[PATCH] wifi: mt76: add missing lock protection in mt76_sta_state for sta_event callback

[Sean Wang]

On Thu, Jan 29, 2026 at 9:25 PM Ziyi Guo <n7l8m4 at u.northwestern.edu> wrote:
>
> mt76_sta_state() calls the sta_event callback without holding dev->mutex.
> However, mt7915_mac_sta_event() (MT7915 implementation of this callback)
> calls mt7915_mac_twt_teardown_flow() which has
> lockdep_assert_held(&dev->mt76.mutex) indicating that callers must
> hold this lock.
>
> The locking pattern in mt76_sta_state() is inconsistent:
> - mt76_sta_add() acquires dev->mutex before calling dev->drv->sta_add
> - mt76_sta_remove() acquires dev->mutex before calling __mt76_sta_remove
> - But sta_event callback is called without acquiring the lock
>
> Add mutex_lock()/mutex_unlock() around the sta_event callback invocation
> to fix the missing lock protection and maintain consistency with the
> existing locking pattern.
>

The mt7921 / mt7925 .sta_event callback already holds the lock; this
patch would cause a deadlock. Suggest adding the implementation to
MT7915.

> Signed-off-by: Ziyi Guo <n7l8m4 at u.northwestern.edu>
> ---
>  drivers/net/wireless/mediatek/mt76/mac80211.c | 7 ++++++-
>  1 file changed, 6 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
>
> diff --git a/drivers/net/wireless/mediatek/mt76/mac80211.c b/drivers/net/wireless/mediatek/mt76/mac80211.c
> index 75772979f438..468bc176bacb 100644
> --- a/drivers/net/wireless/mediatek/mt76/mac80211.c
> +++ b/drivers/net/wireless/mediatek/mt76/mac80211.c
> @@ -1640,6 +1640,7 @@ int mt76_sta_state(struct ieee80211_hw *hw, struct ieee80211_vif *vif,
>         struct mt76_phy *phy = hw->priv;
>         struct mt76_dev *dev = phy->dev;
>         enum mt76_sta_event ev;
> +       int ret;
>
>         phy = mt76_vif_phy(hw, vif);
>         if (!phy)
> @@ -1668,7 +1669,11 @@ int mt76_sta_state(struct ieee80211_hw *hw, struct ieee80211_vif *vif,
>         else
>                 return 0;
>
> -       return dev->drv->sta_event(dev, vif, sta, ev);
> +       mutex_lock(&dev->mutex);
> +       ret = dev->drv->sta_event(dev, vif, sta, ev);
> +       mutex_unlock(&dev->mutex);
> +
> +       return ret;
>  }
>  EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(mt76_sta_state);
>
> --
> 2.34.1
>
>