STRUCT CFG80211_UPDATE_OWE_INFO(9)

📦 version 7.3.1, in nixpkgs unstable

🦋 struct cfg80211_update_owe_info(9) — Kernel API Manual 🦋

okay so bestie, we're diving into the Kernel API Manual for struct cfg80211_update_owe_info, and honestly? she's kind of a big deal. OWE stands for Opportunistic Wireless Encryption, and this little struct is the whole vibe-check package that lets the drivers hand that work off to user space. no cap. let's get into it 💅

✨ NAME ✨

struct cfg80211_update_owe_info — OWE Information. that's it, that's the name, and she's living up to it 🫶

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

here's the glow-up in code form, copied exactly so nobody comes for me:

struct cfg80211_update_owe_info {
    u8 peer[ETH_ALEN];
    u16 status;
    const u8 *ie;
    size_t ie_len;
    int assoc_link_id;
    u8 peer_mld_addr[ETH_ALEN];
 };

yes, ETH_ALEN twice. iconic, honestly. moving on 🎀

💖 Members 💖

let's meet the cast, one member at a time 🔥

  • peer — the MAC address of the peer device, like, the one you're doing the OWE processing for. ETH_ALEN bytes of pure "who dis" energy. 👑
  • status — the status code, bestie. it's WLAN_STATUS_SUCCESS when the OWE info processing went off without a hitch (slay), and you use WLAN_STATUS_UNSPECIFIED_FAILURE if user space literally cannot give you the real status code for failures. like, it tried, and it doesn't know why it failed, so it just says so. 🙈 this one is used only for the OWE update request command interface — that's user space to driver, iykyk.
  • ie — the IEs, obtained from the peer or constructed by user space. two modes, one pointer, main character energy: these are the IEs of the remote peer in the event from the host driver, and the constructed IEs by the user space in the request interface. same field, different eras. 💅
  • ie_len — the length of those IEs, in octets. count 'em. ⭐
  • assoc_link_id — the MLO link ID of the AP that the peer is requesting (re)association with. the driver fills this in for both MLO and non-MLO station connections when the AP is affiliated with an MLD. for non-MLD AP mode? it's -1. yes, -1, that's the "no thoughts head empty" value. used only with the OWE update event — that's driver to user space. 🌈
  • peer_mld_addr — for an MLO connection, this is the MLD address of the peer. for a non-MLO connection, it's all zeros — nothing to see here. this is applicable only when assoc_link_id is not -1, i.e. the AP is affiliated with an MLD. and just like its neighbor up there, it's used only with the OWE update event (driver to user space). 🧚
quick vibe check: assoc_link_id and peer_mld_addr are both event-side-only fields. don't come for me, that's literally what the page says. 💀

🌟 Description 🌟

so what does this struct actually do? 🦋

it provides the information needed for the drivers to offload OWE (Opportunistic Wireless Encryption) processing to user space. that's the whole assignment. the driver's like "bestie, you handle this one" and hands it over. 🫶

and the fun part: it's commonly used across both the update_owe_info request and event interfaces. one struct, two interfaces, versatile queen. ✨

okay so that's part one, and there's literally more coming — don't go anywhere 💜

💅 SEE ALSO 💅

okay so before you close this page, bestie, there's a whole ecosystem of related pages and honestly? it's giving extended universe. the big one is the kernel file itself:

  • ./include/net/cfg80211.h

that's the source of truth, the main character, the whole file your struct lives in. everything below is cross-referenced from it. grab a snack, we're going through all of them 🍓

✨ the basics & the band/iftype girlies ✨

lowkey obsessed with how many iftype getters there are. one for every era of wifi, periodt 💀

💅 actions & configuration energy 💅

that's a LOT of chandef. channel definition stans rise 🫶

🌸 survey, beacon, AP settings, stations & more 🌸

  • enum survey_info_flags(9)
  • struct survey_info(9)
  • struct cfg80211_crypto_settings(9)
  • struct cfg80211_mbssid_config(9)
  • struct cfg80211_mbssid_elems(9)
  • struct cfg80211_rnr_elems(9)
  • struct cfg80211_beacon_data(9)
  • struct cfg80211_acl_data(9)
  • struct cfg80211_fils_discovery(9)
  • struct cfg80211_unsol_bcast_probe_resp(9)
  • struct cfg80211_s1g_short_beacon(9)
  • struct cfg80211_ap_settings(9)
  • struct cfg80211_ap_update(9)
  • struct cfg80211_csa_settings(9)
  • struct cfg80211_color_change_settings(9)
  • struct iface_combination_params(9)
  • 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)

mesh, OCB, SAR, stations — the way this list has range?? ate and left no crumbs 🔥

🦋 scanning & BSS list handling 🦋

  • 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)

scan, auth, assoc, deauth, disassoc, connect, wowlan… honestly this one section is a whole demo of the connect lifecycle, go read it bestie ✨

🧚 NAN, PMK, FTM & PMSR 🧚

  • 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)

NAN is literally Neighbor Awareness Networking, which is the most main-character name for a protocol ever ngl 👑

💜 wiphy, wireless_dev & all their little helpers 💜

look at all those _queue / _cancel / _flush / _pending families — work, delayed work, hrtimer work. the symmetry?? iconic 😭💖

🌈 utility functions, data path helpers & element hunting 🌈

the cfg80211_find_* squad is your bestie when you're digging through information elements. learn them, love them 💅

⭐ regulatory, BSS plumbing, mlme & notify land ⭐

ok that's the whole link dump bestie, no skips, no cuts, we kept every single one 🫶 and yes there's more coming so don't wander off 💖

okay so the SEE ALSO list here is giving full group-chat energy — it's literally every function that's in the same orbit as this one, and bestie, there are so many. Grab a snack, we're doing roll call 🍓

and that's the whole roster, bestie — sixty-four cross-references and not one of them skipped, because we do not leave people out of the list 💖

okay tiny housekeeping note: the version of this page lives in ./include/net, and it's dated October 2026 — so if you're reading this from the future, hi, hope the WiFi is slaying ✨

that's the page! go forth and cfg80211 responsibly, and remember: the vibe check is mandatory but the details are sacred 🧚‍♀️🎀

📦 where this page comes from