Re: [PATCH v2] wifi: ath12k: fix false positive RCU warnings on PREEMPT_RT

Jeff Johnson
2026-04-21T21:27:25Z

On 4/21/2026 10:25 AM, Yu-Hsiang Tseng wrote:
> Two functions in ath12k assert that the caller holds an RCU read lock:
> ath12k_mac_get_arvif() and ath12k_p2p_noa_update_vdev_iter(). Both use:
>
> WARN_ON(!rcu_read_lock_any_held());
>
> On PREEMPT_RT kernels built with CONFIG_PROVE_RCU=n, this produces a
> false positive splat whenever these functions are invoked from paths
> that do hold the RCU read lock (e.g. firmware stats processing or
> mac80211 interface iteration).
>
> Root cause:
>
> - On !PROVE_RCU, rcu_read_lock_any_held() is a static inline that
> returns !preemptible() as a proxy for "in an RCU read section".
>
> - On PREEMPT_RT, rcu_read_lock() does not disable preemption. A
> task can therefore be preemptible while legitimately holding an
> RCU read lock.
>
> - Callers such as ath12k_wmi_tlv_rssi_chain_parse() (via guard(rcu)())
> and ieee80211_iterate_active_interfaces_atomic() do hold the RCU
> read lock, so these warnings are incorrect.
>
> Typical splat seen on a WCN7850 station with periodic fw stats
> processing:
>
> WARNING: drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath12k/mac.c:791 at
> ath12k_mac_get_arvif+0x9e/0xd0 [ath12k]
> Tainted: G W O 6.19.13-rt #1 PREEMPT_RT
> Call Trace:
> ath12k_wmi_tlv_rssi_chain_parse+0x69/0x170 [ath12k]
> ath12k_wmi_tlv_iter+0x7f/0x120 [ath12k]
> ath12k_wmi_tlv_fw_stats_parse+0x342/0x6b0 [ath12k]
> ath12k_wmi_op_rx+0xe9e/0x3150 [ath12k]
> ath12k_htc_rx_completion_handler+0x3df/0x5b0 [ath12k]
> ath12k_ce_per_engine_service+0x325/0x3e0 [ath12k]
> ath12k_pci_ce_workqueue+0x20/0x40 [ath12k]
>
> Replace the WARN_ON() with RCU_LOCKDEP_WARN(), which is gated on
> debug_lockdep_rcu_enabled() and therefore compiles out entirely
> when PROVE_RCU is disabled. PROVE_RCU kernels continue to get the
> full lockdep-based check.
>
> Fixes: 3dd2c68f206e ("wifi: ath12k: prepare vif data structure for MLO handling")
> Tested-on: WCN7850 hw2.0 PCI WLAN.HMT.1.1.c5-00302-QCAHMTSWPL_V1.0_V2.0_SILICONZ-1.115823.3

Note that Tested-on: is not a official upstream tag, it is an ath-specific
tag. Since it is not an official tag, it should be specified separately from
the official tags:

<commit text>
<blank line>
Tested-on: ...
<blank line>
<official upstream tags>
Signed-off-by: ...

Unless there are are other review comments there is no need to send a v3 to
address this -- I can make this change when I pick up the patch.

> Suggested-by: Baochen Qiang <baochen.qiang@oss.qualcomm.com>
> Signed-off-by: Yu-Hsiang Tseng <asas1asas200@gmail.com>
> ---
> Changes in v2:
> - Also fix the same WARN_ON() in ath12k_p2p_noa_update_vdev_iter()
> (suggested by Baochen Qiang)
> - Update commit message to cover both call sites

Note that you made v2 In-reply-to the v1 patch. In kernel.org code review that
is NOT preferred. In kernel.org it is preferred that each version of a patch
be a separate thread.

>
> Link to v1: https://lore.kernel.org/ath12k/20260420161049.695518-1-asas1asas200@gmail.com/
>
> drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath12k/mac.c | 3 ++-
> drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath12k/p2p.c | 3 ++-
> 2 files changed, 4 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath12k/mac.c b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath12k/mac.c
> index fbdfe6424fd7..a772a5b6adc9 100644
> --- a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath12k/mac.c
> +++ b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath12k/mac.c
> @@ -788,7 +788,8 @@ struct ath12k_link_vif *ath12k_mac_get_arvif(struct ath12k *ar, u32 vdev_id)
>
> /* To use the arvif returned, caller must have held rcu read lock.
> */
> - WARN_ON(!rcu_read_lock_any_held());
> + RCU_LOCKDEP_WARN(!rcu_read_lock_any_held(),
> + "RCU read lock not held");
> arvif_iter.vdev_id = vdev_id;
> arvif_iter.ar = ar;
>
> diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath12k/p2p.c b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath12k/p2p.c
> index 59589748f1a8..caa92612372b 100644
> --- a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath12k/p2p.c
> +++ b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath12k/p2p.c
> @@ -123,7 +123,8 @@ static void ath12k_p2p_noa_update_vdev_iter(void *data, u8 *mac,
> struct ath12k_p2p_noa_arg *arg = data;
> struct ath12k_link_vif *arvif;
>
> - WARN_ON(!rcu_read_lock_any_held());
> + RCU_LOCKDEP_WARN(!rcu_read_lock_any_held(),
> + "RCU read lock not held");
> arvif = &ahvif->deflink;
> if (!arvif->is_created || arvif->ar != arg->ar || arvif->vdev_id != arg->vdev_id)
> return;