[PATCH] wifi: mt76: Fix skb reference leak on USB/SDIO tx_queue_skb error paths

From: Wentao Liang

Date: Thu Sep 17 2026 - 08:23:23 EST


The mt76 queue ops take ownership of the skb handed to tx_queue_skb():
the DMA implementation releases it through ieee80211_tx_status_ext() on
every error path, but mt76u_tx_queue_skb() and mt76s_tx_queue_skb() just
return the error, so the reference is neither queued nor freed.

mt76_testmode_tx_pending() relies on that ownership transfer, so it leaks
the extra skb reference taken with skb_get() whenever the queue is full or
tx_prepare_skb()/mt76u_tx_setup_buffers() fails.

Release the skb on the error paths as well.

Fixes: b40b15e1521f ("mt76: add usb support to mt76 layer")
Fixes: d39b52e31aa6 ("mt76: introduce mt76_sdio module")
Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Signed-off-by: Wentao Liang <vulab@xxxxxxxxxxx>
---
drivers/net/wireless/mediatek/mt76/sdio.c | 13 ++++++++++---
drivers/net/wireless/mediatek/mt76/usb.c | 15 +++++++++++----
2 files changed, 21 insertions(+), 7 deletions(-)

diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/mediatek/mt76/sdio.c b/drivers/net/wireless/mediatek/mt76/sdio.c
index 8bae77c761be..ef82af1f905c 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/mediatek/mt76/sdio.c
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/mediatek/mt76/sdio.c
@@ -526,13 +526,15 @@ mt76s_tx_queue_skb(struct mt76_phy *phy, struct mt76_queue *q,
int err, len = skb->len;
u16 idx = q->head;

- if (q->queued == q->ndesc)
- return -ENOSPC;
+ if (q->queued == q->ndesc) {
+ err = -ENOSPC;
+ goto free_skb;
+ }

skb->prev = skb->next = NULL;
err = dev->drv->tx_prepare_skb(dev, NULL, qid, wcid, sta, &tx_info);
if (err < 0)
- return err;
+ goto free_skb;

q->entry[q->head].skb = tx_info.skb;
q->entry[q->head].buf_sz = len;
@@ -544,6 +546,11 @@ mt76s_tx_queue_skb(struct mt76_phy *phy, struct mt76_queue *q,
q->queued++;

return idx;
+
+free_skb:
+ dev_kfree_skb(tx_info.skb);
+
+ return err;
}

static int
diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/mediatek/mt76/usb.c b/drivers/net/wireless/mediatek/mt76/usb.c
index 632ae755c7a6..837b0b251b05 100644
--- a/drivers/net/wireless/mediatek/mt76/usb.c
+++ b/drivers/net/wireless/mediatek/mt76/usb.c
@@ -861,17 +861,19 @@ mt76u_tx_queue_skb(struct mt76_phy *phy, struct mt76_queue *q,
u16 idx = q->head;
int err;

- if (q->queued == q->ndesc)
- return -ENOSPC;
+ if (q->queued == q->ndesc) {
+ err = -ENOSPC;
+ goto free_skb;
+ }

skb->prev = skb->next = NULL;
err = dev->drv->tx_prepare_skb(dev, NULL, qid, wcid, sta, &tx_info);
if (err < 0)
- return err;
+ goto free_skb;

err = mt76u_tx_setup_buffers(dev, tx_info.skb, q->entry[idx].urb);
if (err < 0)
- return err;
+ goto free_skb;

mt76u_fill_bulk_urb(dev, USB_DIR_OUT, q->ep, q->entry[idx].urb,
mt76u_complete_tx, &q->entry[idx]);
@@ -882,6 +884,11 @@ mt76u_tx_queue_skb(struct mt76_phy *phy, struct mt76_queue *q,
q->queued++;

return idx;
+
+free_skb:
+ dev_kfree_skb(tx_info.skb);
+
+ return err;
}

static void mt76u_tx_kick(struct mt76_dev *dev, struct mt76_queue *q)
--
2.34.1