Re: [PATCH] wifi: mac80211: Fix ieee80211_convert_to_unicast() logic

[Toke Høiland-Jørgensen]

Jeff Johnson <quic_jjohnson@xxxxxxxxxxx> writes:

> The current logic in ieee80211_convert_to_unicast() uses skb_clone()
> to obtain an skb for each individual destination of a multicast
> frame, and then updates the destination address in the cloned skb's
> data buffer before placing that skb on the provided queue.
>
> This logic is flawed since skb_clone() shares the same data buffer
> with the original and the cloned skb, and hence each time the
> destination address is updated, it overwrites the previous destination
> address in this shared buffer. As a result, due to the special handing
> of the first valid destination, all of the skbs will eventually be
> sent to that first destination.

Did you actually observe this happen in practice? ieee80211_change_da()
does an skb_ensure_writable() check on the Ethernet header before
writing it, so AFAICT it does not, in fact, overwrite the data of the
original frame.

> Fix this issue by using skb_copy() instead of skb_clone(). This will
> result in a duplicate data buffer being allocated for each
> destination, and hence each skb will be transmitted to the proper
> destination.

Cf the above, it seems this change will just lead to more needless
copying.

-Toke