Memory leak / dmesg

[Tom Sharples]

We kicked that client (a dlink DI-624) off the system using mac deny and the 
problem went away. This is a commercial installation with multiple active 
customers so we're limited in what we can do experimentally. Kernel and 
hostap version are older (late 2003 vintage) Perhaps the leak was caused not 
by the extra bytes, but rather the repeated assoc / disassociation activity 
you can see in the log (?)

wlan1: disassociation: 00:0d:88:c2:5b:d4 len=2, reason_code=8
wlan1: 00:0d:88:c2:5b:d4 auth_cb - STA authenticated
wlan1: assoc from 00:0d:88:c2:5b:d4 with extra data (10 bytes) 
[<32><08><0c><12><18><24><30><48><60><6c>]
wlan1: 00:0d:88:c2:5b:d4 assoc_cb - STA associated
wlan1: disassociation: 00:0d:88:c2:5b:d4 len=2, reason_code=8
wlan1: 00:0d:88:c2:5b:d4 auth_cb - STA authenticated
wlan1: assoc from 00:0d:88:c2:5b:d4 with extra data (10 bytes) 
[<32><08><0c><12><18><24><30><48><60><6c>]
wlan1: 00:0d:88:c2:5b:d4 assoc_cb - frame was not ACKed
wlan1: 00:0d:88:c2:5b:d4 auth_cb - STA authenticated
wlan1: assoc from 00:0d:88:c2:5b:d4 with extra data (10 bytes) 
[<32><08><0c><12><18><24><30><48><60><6c>]
wlan1: 00:0d:88:c2:5b:d4 assoc_cb - STA associated
wlan1: disassociation: 00:0d:88:c2:5b:d4 len=2, reason_code=8

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jouni Malinen" <jkmaline at cc.hut.fi>
To: <hostap at shmoo.com>
Sent: Thursday, April 13, 2006 7:10 PM
Subject: Re: Memory leak / dmesg


> On Thu, Apr 13, 2006 at 12:32:51PM -0700, Tom Sharples wrote:
>
>> We have a Prism / hostap dual-radio wrap box that has been running fine 
>> for months until rather recently, when it began to show a severe memory 
>> leak that kills the box about every half hour or so. Looking at dmesg I'm 
>> seeing a lot of the following new stuff, and am wondering if this is 
>> related to our problem. Can anyone let me know what this "extra data 10 
>> bytes / 16 bytes" thing is about, and what we can do to rectify it?
>
> Which kernel and hostap-driver versions are you using? Did you change
> something in software/configuration recently or did this memory leak
> show up without any changes in the AP?
>
> Can you please capture /proc/slabinfo from the board once a minute until
> it dies and send those files? That could provide some more details on
> where the memory is going.
>
> I don't think that this extra data notification about association
> request frames would have anything to do with the memory leak, though.
>
>> wlan1: assoc from 00:0d:88:c2:5b:d4 with extra data (10 bytes) 
>> [<32><08><0c><12><18><24><30><48><60><6c>]
>
> The driver does not know what do with new information elements and it
> just ignores them. In other words, this debug message can be ignored. It
> should not prevent association or have any other ill effect (apart from
> generating more debug output).
>
> This particular example is Extended Supported Rates IE (0x32 = 50) which
> is used by IEEE 802.11g stations. In other words, you are likely to see
> it with some implementations of IEEE 802.11g, but IEEE 802.11b-only STAs
> won't send this IE.
>
> -- 
> Jouni Malinen                                            PGP id EFC895FA
> _______________________________________________
> HostAP mailing list
> HostAP at shmoo.com
> http://lists.shmoo.com/mailman/listinfo/hostap