diff mbox series

[25/26] media: Implement best effort media device removal safety sans refcounting

Message ID 20230201214535.347075-26-sakari.ailus@linux.intel.com
State New
Headers show
Series Media device lifetime management | expand

Commit Message

Sakari Ailus Feb. 1, 2023, 9:45 p.m. UTC
Add a new helper data structure media_devnode_compat_ref, which is used to
prevent user space from calling IOCTLs or other system calls to the media
device that has been already unregistered.

The media device's memory may of course still be released during the call
but there is only so much that can be done to this without the driver
managing the lifetime of the resources it needs somehow.

This patch should be reverted once all drivers have been converted to manage
their resources' lifetime.

Signed-off-by: Sakari Ailus <sakari.ailus@linux.intel.com>
---
 drivers/media/mc/mc-device.c  | 60 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-----
 drivers/media/mc/mc-devnode.c | 21 ++++++++----
 include/media/media-devnode.h | 29 +++++++++++++++++
 3 files changed, 96 insertions(+), 14 deletions(-)

Comments

Hans Verkuil March 13, 2023, 1:46 p.m. UTC | #1
On 03/03/2023 12:08, Sakari Ailus wrote:
> Hi Hans,
> 
> On Fri, Mar 03, 2023 at 09:54:40AM +0100, Hans Verkuil wrote:
>> On 03/03/2023 09:39, Hans Verkuil wrote:
>>> On 01/02/2023 22:45, Sakari Ailus wrote:
>>>> Add a new helper data structure media_devnode_compat_ref, which is used to
>>>> prevent user space from calling IOCTLs or other system calls to the media
>>>> device that has been already unregistered.
>>>>
>>>> The media device's memory may of course still be released during the call
>>>> but there is only so much that can be done to this without the driver
>>>> managing the lifetime of the resources it needs somehow.
>>>>
>>>> This patch should be reverted once all drivers have been converted to manage
>>>> their resources' lifetime.
>>>>
>>>> Signed-off-by: Sakari Ailus <sakari.ailus@linux.intel.com>
>>>> ---
>>>>  drivers/media/mc/mc-device.c  | 60 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-----
>>>>  drivers/media/mc/mc-devnode.c | 21 ++++++++----
>>>>  include/media/media-devnode.h | 29 +++++++++++++++++
>>>>  3 files changed, 96 insertions(+), 14 deletions(-)
>>>>
>>>> diff --git a/drivers/media/mc/mc-device.c b/drivers/media/mc/mc-device.c
>>>> index 3a1db5fdbba7..22fdaa6370ea 100644
>>>> --- a/drivers/media/mc/mc-device.c
>>>> +++ b/drivers/media/mc/mc-device.c
>>>> @@ -45,18 +45,34 @@ static inline void __user *media_get_uptr(__u64 arg)
>>>>  	return (void __user *)(uintptr_t)arg;
>>>>  }
>>>>  
>>>> +static void compat_ref_release(struct kref *kref)
>>>> +{
>>>> +	struct media_devnode_compat_ref *ref =
>>>> +		container_of_const(kref, struct media_devnode_compat_ref, kref);
>>>> +
>>>> +	kfree(ref);
>>>> +}
>>>> +
>>>>  static int media_device_open(struct media_devnode *devnode, struct file *filp)
>>>>  {
>>>>  	struct media_device *mdev = to_media_device(devnode);
>>>>  	struct media_device_fh *fh;
>>>>  	unsigned long flags;
>>>>  
>>>> +	if (devnode->ref && (!atomic_read(&devnode->ref->registered) ||
>>>> +			     !kref_get_unless_zero(&devnode->ref->kref)))
>>>> +		return -ENXIO;
>>>> +
>>>
>>> This seems pointless: if the media device is unregistered, then the device
>>> node disappears and it can't be opened anymore.
>>>
>>> I'm confused by this patch in general: when media_device_unregister() is called,
>>> it is no longer possible to call ioctls and basically do anything except close
>>> the open fh.
>>>
>>> So what am I missing here? It all looks odd.
>>
>> I read up on this a bit more, and I think this patch is bogus: drivers not
>> converted to the release() callback will indeed just crash, but that's no
>> different than many existing drivers, media or otherwise, when you forcibly
>> unbind them. It's broken today, and since you have to be root to unbind, I
>> would say that we can just leave it as-is rather than introducing a rather
>> ugly workaround. I don't think it will help anyway, since most likely
>> such drivers will also fails if the application has a video device open
>> when the device is unbound.
> 
> The main difference is whether accessing such a file handle will access
> released memory always or whether that is possible only during a very brief
> amount of time.
> 

I still don't like this. It was broken before, and it is broken now (perhaps a
bit less broken, but still...).

There is a right fix now, and drivers that are likely to be removed forcibly
should be converted. This patch just makes it more likely that such drivers
won't be converted since it is less likely to hit this, so people will just
think that this is 'good enough'. And it makes the code a lot uglier.

Note that if we still want this in, then it needs a lot more comments explaining
what is going on.

Regards,

	Hans
Sakari Ailus March 13, 2023, 2:02 p.m. UTC | #2
Hi Hans,

On Mon, Mar 13, 2023 at 02:46:27PM +0100, Hans Verkuil wrote:
> On 03/03/2023 12:08, Sakari Ailus wrote:
> > Hi Hans,
> > 
> > On Fri, Mar 03, 2023 at 09:54:40AM +0100, Hans Verkuil wrote:
> >> On 03/03/2023 09:39, Hans Verkuil wrote:
> >>> On 01/02/2023 22:45, Sakari Ailus wrote:
> >>>> Add a new helper data structure media_devnode_compat_ref, which is used to
> >>>> prevent user space from calling IOCTLs or other system calls to the media
> >>>> device that has been already unregistered.
> >>>>
> >>>> The media device's memory may of course still be released during the call
> >>>> but there is only so much that can be done to this without the driver
> >>>> managing the lifetime of the resources it needs somehow.
> >>>>
> >>>> This patch should be reverted once all drivers have been converted to manage
> >>>> their resources' lifetime.
> >>>>
> >>>> Signed-off-by: Sakari Ailus <sakari.ailus@linux.intel.com>
> >>>> ---
> >>>>  drivers/media/mc/mc-device.c  | 60 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-----
> >>>>  drivers/media/mc/mc-devnode.c | 21 ++++++++----
> >>>>  include/media/media-devnode.h | 29 +++++++++++++++++
> >>>>  3 files changed, 96 insertions(+), 14 deletions(-)
> >>>>
> >>>> diff --git a/drivers/media/mc/mc-device.c b/drivers/media/mc/mc-device.c
> >>>> index 3a1db5fdbba7..22fdaa6370ea 100644
> >>>> --- a/drivers/media/mc/mc-device.c
> >>>> +++ b/drivers/media/mc/mc-device.c
> >>>> @@ -45,18 +45,34 @@ static inline void __user *media_get_uptr(__u64 arg)
> >>>>  	return (void __user *)(uintptr_t)arg;
> >>>>  }
> >>>>  
> >>>> +static void compat_ref_release(struct kref *kref)
> >>>> +{
> >>>> +	struct media_devnode_compat_ref *ref =
> >>>> +		container_of_const(kref, struct media_devnode_compat_ref, kref);
> >>>> +
> >>>> +	kfree(ref);
> >>>> +}
> >>>> +
> >>>>  static int media_device_open(struct media_devnode *devnode, struct file *filp)
> >>>>  {
> >>>>  	struct media_device *mdev = to_media_device(devnode);
> >>>>  	struct media_device_fh *fh;
> >>>>  	unsigned long flags;
> >>>>  
> >>>> +	if (devnode->ref && (!atomic_read(&devnode->ref->registered) ||
> >>>> +			     !kref_get_unless_zero(&devnode->ref->kref)))
> >>>> +		return -ENXIO;
> >>>> +
> >>>
> >>> This seems pointless: if the media device is unregistered, then the device
> >>> node disappears and it can't be opened anymore.
> >>>
> >>> I'm confused by this patch in general: when media_device_unregister() is called,
> >>> it is no longer possible to call ioctls and basically do anything except close
> >>> the open fh.
> >>>
> >>> So what am I missing here? It all looks odd.
> >>
> >> I read up on this a bit more, and I think this patch is bogus: drivers not
> >> converted to the release() callback will indeed just crash, but that's no
> >> different than many existing drivers, media or otherwise, when you forcibly
> >> unbind them. It's broken today, and since you have to be root to unbind, I
> >> would say that we can just leave it as-is rather than introducing a rather
> >> ugly workaround. I don't think it will help anyway, since most likely
> >> such drivers will also fails if the application has a video device open
> >> when the device is unbound.
> > 
> > The main difference is whether accessing such a file handle will access
> > released memory always or whether that is possible only during a very brief
> > amount of time.
> > 
> 
> I still don't like this. It was broken before, and it is broken now (perhaps a
> bit less broken, but still...).
> 
> There is a right fix now, and drivers that are likely to be removed forcibly
> should be converted. This patch just makes it more likely that such drivers
> won't be converted since it is less likely to hit this, so people will just
> think that this is 'good enough'. And it makes the code a lot uglier.

I agree, although converting the drivers is easier said than done. Note
that also DVB is affected by this, not just V4L2. There are quite a few DVB
USB devices.

The behaviour before this set (since ~ 2017) is restored by the last few
patches, without these we're on pre-2017 behaviour which basically means
that all media IOCTLs on file handles the device of which is gone, will
always access released memory. That was quite bad, too.

Back then Mauro objected merging the set due to lack of DVB support, and as
far as I recall, also for not including best effort attempt to avoid freed
memory accesses.

I have experimental DVB support patches (from ~ 2017) that do not actually
work and I won't have time to fix them.

Cc Mauro.

> 
> Note that if we still want this in, then it needs a lot more comments explaining
> what is going on.

I'm fine with adding that.
Hans Verkuil March 13, 2023, 2:39 p.m. UTC | #3
On 13/03/2023 15:02, Sakari Ailus wrote:
> Hi Hans,
> 
> On Mon, Mar 13, 2023 at 02:46:27PM +0100, Hans Verkuil wrote:
>> On 03/03/2023 12:08, Sakari Ailus wrote:
>>> Hi Hans,
>>>
>>> On Fri, Mar 03, 2023 at 09:54:40AM +0100, Hans Verkuil wrote:
>>>> On 03/03/2023 09:39, Hans Verkuil wrote:
>>>>> On 01/02/2023 22:45, Sakari Ailus wrote:
>>>>>> Add a new helper data structure media_devnode_compat_ref, which is used to
>>>>>> prevent user space from calling IOCTLs or other system calls to the media
>>>>>> device that has been already unregistered.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The media device's memory may of course still be released during the call
>>>>>> but there is only so much that can be done to this without the driver
>>>>>> managing the lifetime of the resources it needs somehow.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> This patch should be reverted once all drivers have been converted to manage
>>>>>> their resources' lifetime.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Signed-off-by: Sakari Ailus <sakari.ailus@linux.intel.com>
>>>>>> ---
>>>>>>  drivers/media/mc/mc-device.c  | 60 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-----
>>>>>>  drivers/media/mc/mc-devnode.c | 21 ++++++++----
>>>>>>  include/media/media-devnode.h | 29 +++++++++++++++++
>>>>>>  3 files changed, 96 insertions(+), 14 deletions(-)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> diff --git a/drivers/media/mc/mc-device.c b/drivers/media/mc/mc-device.c
>>>>>> index 3a1db5fdbba7..22fdaa6370ea 100644
>>>>>> --- a/drivers/media/mc/mc-device.c
>>>>>> +++ b/drivers/media/mc/mc-device.c
>>>>>> @@ -45,18 +45,34 @@ static inline void __user *media_get_uptr(__u64 arg)
>>>>>>  	return (void __user *)(uintptr_t)arg;
>>>>>>  }
>>>>>>  
>>>>>> +static void compat_ref_release(struct kref *kref)
>>>>>> +{
>>>>>> +	struct media_devnode_compat_ref *ref =
>>>>>> +		container_of_const(kref, struct media_devnode_compat_ref, kref);
>>>>>> +
>>>>>> +	kfree(ref);
>>>>>> +}
>>>>>> +
>>>>>>  static int media_device_open(struct media_devnode *devnode, struct file *filp)
>>>>>>  {
>>>>>>  	struct media_device *mdev = to_media_device(devnode);
>>>>>>  	struct media_device_fh *fh;
>>>>>>  	unsigned long flags;
>>>>>>  
>>>>>> +	if (devnode->ref && (!atomic_read(&devnode->ref->registered) ||
>>>>>> +			     !kref_get_unless_zero(&devnode->ref->kref)))
>>>>>> +		return -ENXIO;
>>>>>> +
>>>>>
>>>>> This seems pointless: if the media device is unregistered, then the device
>>>>> node disappears and it can't be opened anymore.
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm confused by this patch in general: when media_device_unregister() is called,
>>>>> it is no longer possible to call ioctls and basically do anything except close
>>>>> the open fh.
>>>>>
>>>>> So what am I missing here? It all looks odd.
>>>>
>>>> I read up on this a bit more, and I think this patch is bogus: drivers not
>>>> converted to the release() callback will indeed just crash, but that's no
>>>> different than many existing drivers, media or otherwise, when you forcibly
>>>> unbind them. It's broken today, and since you have to be root to unbind, I
>>>> would say that we can just leave it as-is rather than introducing a rather
>>>> ugly workaround. I don't think it will help anyway, since most likely
>>>> such drivers will also fails if the application has a video device open
>>>> when the device is unbound.
>>>
>>> The main difference is whether accessing such a file handle will access
>>> released memory always or whether that is possible only during a very brief
>>> amount of time.
>>>
>>
>> I still don't like this. It was broken before, and it is broken now (perhaps a
>> bit less broken, but still...).
>>
>> There is a right fix now, and drivers that are likely to be removed forcibly
>> should be converted. This patch just makes it more likely that such drivers
>> won't be converted since it is less likely to hit this, so people will just
>> think that this is 'good enough'. And it makes the code a lot uglier.
> 
> I agree, although converting the drivers is easier said than done. Note
> that also DVB is affected by this, not just V4L2. There are quite a few DVB
> USB devices.
> 
> The behaviour before this set (since ~ 2017) is restored by the last few
> patches, without these we're on pre-2017 behaviour which basically means
> that all media IOCTLs on file handles the device of which is gone, will
> always access released memory. That was quite bad, too.

Why?

I have a filehandle open on /dev/mediaX. Now I unbind the device. That will
unregister the media device, which will cause all file ops on the filehandle
to return immediately, except for close().

And close() just frees the devnode from what I can see.

There is a race if the device is unbound while in an ioctl, then all bets are
off without proper life-time management.

If it crashes after an unbind in the close() call, then something else is
wrong, it shouldn't do that.

What happens if you do 'sleep 20 </dev/mediaX', then unbind the device?

I feel that I am missing something here.

Regards,

	Hans

> 
> Back then Mauro objected merging the set due to lack of DVB support, and as
> far as I recall, also for not including best effort attempt to avoid freed
> memory accesses.
> 
> I have experimental DVB support patches (from ~ 2017) that do not actually
> work and I won't have time to fix them.
> 
> Cc Mauro.
> 
>>
>> Note that if we still want this in, then it needs a lot more comments explaining
>> what is going on.
> 
> I'm fine with adding that.
>
Sakari Ailus March 13, 2023, 4:53 p.m. UTC | #4
Hi Hans,

On Mon, Mar 13, 2023 at 03:39:25PM +0100, Hans Verkuil wrote:
> On 13/03/2023 15:02, Sakari Ailus wrote:
> > Hi Hans,
> > 
> > On Mon, Mar 13, 2023 at 02:46:27PM +0100, Hans Verkuil wrote:
> >> On 03/03/2023 12:08, Sakari Ailus wrote:
> >>> Hi Hans,
> >>>
> >>> On Fri, Mar 03, 2023 at 09:54:40AM +0100, Hans Verkuil wrote:
> >>>> On 03/03/2023 09:39, Hans Verkuil wrote:
> >>>>> On 01/02/2023 22:45, Sakari Ailus wrote:
> >>>>>> Add a new helper data structure media_devnode_compat_ref, which is used to
> >>>>>> prevent user space from calling IOCTLs or other system calls to the media
> >>>>>> device that has been already unregistered.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> The media device's memory may of course still be released during the call
> >>>>>> but there is only so much that can be done to this without the driver
> >>>>>> managing the lifetime of the resources it needs somehow.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> This patch should be reverted once all drivers have been converted to manage
> >>>>>> their resources' lifetime.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Signed-off-by: Sakari Ailus <sakari.ailus@linux.intel.com>
> >>>>>> ---
> >>>>>>  drivers/media/mc/mc-device.c  | 60 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++-----
> >>>>>>  drivers/media/mc/mc-devnode.c | 21 ++++++++----
> >>>>>>  include/media/media-devnode.h | 29 +++++++++++++++++
> >>>>>>  3 files changed, 96 insertions(+), 14 deletions(-)
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> diff --git a/drivers/media/mc/mc-device.c b/drivers/media/mc/mc-device.c
> >>>>>> index 3a1db5fdbba7..22fdaa6370ea 100644
> >>>>>> --- a/drivers/media/mc/mc-device.c
> >>>>>> +++ b/drivers/media/mc/mc-device.c
> >>>>>> @@ -45,18 +45,34 @@ static inline void __user *media_get_uptr(__u64 arg)
> >>>>>>  	return (void __user *)(uintptr_t)arg;
> >>>>>>  }
> >>>>>>  
> >>>>>> +static void compat_ref_release(struct kref *kref)
> >>>>>> +{
> >>>>>> +	struct media_devnode_compat_ref *ref =
> >>>>>> +		container_of_const(kref, struct media_devnode_compat_ref, kref);
> >>>>>> +
> >>>>>> +	kfree(ref);
> >>>>>> +}
> >>>>>> +
> >>>>>>  static int media_device_open(struct media_devnode *devnode, struct file *filp)
> >>>>>>  {
> >>>>>>  	struct media_device *mdev = to_media_device(devnode);
> >>>>>>  	struct media_device_fh *fh;
> >>>>>>  	unsigned long flags;
> >>>>>>  
> >>>>>> +	if (devnode->ref && (!atomic_read(&devnode->ref->registered) ||
> >>>>>> +			     !kref_get_unless_zero(&devnode->ref->kref)))
> >>>>>> +		return -ENXIO;
> >>>>>> +
> >>>>>
> >>>>> This seems pointless: if the media device is unregistered, then the device
> >>>>> node disappears and it can't be opened anymore.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> I'm confused by this patch in general: when media_device_unregister() is called,
> >>>>> it is no longer possible to call ioctls and basically do anything except close
> >>>>> the open fh.
> >>>>>
> >>>>> So what am I missing here? It all looks odd.
> >>>>
> >>>> I read up on this a bit more, and I think this patch is bogus: drivers not
> >>>> converted to the release() callback will indeed just crash, but that's no
> >>>> different than many existing drivers, media or otherwise, when you forcibly
> >>>> unbind them. It's broken today, and since you have to be root to unbind, I
> >>>> would say that we can just leave it as-is rather than introducing a rather
> >>>> ugly workaround. I don't think it will help anyway, since most likely
> >>>> such drivers will also fails if the application has a video device open
> >>>> when the device is unbound.
> >>>
> >>> The main difference is whether accessing such a file handle will access
> >>> released memory always or whether that is possible only during a very brief
> >>> amount of time.
> >>>
> >>
> >> I still don't like this. It was broken before, and it is broken now (perhaps a
> >> bit less broken, but still...).
> >>
> >> There is a right fix now, and drivers that are likely to be removed forcibly
> >> should be converted. This patch just makes it more likely that such drivers
> >> won't be converted since it is less likely to hit this, so people will just
> >> think that this is 'good enough'. And it makes the code a lot uglier.
> > 
> > I agree, although converting the drivers is easier said than done. Note
> > that also DVB is affected by this, not just V4L2. There are quite a few DVB
> > USB devices.
> > 
> > The behaviour before this set (since ~ 2017) is restored by the last few
> > patches, without these we're on pre-2017 behaviour which basically means
> > that all media IOCTLs on file handles the device of which is gone, will
> > always access released memory. That was quite bad, too.
> 
> Why?
> 
> I have a filehandle open on /dev/mediaX. Now I unbind the device. That will
> unregister the media device, which will cause all file ops on the filehandle
> to return immediately, except for close().
> 
> And close() just frees the devnode from what I can see.
> 
> There is a race if the device is unbound while in an ioctl, then all bets are
> off without proper life-time management.
> 
> If it crashes after an unbind in the close() call, then something else is
> wrong, it shouldn't do that.
> 
> What happens if you do 'sleep 20 </dev/mediaX', then unbind the device?
> 
> I feel that I am missing something here.

Actually these seems to be a bug in the 25th patch --- testing the devnode
registration needs to take place before checking for fops.

After fixing that, the difference of issuing read(2) after unregistering
the device is between (probably) crashing and graciously failing. The
underlying problem is that without the 25th patch there pretty much is a
guarantee devnode has been released by the time it is accessed.
diff mbox series

Patch

diff --git a/drivers/media/mc/mc-device.c b/drivers/media/mc/mc-device.c
index 3a1db5fdbba7..22fdaa6370ea 100644
--- a/drivers/media/mc/mc-device.c
+++ b/drivers/media/mc/mc-device.c
@@ -45,18 +45,34 @@  static inline void __user *media_get_uptr(__u64 arg)
 	return (void __user *)(uintptr_t)arg;
 }
 
+static void compat_ref_release(struct kref *kref)
+{
+	struct media_devnode_compat_ref *ref =
+		container_of_const(kref, struct media_devnode_compat_ref, kref);
+
+	kfree(ref);
+}
+
 static int media_device_open(struct media_devnode *devnode, struct file *filp)
 {
 	struct media_device *mdev = to_media_device(devnode);
 	struct media_device_fh *fh;
 	unsigned long flags;
 
+	if (devnode->ref && (!atomic_read(&devnode->ref->registered) ||
+			     !kref_get_unless_zero(&devnode->ref->kref)))
+		return -ENXIO;
+
 	fh = kzalloc(sizeof(*fh), GFP_KERNEL);
-	if (!fh)
+	if (!fh) {
+		if (devnode->ref)
+			kref_put(&devnode->ref->kref, compat_ref_release);
 		return -ENOMEM;
+	}
 
-	filp->private_data = &fh->fh;
+	fh->fh.ref = devnode->ref;
 
+	filp->private_data = &fh->fh;
 	spin_lock_irqsave(&mdev->fh_list_lock, flags);
 	list_add(&fh->mdev_list, &mdev->fh_list);
 	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&mdev->fh_list_lock, flags);
@@ -71,9 +87,14 @@  static int media_device_close(struct file *filp)
 	struct media_device_fh *fh = media_device_fh(filp);
 	unsigned long flags;
 
-	spin_lock_irqsave(&mdev->fh_list_lock, flags);
-	list_del(&fh->mdev_list);
-	spin_unlock_irqrestore(&mdev->fh_list_lock, flags);
+	if (!fh->fh.ref || atomic_read(&fh->fh.ref->registered)) {
+		spin_lock_irqsave(&mdev->fh_list_lock, flags);
+		list_del(&fh->mdev_list);
+		spin_unlock_irqrestore(&mdev->fh_list_lock, flags);
+	}
+
+	if (fh->fh.ref)
+		kref_put(&fh->fh.ref->kref, compat_ref_release);
 
 	kfree(fh);
 
@@ -816,6 +837,8 @@  EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(media_device_init);
 
 void media_device_cleanup(struct media_device *mdev)
 {
+	if (mdev->devnode.ref)
+		kref_put(&mdev->devnode.ref->kref, compat_ref_release);
 	__media_device_release(mdev);
 	media_device_put(mdev);
 }
@@ -824,6 +847,7 @@  EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(media_device_cleanup);
 int __must_check __media_device_register(struct media_device *mdev,
 					 struct module *owner)
 {
+	struct media_devnode_compat_ref *ref = NULL;
 	int ret;
 
 	/* Register the device node. */
@@ -833,19 +857,39 @@  int __must_check __media_device_register(struct media_device *mdev,
 	/* Set version 0 to indicate user-space that the graph is static */
 	mdev->topology_version = 0;
 
+	if (!mdev->ops || !mdev->ops->release) {
+		ref = kzalloc(sizeof(*mdev->devnode.ref), GFP_KERNEL);
+		if (!ref)
+			return -ENOMEM;
+
+		kref_init(&ref->kref);
+		atomic_set(&ref->registered, 1);
+		mdev->devnode.ref = ref;
+	}
+
 	ret = media_devnode_register(&mdev->devnode, owner);
 	if (ret < 0)
-		return ret;
+		goto err_release_ref;
 
 	ret = device_create_file(&mdev->devnode.dev, &dev_attr_model);
 	if (ret < 0) {
-		media_devnode_unregister(&mdev->devnode);
-		return ret;
+		goto err_devnode_unregister;
 	}
 
 	dev_dbg(mdev->dev, "Media device registered\n");
 
 	return 0;
+
+err_devnode_unregister:
+	media_devnode_unregister(&mdev->devnode);
+
+err_release_ref:
+	if (ref) {
+		kref_put(&ref->kref, compat_ref_release);
+		mdev->devnode.ref = NULL;
+	}
+
+	return ret;
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(__media_device_register);
 
diff --git a/drivers/media/mc/mc-devnode.c b/drivers/media/mc/mc-devnode.c
index 760314dd22e1..f2cb3617df02 100644
--- a/drivers/media/mc/mc-devnode.c
+++ b/drivers/media/mc/mc-devnode.c
@@ -65,6 +65,14 @@  static struct bus_type media_bus_type = {
 	.name = MEDIA_NAME,
 };
 
+static bool media_devnode_is_registered_compat(struct media_devnode_fh *fh)
+{
+	if (fh->ref)
+		return atomic_read(&fh->ref->registered);
+
+	return media_devnode_is_registered(fh->devnode);
+}
+
 static ssize_t media_read(struct file *filp, char __user *buf,
 		size_t sz, loff_t *off)
 {
@@ -72,7 +80,7 @@  static ssize_t media_read(struct file *filp, char __user *buf,
 
 	if (!devnode->fops->read)
 		return -EINVAL;
-	if (!media_devnode_is_registered(devnode))
+	if (!media_devnode_is_registered_compat(filp->private_data))
 		return -EIO;
 	return devnode->fops->read(filp, buf, sz, off);
 }
@@ -84,7 +92,7 @@  static ssize_t media_write(struct file *filp, const char __user *buf,
 
 	if (!devnode->fops->write)
 		return -EINVAL;
-	if (!media_devnode_is_registered(devnode))
+	if (!media_devnode_is_registered_compat(filp->private_data))
 		return -EIO;
 	return devnode->fops->write(filp, buf, sz, off);
 }
@@ -94,7 +102,7 @@  static __poll_t media_poll(struct file *filp,
 {
 	struct media_devnode *devnode = media_devnode_data(filp);
 
-	if (!media_devnode_is_registered(devnode))
+	if (!media_devnode_is_registered_compat(filp->private_data))
 		return EPOLLERR | EPOLLHUP;
 	if (!devnode->fops->poll)
 		return DEFAULT_POLLMASK;
@@ -106,12 +114,10 @@  __media_ioctl(struct file *filp, unsigned int cmd, unsigned long arg,
 	      long (*ioctl_func)(struct file *filp, unsigned int cmd,
 				 unsigned long arg))
 {
-	struct media_devnode *devnode = media_devnode_data(filp);
-
 	if (!ioctl_func)
 		return -ENOTTY;
 
-	if (!media_devnode_is_registered(devnode))
+	if (!media_devnode_is_registered_compat(filp->private_data))
 		return -EIO;
 
 	return ioctl_func(filp, cmd, arg);
@@ -265,6 +271,9 @@  void media_devnode_unregister(struct media_devnode *devnode)
 	if (!media_devnode_is_registered(devnode))
 		return;
 
+	if (devnode->ref)
+		atomic_set(&devnode->ref->registered, 0);
+
 	mutex_lock(&media_devnode_lock);
 	clear_bit(MEDIA_FLAG_REGISTERED, &devnode->flags);
 	mutex_unlock(&media_devnode_lock);
diff --git a/include/media/media-devnode.h b/include/media/media-devnode.h
index d21c13829072..9ea55c53e5cb 100644
--- a/include/media/media-devnode.h
+++ b/include/media/media-devnode.h
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ 
 #include <linux/fs.h>
 #include <linux/device.h>
 #include <linux/cdev.h>
+#include <linux/kref.h>
 
 struct media_devnode;
 
@@ -55,9 +56,31 @@  struct media_file_operations {
 	int (*release) (struct file *);
 };
 
+/**
+ * struct media_devnode_compat_ref - Workaround for drivers not managing media
+ *				     device lifetime
+ *
+ * The purpose if this struct is to support drivers that do not manage the
+ * lifetime of their respective media devices to avoid the worst effects of
+ * this, namely an IOCTL call on an open file handle to a device that has been
+ * unbound causing a kernel oops systematically. This is not a fix, the proper,
+ * reliable way to handle this is to manage the resources used by the
+ * driver. This struct and its use can be removed once all drivers have been
+ * converted.
+ *
+ * @kref: kref for the memory of this struct
+ * @registered: is this device registered?
+ */
+struct media_devnode_compat_ref {
+	struct kref kref;
+	atomic_t registered;
+};
+
 /**
  * struct media_devnode_fh - Media device node file handle
  * @devnode:	pointer to the media device node
+ * @ref:	media device compat ref, if the driver does not manage media
+ *		device lifetime
  *
  * This structure serves as a base for per-file-handle data storage. Media
  * device node users embed media_devnode_fh in their custom file handle data
@@ -67,6 +90,7 @@  struct media_file_operations {
  */
 struct media_devnode_fh {
 	struct media_devnode *devnode;
+	struct media_devnode_compat_ref *ref;
 };
 
 /**
@@ -80,6 +104,8 @@  struct media_devnode_fh {
  * @flags:	flags, combination of the ``MEDIA_FLAG_*`` constants
  * @release:	release callback called at the end of ``media_devnode_release()``
  *		routine at media-device.c.
+ * @ref:	reference for providing best effort system call safety in device
+ *		removal
  *
  * This structure represents a media-related device node.
  *
@@ -101,6 +127,9 @@  struct media_devnode {
 
 	/* callbacks */
 	void (*release)(struct media_devnode *devnode);
+
+	/* compat reference */
+	struct media_devnode_compat_ref *ref;
 };
 
 /* dev to media_devnode */