Re: [PATCH] wifi: ath6kl: fix use-after-free in aggr_reset_state()

[Jeff Johnson]

On 6/17/2026 6:26 PM, Jeff Johnson wrote:
> On 2/6/2026 10:52 AM, Daniel Hodges wrote:
>> The aggr_reset_state() function uses timer_delete() (non-synchronous)
>> for the aggregation timer before proceeding to delete TID state and
>> before the structure is freed by callers like aggr_module_destroy().
>>
>> If the timer callback (aggr_timeout) is executing when aggr_reset_state()
>> is called, the callback will continue to access aggr_conn fields like
>> rx_tid[] and stat[] which may be freed immediately after by
>> kfree(aggr_info->aggr_conn) in aggr_module_destroy().
>>
>> Additionally, the timer callback can re-arm itself via mod_timer() while
>> aggr_reset_state() is running, creating a more complex race condition.
>>
>> Use timer_delete_sync() instead to ensure any running timer callback
>> has completed before returning.
>>
>> Fixes: bdcd81707973 ("Add ath6kl cleaned up driver")
>> Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Signed-off-by: Daniel Hodges <git@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>> ---
>>  drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath6kl/txrx.c | 2 +-
>>  1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
>>
>> diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath6kl/txrx.c b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath6kl/txrx.c
>> index c3b06b515c4f..25ff5dec221c 100644
>> --- a/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath6kl/txrx.c
>> +++ b/drivers/net/wireless/ath/ath6kl/txrx.c
>> @@ -1828,7 +1828,7 @@ void aggr_reset_state(struct aggr_info_conn *aggr_conn)
>>  		return;
>>  
>>  	if (aggr_conn->timer_scheduled) {
>> -		timer_delete(&aggr_conn->timer);
>> +		timer_delete_sync(&aggr_conn->timer);
> 
> My review agent claims this still doesn't fix the UAF since aggr_timeout() can
> call mod_timer() to rearm itself and hence the timer can fire again.
> Instead it suggests timer_shutdown_sync() should be used since that prevents
> any rearm from taking effect.
> 
> But I'm not familiar with this driver so I don't know if there are reasons to
> not use timer_shutdown_sync(), i.e. if the timer will be reused again then
> timer_setup() will need to be called again.

Interesting enough, another iteration of the same agent says:
**The fix is correct.** `timer_delete_sync()` loops until the timer is both
not-running and not-pending — it handles the re-arm case because after the
callback calls `mod_timer()`, the sync loop picks that up and cancels it.

Gotta love our new AI-driven workflows...

/jeff