cfg80211_auth_timeout(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

💖 cfg80211_auth_timeout 💖

okay so real talk, this one lives in the Kernel API Manual and it's genuinely so straightforward, bestie. it's cfg80211_auth_timeout(9) and it's basically the "welp, that auth ain't happening" notification. no cap.

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

void cfg80211_auth_timeout (struct net_device *dev , const u8 *addr );

that's it. that's the whole call. two args, zero drama (well, okay, the drama is somebody's authentication timing out, but the function is chill 🫶).

🎀 ARGUMENTS 🎀

  • dev — the network device. the network device in question. the one we're talking about. honestly she's just here to be the network device 💅
  • addr — the MAC address of the device with which the authentication timed out. yep, we need to know who ghosted us on the handshake 👻

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

so what does it actually do? it's the notification of timed out authentication — that's the whole vibe. something was trying to authenticate, the clock ran out, and now we're telling the kernel about it. lowkey iconic. highkey just a notification.

wait, important: this function may sleep. so like, for real, don't go calling it from somewhere you can't sleep, bestie 😭
also important: the caller must hold the corresponding wdev's mutex. must. not "should", not "if you feel like it". hold that mutex. 🔒

that's the end of this part, don't go anywhere, there's more coming 💖

🎀 SEE ALSO 🎀

okay bestie, buckle in, because this is the guest list and it is LONG 💅 but every single one of these is a real page you can go read, so let's go:

  • Kernel file ./include/net/cfg80211.h
  • Introduction(9), Device registration(9)

🌈 bands, channels & caps (the hardware menagerie) 🌈

✨ actions and configuration ✨

💅 stations, rates & mesh things 💅

  • enum station_parameters_apply_mask(9), struct sta_txpwr(9), struct link_station_parameters(9), struct link_station_del_parameters(9), struct cfg80211_ttlm_params(9), struct station_parameters(9), struct station_del_parameters(9)
  • enum cfg80211_station_type(9), cfg80211_check_station_change(9)
  • enum rate_info_flags(9), enum rate_info_bw(9), struct rate_info(9), enum bss_param_flags(9), struct sta_bss_parameters(9)
  • struct cfg80211_txq_stats(9), struct cfg80211_tid_stats(9), struct link_station_info(9), struct station_info(9)
  • struct cfg80211_sar_sub_specs(9), struct cfg80211_sar_specs(9), struct cfg80211_sar_freq_ranges(9), struct cfg80211_sar_capa(9), cfg80211_get_station(9)
  • enum monitor_flags(9), enum mpath_info_flags(9), struct mpath_info(9)
  • enum wiphy_bss_param_flags(9), struct bss_parameters(9), struct mesh_config(9), struct mesh_setup(9), struct ocb_setup(9), struct ieee80211_txq_params(9)

🦋 scanning & BSS list handling (the gossip phase) 🦋

  • Scanning and BSS list handling(9)
  • struct cfg80211_ssid(9), struct cfg80211_scan_info(9), struct cfg80211_scan_6ghz_params(9), struct cfg80211_scan_request(9), struct cfg80211_match_set(9)
  • struct cfg80211_sched_scan_plan(9), struct cfg80211_bss_select_adjust(9), struct cfg80211_sched_scan_request(9)
  • enum cfg80211_signal_type(9), struct cfg80211_inform_bss(9), struct cfg80211_bss_ies(9), struct cfg80211_bss(9), ieee80211_bss_get_elem(9), ieee80211_bss_get_ie(9)
  • struct cfg80211_auth_request(9), struct cfg80211_assoc_link(9), struct cfg80211_ml_reconf_req(9), enum cfg80211_assoc_req_flags(9), struct cfg80211_assoc_request(9)
  • struct cfg80211_deauth_request(9), struct cfg80211_disassoc_request(9), struct cfg80211_ibss_params(9), struct cfg80211_bss_selection(9)
  • struct cfg80211_connect_params(9), enum cfg80211_connect_params_changed(9)
  • enum wiphy_params_flags(9), struct cfg80211_pmksa(9), struct cfg80211_pkt_pattern(9), struct cfg80211_wowlan_tcp(9), struct cfg80211_wowlan(9)
  • struct cfg80211_coalesce_rules(9), struct cfg80211_coalesce(9), struct cfg80211_wowlan_nd_match(9), struct cfg80211_wowlan_nd_info(9), struct cfg80211_wowlan_wakeup(9)
  • struct cfg80211_gtk_rekey_data(9), struct cfg80211_update_ft_ies_params(9), struct cfg80211_mgmt_tx_params(9)
  • struct cfg80211_dscp_exception(9), struct cfg80211_dscp_range(9), struct cfg80211_qos_map(9)

🌸 NAN + PMSR + friends 🌸

  • Neighbor Awareness Networking (NAN)(9)
  • struct cfg80211_nan_band_config(9), struct cfg80211_nan_conf(9), struct cfg80211_nan_channel(9), struct cfg80211_nan_local_sched(9), struct cfg80211_nan_peer_map(9), struct cfg80211_nan_peer_sched(9)
  • enum cfg80211_nan_conf_changes(9), struct cfg80211_nan_func_filter(9), struct cfg80211_nan_func(9)
  • struct cfg80211_pmk_conf(9), struct cfg80211_external_auth_params(9), struct cfg80211_ftm_responder_stats(9)
  • struct cfg80211_pmsr_ftm_result(9), struct cfg80211_pmsr_result(9), struct cfg80211_pmsr_ftm_request_peer(9), struct cfg80211_pmsr_request_peer(9), struct cfg80211_pmsr_request(9)
  • struct cfg80211_update_owe_info(9), struct mgmt_frame_regs(9)

👑 the wiphy section (big main character energy) 👑

🧚 utility functions (the little helpers) 🧚

💜 data path helpers 💜

⭐ regulatory enforcement infrastructure ⭐

🍓 scan/BSS notify + MLME drop-ins 🍓

🔥 RFkill integration + vendor commands + test mode 🔥

💖 connect / roam / disconnect glow-up club 💖

🌈 station lifecycle + mgmt rx/tx + notifications 🌈

like… that's the whole crew 💀 every single one has its own page, so if something in this one didn't quench the thirst, one of these almost definitely will 🫶 and there is so much more page left to get through, so don't you dare close the tab yet 😭

…and the list just keeps going, bestie 😭 this is the rest of it, and I'm not skipping a single one because every entry here is somebody's fave:

that's the entire SEE ALSO, all sixty-four of them, zero skips, zero "etc." cop-outs 💅 click into any of those and you get the full ✨lore✨ — the 9 in every single one literally means it's a kernel-API page, iykyk 🦋

and that's the whole page, bestie! we did it 🎀 go forth and read your auth-timeout docs like the main character you are 👑

this little beauty lives in the ./include/net neck of the source tree, straight from October 2026, and it's filed under cfg80211_auth_timeout(9) — screenshot it, cite it, frame it on your wall, whatever feels right 🫶

📦 where this page comes from