From 91d144901a1efbeefec88a001e3c711476aa31cd Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Ryan Malloy <ryan@supported.systems>
Date: Thu, 5 Feb 2026 09:47:01 -0700
Subject: [PATCH] Fix dangling pointer bug in WiFiManager
 getSSID/getConnectionName

WiFi.SSID() returns a temporary String object. Calling .c_str() on it
returns a pointer to the internal buffer, but the String is destroyed
at the end of the statement - leaving a dangling pointer.

Fix by caching the SSID in a member variable when connection state
changes, and returning a pointer to that stable storage.

Also fix getWiFiStatus() in MyMesh.cpp which was using WiFiState enum
values instead of NetworkState (the interface return type).
---
 src/MyMesh.cpp      |  6 +++---
 src/WiFiManager.cpp | 19 +++++++++++--------
 src/WiFiManager.h   |  1 +
 3 files changed, 15 insertions(+), 11 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/MyMesh.cpp b/src/MyMesh.cpp
index 30c9a12..6447302 100644
--- a/src/MyMesh.cpp
+++ b/src/MyMesh.cpp
@@ -1289,9 +1289,9 @@ const char* MyMesh::getMQTTStatus() const {
 
 const char* MyMesh::getWiFiStatus() const {
   switch (_wifi_mgr.getState()) {
-    case WiFiState::CONNECTED: return "connected";
-    case WiFiState::CONNECTING: return "connecting";
-    case WiFiState::AP_MODE: return "ap_mode";
+    case NetworkState::CONNECTED: return "connected";
+    case NetworkState::CONNECTING: return "connecting";
+    case NetworkState::AP_MODE: return "ap_mode";
     default: return "disconnected";
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/WiFiManager.cpp b/src/WiFiManager.cpp
index 4ac1fbb..54e2117 100644
--- a/src/WiFiManager.cpp
+++ b/src/WiFiManager.cpp
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ WiFiManager::WiFiManager()
       _retry_count(0),
       _initialized(false) {
   memset(&_config, 0, sizeof(_config));
+  memset(_cached_ssid, 0, sizeof(_cached_ssid));
 }
 
 void WiFiManager::begin(const WiFiConfig& config) {
@@ -82,6 +83,9 @@ void WiFiManager::loop() {
         _state = WiFiState::CONNECTED;
         _connected_since = millis();
         _retry_count = 0;
+        // Cache SSID to avoid dangling pointer from WiFi.SSID().c_str()
+        strncpy(_cached_ssid, WiFi.SSID().c_str(), sizeof(_cached_ssid) - 1);
+        _cached_ssid[sizeof(_cached_ssid) - 1] = '\0';
         Serial.printf("[WiFi] Connected! IP: %s, RSSI: %d dBm\n",
                       WiFi.localIP().toString().c_str(), WiFi.RSSI());
       } else if (status == WL_NO_SSID_AVAIL) {
@@ -184,6 +188,9 @@ void WiFiManager::startAPMode() {
 
   if (success) {
     _state = WiFiState::AP_MODE;
+    // Cache AP SSID to avoid dangling pointer
+    strncpy(_cached_ssid, ap_ssid.c_str(), sizeof(_cached_ssid) - 1);
+    _cached_ssid[sizeof(_cached_ssid) - 1] = '\0';
     Serial.printf("[WiFi] AP started: SSID='%s', IP=%s\n",
                   ap_ssid.c_str(), WiFi.softAPIP().toString().c_str());
   } else {
@@ -221,10 +228,8 @@ int32_t WiFiManager::getRSSI() const {
 }
 
 const char* WiFiManager::getSSID() const {
-  if (_state == WiFiState::CONNECTED) {
-    return WiFi.SSID().c_str();
-  } else if (_state == WiFiState::AP_MODE) {
-    return WiFi.softAPSSID().c_str();
+  if (_state == WiFiState::CONNECTED || _state == WiFiState::AP_MODE) {
+    return _cached_ssid;
   }
   return "";
 }
@@ -264,10 +269,8 @@ NetworkState WiFiManager::getState() const {
 }
 
 const char* WiFiManager::getConnectionName() const {
-  if (_state == WiFiState::CONNECTED) {
-    return WiFi.SSID().c_str();
-  } else if (_state == WiFiState::AP_MODE) {
-    return WiFi.softAPSSID().c_str();
+  if (_state == WiFiState::CONNECTED || _state == WiFiState::AP_MODE) {
+    return _cached_ssid;
   }
   return "Not connected";
 }
diff --git a/src/WiFiManager.h b/src/WiFiManager.h
index 23051e7..c780143 100644
--- a/src/WiFiManager.h
+++ b/src/WiFiManager.h
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ private:
   unsigned long _connected_since;
   uint8_t _retry_count;
   bool _initialized;
+  char _cached_ssid[33];  // Cached SSID to avoid dangling pointer from WiFi.SSID().c_str()
 
   void attemptConnection();
   void checkConnection();