[PATCH 1/5] drm/panel: have drm_panel_add/remove manage a list reference

From: Albert Esteve

Date: Fri Jun 26 2026 - 08:05:50 EST


The global panel_list holds raw pointers to drm_panel objects.
Nothing prevents a panel from being freed while it is still linked
in the list: if a driver's probe calls drm_panel_add() and then
fails at a later step, panel->list remains in panel_list. Any
subsequent call to of_drm_find_panel() that iterates the list will
dereference freed memory.

Have drm_panel_add() acquire a reference via drm_panel_get() before
inserting the panel into the list, and have drm_panel_remove() drop
it via drm_panel_put() after removing the panel from the list. The
global registry now holds a counted reference for as long as the
panel is listed, ensuring the object outlives any concurrent lookup.

Signed-off-by: Albert Esteve <aesteve@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
drivers/gpu/drm/drm_panel.c | 2 ++
1 file changed, 2 insertions(+)

diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_panel.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_panel.c
index 2c5649e433dfb..545fe93dc28fe 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_panel.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/drm_panel.c
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ static void drm_panel_init(struct drm_panel *panel, struct device *dev,
*/
void drm_panel_add(struct drm_panel *panel)
{
+ drm_panel_get(panel);
mutex_lock(&panel_lock);
list_add_tail(&panel->list, &panel_list);
mutex_unlock(&panel_lock);
@@ -98,6 +99,7 @@ void drm_panel_remove(struct drm_panel *panel)
mutex_lock(&panel_lock);
list_del_init(&panel->list);
mutex_unlock(&panel_lock);
+ drm_panel_put(panel);
}
EXPORT_SYMBOL(drm_panel_remove);


--
2.54.0