Re: [PATCH] staging: wlan-ng: prism2mgmt.c: rewrite flexible array member

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On Wed, Oct 25, 2023 at 11:36 AM Greg Kroah-Hartman
<gregkh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> On Wed, Oct 25, 2023 at 11:27:06AM +0300, Calvince Otieno wrote:
> > Declaring zero-length arrays is allowed in GNU C as an extension.
> > Although the size of a zero-length array is zero, an array member of
> > this kind may increase the size of the enclosing type as a result of
> > tail padding. The offset of a zero-length array member from the beginning
> > of the enclosing structure is the same as the offset of an array with one
> > or more elements of the same type. The alignment of a zero-length array is
> > the same as the alignment of its elements.
> >
> > Declaring zero-length arrays in other contexts, including as interior
> > members of structure objects or as non-member objects, is discouraged.
> > Accessing elements of zero-length arrays declared in such contexts is
> > undefined and may be diagnosed.
> >
> > There are some instances of code in which the sizeof operator is being
> > incorrectly/erroneously applied to zero-length arrays and the result
> > is zero. Such instances may be hiding some bugs.
> >
> > This issue was found with the help of Coccinelle.
> >
> > [1] https://gcc.gnu.org/onlinedocs/gcc/Zero-Length.html
> >
> > Signed-off-by: Calvince Otieno <calvncce@xxxxxxxxx>
> > ---
> >  drivers/staging/wlan-ng/p80211metastruct.h | 2 +-
> >  1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)
> >
> > diff --git a/drivers/staging/wlan-ng/p80211metastruct.h b/drivers/staging/wlan-ng/p80211metastruct.h
> > index a52217c9b953..c8b73c867391 100644
> > --- a/drivers/staging/wlan-ng/p80211metastruct.h
> > +++ b/drivers/staging/wlan-ng/p80211metastruct.h
> > @@ -71,7 +71,6 @@ struct p80211msg_dot11req_scan_results {
> >       struct p80211item_uint32 signal;
> >       struct p80211item_uint32 noise;
> >       struct p80211item_pstr6 bssid;
> > -     u8 pad_3C[1];
>
> But this is not a flexible or 0 length array at all.  Why change this?
>
> And are you sure you are allowed to change this?  Did you verify where
> this structure is being used and how it is being used and why this
> padding field is in here?
>
> And how was this tested?
>
> thanks,
>
> greg k-h
I have looked through the code to see where the pad_3C member variable
is referenced or used, but I didn't find any instances.

I have to admit that my search might not have covered all the possible patterns
and usage scenarios. It appears that the member variable is only declared
within the  struct p80211msg_dot11req_scan_results.

Dan outlines that the pad_3C member variable is used for padding. So,
I stand corrected.
Thanks.


-- 
Kind regards,
Calvince Otieno





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