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wifi: ath11k: fix ring-buffer corruption

PATCH Applied Johan Hovold 7 participants 7 messages Mar 21, 2025 – May 16, 2025

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#0 lore raw

PATCH 1/1 wifi: ath11k: fix ring-buffer corruption

Users of the Lenovo ThinkPad X13s have reported that Wi-Fi sometimes breaks and the log fills up with errors like:

    ath11k_pci 0006:01:00.0: HTC Rx: insufficient length, got 1484, expected 1492
    ath11k_pci 0006:01:00.0: HTC Rx: insufficient length, got 1460, expected 1484

which based on a quick look at the driver seemed to indicate some kind of ring-buffer corruption.

Miaoqing Pan tracked it down to the host seeing the updated destination ring head pointer before the updated descriptor, and the error handling for that in turn leaves the ring buffer in an inconsistent state.

Add the missing memory barrier to make sure that the descriptor is read after the head pointer to address the root cause of the corruption while fixing up the error handling in case there are ever any (ordering) bugs on the device side.

Note that the READ_ONCE() are only needed to avoid compiler mischief in case the ring-buffer helpers are ever inlined.

Tested-on: WCN6855 hw2.1 WLAN.HSP.1.1-03125-QCAHSPSWPL_V1_V2_SILICONZ_LITE-3.6510.41

Fixes d5c65159f289 ("ath11k: driver for Qualcomm IEEE 802.11ax devices")
Cc Miaoqing Pan <[email protected]>
---
 drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/ce.c  | 11 +++++------
 drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/hal.c |  4 ++--
 2 files changed, 7 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)
drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/ce.c +5 -6
index e66e86bdec20..9d8efec46508 100644
@@ -393,11 +393,10 @@ static int ath11k_ce_completed_recv_next(struct ath11k_ce_pipe *pipe,
 		goto err;
 	}
 
+	/* Make sure descriptor is read after the head pointer. */
+	dma_rmb();
+
 	*nbytes = ath11k_hal_ce_dst_status_get_length(desc);
-	if (*nbytes == 0) {
-		ret = -EIO;
-		goto err;
-	}
 
 	*skb = pipe->dest_ring->skb[sw_index];
 	pipe->dest_ring->skb[sw_index] = NULL;
@@ -430,8 +429,8 @@ static void ath11k_ce_recv_process_cb(struct ath11k_ce_pipe *pipe)
 		dma_unmap_single(ab->dev, ATH11K_SKB_RXCB(skb)->paddr,
 				 max_nbytes, DMA_FROM_DEVICE);
 
-		if (unlikely(max_nbytes < nbytes)) {
-			ath11k_warn(ab, "rxed more than expected (nbytes %d, max %d)",
+		if (unlikely(max_nbytes < nbytes || nbytes == 0)) {
+			ath11k_warn(ab, "unexpected rx length (nbytes %d, max %d)",
 				    nbytes, max_nbytes);
 			dev_kfree_skb_any(skb);
 			continue;
drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/hal.c +2 -2
index 61f4b6dd5380..8cb1505a5a0c 100644
@@ -599,7 +599,7 @@ u32 ath11k_hal_ce_dst_status_get_length(void *buf)
 	struct hal_ce_srng_dst_status_desc *desc = buf;
 	u32 len;
 
-	len = FIELD_GET(HAL_CE_DST_STATUS_DESC_FLAGS_LEN, desc->flags);
+	len = FIELD_GET(HAL_CE_DST_STATUS_DESC_FLAGS_LEN, READ_ONCE(desc->flags));
 	desc->flags &= ~HAL_CE_DST_STATUS_DESC_FLAGS_LEN;
 
 	return len;
@@ -829,7 +829,7 @@ void ath11k_hal_srng_access_begin(struct ath11k_base *ab, struct hal_srng *srng)
 		srng->u.src_ring.cached_tp =
 			*(volatile u32 *)srng->u.src_ring.tp_addr;
 	} else {
-		srng->u.dst_ring.cached_hp = *srng->u.dst_ring.hp_addr;
+		srng->u.dst_ring.cached_hp = READ_ONCE(*srng->u.dst_ring.hp_addr);
 
 		/* Try to prefetch the next descriptor in the ring */
 		if (srng->flags & HAL_SRNG_FLAGS_CACHED)
Signature · 1 line
2.48.1
Tested-by on v1 1/1
#1 lore raw
Quoted 78 lines · Johan Hovold

Users of the Lenovo ThinkPad X13s have reported that Wi-Fi sometimes breaks and the log fills up with errors like:

     ath11k_pci 0006:01:00.0: HTC Rx: insufficient length, got 1484, expected 1492
     ath11k_pci 0006:01:00.0: HTC Rx: insufficient length, got 1460, expected 1484

which based on a quick look at the driver seemed to indicate some kind of ring-buffer corruption.

Miaoqing Pan tracked it down to the host seeing the updated destination ring head pointer before the updated descriptor, and the error handling for that in turn leaves the ring buffer in an inconsistent state.

Add the missing memory barrier to make sure that the descriptor is read after the head pointer to address the root cause of the corruption while fixing up the error handling in case there are ever any (ordering) bugs on the device side.

Note that the READ_ONCE() are only needed to avoid compiler mischief in case the ring-buffer helpers are ever inlined.

Tested-on: WCN6855 hw2.1 WLAN.HSP.1.1-03125-QCAHSPSWPL_V1_V2_SILICONZ_LITE-3.6510.41

Fixes d5c65159f289 ("ath11k: driver for Qualcomm IEEE 802.11ax devices")
Cc Miaoqing Pan <[email protected]>
---
  drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/ce.c  | 11 +++++------
  drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/hal.c |  4 ++--
  2 files changed, 7 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)
drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/ce.c +5 -6
index e66e86bdec20..9d8efec46508 100644
@@ -393,11 +393,10 @@ static int ath11k_ce_completed_recv_next(struct ath11k_ce_pipe *pipe,
  		goto err;
  	}
 
+	/* Make sure descriptor is read after the head pointer. */
+	dma_rmb();
+
  	*nbytes = ath11k_hal_ce_dst_status_get_length(desc);
-	if (*nbytes == 0) {
-		ret = -EIO;
-		goto err;
-	}
 
  	*skb = pipe->dest_ring->skb[sw_index];
  	pipe->dest_ring->skb[sw_index] = NULL;
@@ -430,8 +429,8 @@ static void ath11k_ce_recv_process_cb(struct ath11k_ce_pipe *pipe)
  		dma_unmap_single(ab->dev, ATH11K_SKB_RXCB(skb)->paddr,
  				 max_nbytes, DMA_FROM_DEVICE);
 
-		if (unlikely(max_nbytes < nbytes)) {
-			ath11k_warn(ab, "rxed more than expected (nbytes %d, max %d)",
+		if (unlikely(max_nbytes < nbytes || nbytes == 0)) {
+			ath11k_warn(ab, "unexpected rx length (nbytes %d, max %d)",
  				    nbytes, max_nbytes);
  			dev_kfree_skb_any(skb);
  			continue;
drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/hal.c +1 -1
index 61f4b6dd5380..8cb1505a5a0c 100644
@@ -599,7 +599,7 @@ u32 ath11k_hal_ce_dst_status_get_length(void *buf)
  	struct hal_ce_srng_dst_status_desc *desc = buf;
  	u32 len;
 
-	len = FIELD_GET(HAL_CE_DST_STATUS_DESC_FLAGS_LEN, desc->flags);
+	len = FIELD_GET(HAL_CE_DST_STATUS_DESC_FLAGS_LEN, READ_ONCE(desc->flags));
  	desc->flags &= ~HAL_CE_DST_STATUS_DESC_FLAGS_LEN;
 
  	return len;

drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/hal.c void ath11k_hal_srng_access_begin(struct ath11k_base *ab, struct hal_srng *srng) · line 835

Quoted 8 lines
drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/hal.c +1 -1
@@ -829,7 +829,7 @@ void ath11k_hal_srng_access_begin(struct ath11k_base *ab, struct hal_srng *srng)
  		srng->u.src_ring.cached_tp =
  			*(volatile u32 *)srng->u.src_ring.tp_addr;
  	} else {
-		srng->u.dst_ring.cached_hp = *srng->u.dst_ring.hp_addr;
+		srng->u.dst_ring.cached_hp = READ_ONCE(*srng->u.dst_ring.hp_addr);
 
  		/* Try to prefetch the next descriptor in the ring */
  		if (srng->flags & HAL_SRNG_FLAGS_CACHED)

I was experiencing this issue several times per day, but haven't hit it once in the last few days while testing this patch.

Tested-by on v1 1/1
#2 lore raw
In reply to Johan Hovold
Quoted 9 lines · Johan Hovold

Users of the Lenovo ThinkPad X13s have reported that Wi-Fi sometimes breaks and the log fills up with errors like:

     ath11k_pci 0006:01:00.0: HTC Rx: insufficient length, got 1484, expected 1492
     ath11k_pci 0006:01:00.0: HTC Rx: insufficient length, got 1460, expected 1484

which based on a quick look at the driver seemed to indicate some kind of ring-buffer corruption.

I had this issue on the Windows Dev Kit 2023 and X13s, interestingly never on the HP Omnibook X14. With this patch there have been no occurrences.

with best regards

Jens

Tested-by on v1 1/1
#3 lore raw
In reply to Johan Hovold

Hi Johan,

Quoted 88 lines · Johan Hovold

Users of the Lenovo ThinkPad X13s have reported that Wi-Fi sometimes breaks and the log fills up with errors like:

    ath11k_pci 0006:01:00.0: HTC Rx: insufficient length, got 1484, expected 1492
    ath11k_pci 0006:01:00.0: HTC Rx: insufficient length, got 1460, expected 1484

which based on a quick look at the driver seemed to indicate some kind of ring-buffer corruption.

Miaoqing Pan tracked it down to the host seeing the updated destination ring head pointer before the updated descriptor, and the error handling for that in turn leaves the ring buffer in an inconsistent state.

Add the missing memory barrier to make sure that the descriptor is read after the head pointer to address the root cause of the corruption while fixing up the error handling in case there are ever any (ordering) bugs on the device side.

Note that the READ_ONCE() are only needed to avoid compiler mischief in case the ring-buffer helpers are ever inlined.

Tested-on: WCN6855 hw2.1 WLAN.HSP.1.1-03125-QCAHSPSWPL_V1_V2_SILICONZ_LITE-3.6510.41

Fixes d5c65159f289 ("ath11k: driver for Qualcomm IEEE 802.11ax devices")
Cc Miaoqing Pan <[email protected]>
---
 drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/ce.c  | 11 +++++------
 drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/hal.c |  4 ++--
 2 files changed, 7 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)
drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/ce.c +5 -6
index e66e86bdec20..9d8efec46508 100644
@@ -393,11 +393,10 @@ static int ath11k_ce_completed_recv_next(struct ath11k_ce_pipe *pipe,
                goto err;
        }
 
+       /* Make sure descriptor is read after the head pointer. */
+       dma_rmb();
+
        *nbytes = ath11k_hal_ce_dst_status_get_length(desc);
-       if (*nbytes == 0) {
-               ret = -EIO;
-               goto err;
-       }
 
        *skb = pipe->dest_ring->skb[sw_index];
        pipe->dest_ring->skb[sw_index] = NULL;
@@ -430,8 +429,8 @@ static void ath11k_ce_recv_process_cb(struct ath11k_ce_pipe *pipe)
                dma_unmap_single(ab->dev, ATH11K_SKB_RXCB(skb)->paddr,
                                 max_nbytes, DMA_FROM_DEVICE);
 
-               if (unlikely(max_nbytes < nbytes)) {
-                       ath11k_warn(ab, "rxed more than expected (nbytes %d, max %d)",
+               if (unlikely(max_nbytes < nbytes || nbytes == 0)) {
+                       ath11k_warn(ab, "unexpected rx length (nbytes %d, max %d)",
                                    nbytes, max_nbytes);
                        dev_kfree_skb_any(skb);
                        continue;
drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/hal.c +2 -3
index 61f4b6dd5380..8cb1505a5a0c 100644
@@ -599,7 +599,7 @@ u32 ath11k_hal_ce_dst_status_get_length(void *buf)
        struct hal_ce_srng_dst_status_desc *desc = buf;
        u32 len;
 
-       len = FIELD_GET(HAL_CE_DST_STATUS_DESC_FLAGS_LEN, desc->flags);
+       len = FIELD_GET(HAL_CE_DST_STATUS_DESC_FLAGS_LEN, READ_ONCE(desc->flags));
        desc->flags &= ~HAL_CE_DST_STATUS_DESC_FLAGS_LEN;
 
        return len;
@@ -829,7 +829,7 @@ void ath11k_hal_srng_access_begin(struct ath11k_base *ab, struct hal_srng *srng)
                srng->u.src_ring.cached_tp =
                        *(volatile u32 *)srng->u.src_ring.tp_addr;
        } else {
-               srng->u.dst_ring.cached_hp = *srng->u.dst_ring.hp_addr;
+               srng->u.dst_ring.cached_hp = READ_ONCE(*srng->u.dst_ring.hp_addr);
 
                /* Try to prefetch the next descriptor in the ring */
                if (srng->flags & HAL_SRNG_FLAGS_CACHED)
--
Quoted 2 lines

2.48.1

Like the others, I was seeing this message multiple times a day, and on a not so rare occasion it would also take the wifi device offline, with this patch applied, I do not see that at all here.

#4 lore raw
In reply to Johan Hovold

Hi Jeff,

Quoted 21 lines · Johan Hovold

Users of the Lenovo ThinkPad X13s have reported that Wi-Fi sometimes breaks and the log fills up with errors like:

    ath11k_pci 0006:01:00.0: HTC Rx: insufficient length, got 1484, expected 1492
    ath11k_pci 0006:01:00.0: HTC Rx: insufficient length, got 1460, expected 1484

which based on a quick look at the driver seemed to indicate some kind of ring-buffer corruption.

Miaoqing Pan tracked it down to the host seeing the updated destination ring head pointer before the updated descriptor, and the error handling for that in turn leaves the ring buffer in an inconsistent state.

Add the missing memory barrier to make sure that the descriptor is read after the head pointer to address the root cause of the corruption while fixing up the error handling in case there are ever any (ordering) bugs on the device side.

Note that the READ_ONCE() are only needed to avoid compiler mischief in case the ring-buffer helpers are ever inlined.

Quoted 8 lines

Tested-on: WCN6855 hw2.1 WLAN.HSP.1.1-03125-QCAHSPSWPL_V1_V2_SILICONZ_LITE-3.6510.41

Fixes d5c65159f289 ("ath11k: driver for Qualcomm IEEE 802.11ax devices")
Cc Miaoqing Pan <[email protected]>

This patch fixes a long-standing issue that is hurting user of machines like the X13s, but as far as I can tell it has not been picked up yet (perhaps due to the temporary MAINTAINERS glitch that caused the wireless list not to be CCed?).

Would be good to get this fixed in 6.15 and backported to stable.

The following related patches are also not yet in linux-next:

	https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/[email protected]/
	https://lore.kernel.org/lkml/[email protected]/

Note that I still intend to sending follow-on fixes for the other missing barriers, but I'm a bit short on time at the moment.

Johan

Reviewed-by on v1 1/1
#5 lore raw
In reply to Johan Hovold
Quoted 78 lines · Johan Hovold

Users of the Lenovo ThinkPad X13s have reported that Wi-Fi sometimes breaks and the log fills up with errors like:

     ath11k_pci 0006:01:00.0: HTC Rx: insufficient length, got 1484, expected 1492
     ath11k_pci 0006:01:00.0: HTC Rx: insufficient length, got 1460, expected 1484

which based on a quick look at the driver seemed to indicate some kind of ring-buffer corruption.

Miaoqing Pan tracked it down to the host seeing the updated destination ring head pointer before the updated descriptor, and the error handling for that in turn leaves the ring buffer in an inconsistent state.

Add the missing memory barrier to make sure that the descriptor is read after the head pointer to address the root cause of the corruption while fixing up the error handling in case there are ever any (ordering) bugs on the device side.

Note that the READ_ONCE() are only needed to avoid compiler mischief in case the ring-buffer helpers are ever inlined.

Tested-on: WCN6855 hw2.1 WLAN.HSP.1.1-03125-QCAHSPSWPL_V1_V2_SILICONZ_LITE-3.6510.41

Fixes d5c65159f289 ("ath11k: driver for Qualcomm IEEE 802.11ax devices")
Cc Miaoqing Pan <[email protected]>
---
  drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/ce.c  | 11 +++++------
  drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/hal.c |  4 ++--
  2 files changed, 7 insertions(+), 8 deletions(-)
drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/ce.c +5 -6
index e66e86bdec20..9d8efec46508 100644
@@ -393,11 +393,10 @@ static int ath11k_ce_completed_recv_next(struct ath11k_ce_pipe *pipe,
  		goto err;
  	}
 
+	/* Make sure descriptor is read after the head pointer. */
+	dma_rmb();
+
  	*nbytes = ath11k_hal_ce_dst_status_get_length(desc);
-	if (*nbytes == 0) {
-		ret = -EIO;
-		goto err;
-	}
 
  	*skb = pipe->dest_ring->skb[sw_index];
  	pipe->dest_ring->skb[sw_index] = NULL;
@@ -430,8 +429,8 @@ static void ath11k_ce_recv_process_cb(struct ath11k_ce_pipe *pipe)
  		dma_unmap_single(ab->dev, ATH11K_SKB_RXCB(skb)->paddr,
  				 max_nbytes, DMA_FROM_DEVICE);
 
-		if (unlikely(max_nbytes < nbytes)) {
-			ath11k_warn(ab, "rxed more than expected (nbytes %d, max %d)",
+		if (unlikely(max_nbytes < nbytes || nbytes == 0)) {
+			ath11k_warn(ab, "unexpected rx length (nbytes %d, max %d)",
  				    nbytes, max_nbytes);
  			dev_kfree_skb_any(skb);
  			continue;
drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/hal.c +1 -1
index 61f4b6dd5380..8cb1505a5a0c 100644
@@ -599,7 +599,7 @@ u32 ath11k_hal_ce_dst_status_get_length(void *buf)
  	struct hal_ce_srng_dst_status_desc *desc = buf;
  	u32 len;
 
-	len = FIELD_GET(HAL_CE_DST_STATUS_DESC_FLAGS_LEN, desc->flags);
+	len = FIELD_GET(HAL_CE_DST_STATUS_DESC_FLAGS_LEN, READ_ONCE(desc->flags));
  	desc->flags &= ~HAL_CE_DST_STATUS_DESC_FLAGS_LEN;
 
  	return len;

drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/hal.c void ath11k_hal_srng_access_begin(struct ath11k_base *ab, struct hal_srng *srng) · line 835

Quoted 8 lines
drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath11k/hal.c +1 -1
@@ -829,7 +829,7 @@ void ath11k_hal_srng_access_begin(struct ath11k_base *ab, struct hal_srng *srng)
  		srng->u.src_ring.cached_tp =
  			*(volatile u32 *)srng->u.src_ring.tp_addr;
  	} else {
-		srng->u.dst_ring.cached_hp = *srng->u.dst_ring.hp_addr;
+		srng->u.dst_ring.cached_hp = READ_ONCE(*srng->u.dst_ring.hp_addr);
 
  		/* Try to prefetch the next descriptor in the ring */
  		if (srng->flags & HAL_SRNG_FLAGS_CACHED)
Applied
#6 lore raw
In reply to Johan Hovold
Quoted 10 lines · Johan Hovold

Users of the Lenovo ThinkPad X13s have reported that Wi-Fi sometimes breaks and the log fills up with errors like:

    ath11k_pci 0006:01:00.0: HTC Rx: insufficient length, got 1484, expected 1492
    ath11k_pci 0006:01:00.0: HTC Rx: insufficient length, got 1460, expected 1484

which based on a quick look at the driver seemed to indicate some kind of ring-buffer corruption.

[...]

Applied, thanks!

[1/1] wifi: ath11k: fix ring-buffer corruption

      commit: 6d037a372f817e9fcb56482f37917545596bd776

Best regards,

Signature · 1 line
Jeff Johnson <[email protected]>