prepare(sdata, &tx, NULL, skb) == TX_DROP) {
+ kfree_skb(skb);
return false;
+ }
info->band = band;
info->control.vif = vif;
--
2.51.0
reply other threads:[~2026-03-14 6:55 UTC|newest]
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