[PATCH AUTOSEL 6.18] drm/amd/display: Avoid DPMS-on for phantom stream

[Sasha Levin]

From: Ilya Bakoulin <Ilya.Bakoulin@xxxxxxx>

[ Upstream commit 10f5f9c0ef32d08b228bfee3684b62f36f395852 ]

[Why & How]
Calling dc_update_planes_and_stream separately for stream and its
phantom stream causes a NULL pointer dereference, since the phantom is
destroyed on the first call.

Skip the call for phantom streams.

Reviewed-by: Alvin Lee <alvin.lee2@xxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Ilya Bakoulin <Ilya.Bakoulin@xxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Ray Wu <ray.wu@xxxxxxx>
Tested-by: Daniel Wheeler <daniel.wheeler@xxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Alex Deucher <alexander.deucher@xxxxxxx>
Signed-off-by: Sasha Levin <sashal@xxxxxxxxxx>
---

LLM Generated explanations, may be completely bogus:

# Stable Backport Analysis: `drm/amd/display: Avoid DPMS-on for phantom
stream`

**Local tree:** `stable/linux-6.18.y` at **v6.18.44** (`git describe
HEAD` / `make kernelversion` → 6.18.44)

---

## PHASE 1: COMMIT MESSAGE FORENSICS

### Step 1.1: Subject line
**Record:** `[drm/amd/display]` `[Avoid]` — Skip DPMS-on stream updates
for phantom (SubVP) streams during DP link-training automation to
prevent a NULL pointer dereference.

### Step 1.2: Tags
**Record:**
- **Reviewed-by:** Alvin Lee \<alvin.lee2@xxxxxxx\>
- **Tested-by:** Daniel Wheeler \<daniel.wheeler@xxxxxxx\>
- **Signed-off-by:** Ilya Bakoulin, Ray Wu, Alex Deucher (maintainer)
- **No** Fixes:, Reported-by:, Link:, Cc: stable@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Notable: Reviewed and tested by AMD display engineers; Alex Deucher
  acked (subsystem maintainer).

### Step 1.3: Body analysis
**Record:**
- **Bug:** Calling `dc_update_planes_and_stream()` separately for a real
  stream and its paired phantom stream causes a NULL pointer
  dereference.
- **Symptom:** Kernel oops / crash in the display driver during DP link
  retrain automation.
- **Root cause (author):** The phantom stream is destroyed on the first
  `dc_update_planes_and_stream()` call; a second call uses a stale/freed
  pointer.
- **Fix:** Skip phantom streams when building the list of streams to
  update with DPMS-on.

### Step 1.4: Hidden bug fix?
**Record:** No — this is an explicit NULL-deref fix, not disguised
cleanup.

---

## PHASE 2: DIFF ANALYSIS

### Step 2.1: Inventory
**Record:**
- **File:**
  `drivers/gpu/drm/amd/display/dc/link/accessories/link_dp_cts.c` (+2
  lines)
- **Function:** `dp_retrain_link_dp_test()`
- **Scope:** Single-file, surgical fix (2 lines added)

### Step 2.2: Code flow change
**Record:**
- **Before:** Loop over `state->streams[i]` on the link caches every
  stream (including phantoms), then calls
  `dc_update_planes_and_stream()` for each.
- **After:** Streams with `is_phantom == true` are skipped during
  caching; only real streams get DPMS-on updates.
- **Path affected:** DP link retrain / compliance-test automation error
  path in `dp_retrain_link_dp_test()`.

### Step 2.3: Bug mechanism
**Record:**
- **Category:** NULL pointer dereference (memory safety)
- **Mechanism:** `dc_update_planes_and_stream()` with
  `stream_update->dpms_off` forces `UPDATE_TYPE_FULL` (verified in
  `check_update_surfaces_for_stream()` at lines 2966–2996 of `dc.c`).
  Full updates call `dc_state_remove_phantom_streams_and_planes()` and
  `dc_state_release_phantom_streams_and_planes()` (lines 3529–3530 of
  `dc.c`), freeing phantom streams. The second loop iteration still
  holds a cached phantom pointer → NULL deref.

### Step 2.4: Fix quality
**Record:**
- Fix is obviously correct and minimal.
- Matches existing convention: `resource_log_pipe_topology_update()`
  already skips `is_phantom` streams (`dc_resource.c:2419`).
- Regression risk: very low — phantom streams should not receive
  independent DPMS-on updates.
- No API or structural changes.

---

## PHASE 3: GIT HISTORY INVESTIGATION

### Step 3.1: Blame
**Record:**
- Buggy loop introduced by **f5b69101f956f** (2025-07-17): "Cache
  streams targeting link when performing LT automation"
- That commit is an ancestor of v6.18.0 and of current HEAD.
- `is_phantom` on `struct dc_stream_state` dates to **012a04b1d6af6**
  (2023-11-21).

### Step 3.2: Fixes: tag
**Record:** N/A — no Fixes: tag in commit message.

### Step 3.3: Related file history
**Record:**
- **f5b69101f956f** — introduced stream caching loop (root of this bug
  pattern)
- **89939cf252d80** (2025-09-29) — different NULL-deref fix in same
  function: cache `dc` from `link->dc` instead of stale
  `state->clk_mgr->ctx->dc` after first stream update. Already in
  6.18.44 but does **not** fix the phantom-stream issue.
- Fix commit **10f5f9c0ef32d** (upstream) / **56337aae2421b** (stable
  candidate) is **not** in 6.18.44.
- Standalone fix; not part of a multi-patch series.

### Step 3.4: Author context
**Record:** Ilya Bakoulin is an active AMD display contributor (link/DP
fixes). Alex Deucher is amdgpu/drm maintainer.

### Step 3.5: Dependencies
**Record:**
- Requires `is_phantom` field — present in this tree
  (`dc_stream.h:313`).
- Requires stream-caching loop from f5b69101 — present in this tree.
- Cherry-pick of upstream **10f5f9c0ef32d** auto-merges cleanly against
  6.18.44 (verified).
- **Standalone:** PASS.

---

## PHASE 4: MAILING LIST AND EXTERNAL RESEARCH

### Step 4.1–4.5
**Record:**
- `b4 dig -c 10f5f9c0ef32d`: no lore match found.
- lore.kernel.org fetch: 403 Forbidden (bot protection).
- **UNVERIFIED:** No mailing-list thread or stable-list discussion
  retrieved.
- Tags show AMD internal review (Reviewed-by, Tested-by) and maintainer
  sign-off.

---

## PHASE 5: CODE SEMANTIC ANALYSIS

### Step 5.1: Key functions
**Record:** `dp_retrain_link_dp_test()` modified; calls
`dc_update_planes_and_stream()`.

### Step 5.2: Callers
**Record:**
- `dp_test_send_link_training()` → `dp_handle_automated_test()` (DP
  compliance test / link-training automation)
- `dp_set_preferred_training_settings()` path at line 991 (preferred
  link settings retrain during normal DP operation)

### Step 5.3: Callees
**Record:** `dc_update_planes_and_stream()` →
`update_planes_and_stream_v3/v2()` → phantom removal on FULL updates.

### Step 5.4: Reachability
**Record:**
- Trigger requires SubVP/MALL phantom streams on a DP link (`is_phantom
  == true`).
- Triggered during DP link retrain (compliance testing or preferred-
  settings retrain).
- Not a direct unprivileged syscall path, but reachable during normal
  display hotplug/link-rate changes on AMD GPUs with SubVP enabled.
- Config: `CONFIG_DRM_AMD_DC` (common on AMD systems).

### Step 5.5: Similar patterns
**Record:** `dc_resource.c:2419` skips phantom streams in topology
logging — same semantic rule applied here.

---

## PHASE 6: CROSS-REFERENCE AGAINST LOCAL TREE (6.18.44)

### Step 6.1: Buggy code present?
**Record:** **YES.** Lines 145–148 of `link_dp_cts.c` cache all link
streams without phantom skip. Bug present since v6.18.0 (f5b69101 is
ancestor of v6.18).

### Step 6.2: Backport complications
**Record:** Clean apply — cherry-pick test succeeded with auto-merge.
Only contextual difference from upstream is the already-applied `struct
dc *dc = link->dc` from 89939cf; phantom skip is independent.

### Step 6.3: Related fixes already present?
**Record:** 89939cf fixes a **different** NULL deref in the same
function (stale `dc` context). Phantom-stream NULL deref remains unfixed
in 6.18.44.

---

## PHASE 7: SUBSYSTEM CONTEXT

### Step 7.1: Subsystem / criticality
**Record:** `drivers/gpu/drm/amd/display` — **IMPORTANT** (AMD GPU
display driver; crash on affected hardware configs).

### Step 7.2: Activity
**Record:** Actively maintained; multiple recent fixes in
`link_dp_cts.c` on this branch.

---

## PHASE 8: IMPACT AND RISK

### Step 8.1: Who is affected
**Record:** AMD GPU users with SubVP/MALL phantom streams on a
DisplayPort link during link retrain or DP compliance-test automation.

### Step 8.2: Trigger conditions
**Record:**
- SubVP phantom stream active on the DP link
- DP link retrain via `dp_retrain_link_dp_test()`
- Moderately rare compared to general kernel paths, but real on modern
  AMD APUs/laptops with power-saving display features

### Step 8.3: Failure mode
**Record:** NULL pointer dereference → kernel oops. **Severity: HIGH**
(system crash when triggered).

### Step 8.4: Risk vs benefit
**Record:**
- **Benefit:** Prevents kernel crash on a real, reproducible code path;
  2-line fix.
- **Risk:** Very low — aligns with existing phantom-skip patterns
  elsewhere.
- **Ratio:** Favorable for stable backport.

---

## PHASE 9: FINAL SYNTHESIS

### Step 9.1: Evidence summary

**FOR backport:**
- Fixes verified NULL pointer dereference
- Small (2 lines), obviously correct
- Buggy code confirmed in 6.18.44 since v6.18.0
- Applies cleanly
- Reviewed, tested, maintainer-signed
- Complements but does not duplicate existing 89939cf fix

**AGAINST backport:**
- Narrow trigger (SubVP + DP link retrain)
- No public bug report or syzbot trace in commit message

**UNRESOLVED:**
- Mailing-list discussion (b4/lore unavailable)

### Step 9.2: Stable rules checklist
1. Obviously correct and tested? **PASS** (code review + Tested-by)
2. Fixes real bug affecting users? **PASS** (NULL deref on real path)
3. Important issue? **PASS** (kernel crash — HIGH severity when
   triggered)
4. Small and contained? **PASS** (2 lines, 1 file)
5. No new features/APIs? **PASS**
6. Can apply to local tree? **PASS** (verified cherry-pick)

### Step 9.3: Exception categories
**Record:** None — standard bug fix.

### Step 9.4: Decision rationale
This commit fixes a real NULL pointer dereference in the 6.18.y tree.
The buggy stream-caching loop has been present since v6.18.0; the fix is
not yet in 6.18.44. The existing 89939cf fix addresses a separate stale-
context NULL deref in the same function. The phantom-stream skip is
minimal, follows established conventions, applies cleanly, and prevents
a kernel oops on AMD systems using SubVP during DP link retrain.

---

## Verification

- **[Phase 1]** Parsed commit message and tags from user-provided diff
  and `git show 10f5f9c0ef32d`
- **[Phase 2]** Read `link_dp_cts.c:65-157`, `dc.c:2927-2996`,
  `dc.c:3526-3530`, `dc_state.c:916-956`
- **[Phase 3]** `git blame -L 145,148 link_dp_cts.c` → f5b69101f956f
- **[Phase 3]** `git log --oneline` on `link_dp_cts.c` → f5b69101,
  89939cf present; phantom fix absent
- **[Phase 3]** `git merge-base --is-ancestor f5b69101 HEAD` → in tree;
  `10f5f9c0ef32d` → NOT in tree
- **[Phase 3]** `git merge-base --is-ancestor f5b69101 v6.18` → buggy
  code in v6.18.0
- **[Phase 4]** `b4 dig -c 10f5f9c0ef32d` → no match; lore fetch → 403
- **[Phase 5]** `grep dp_retrain_link_dp_test` → callers at lines 185,
  601, 991
- **[Phase 5]** `grep is_phantom` → field exists in `dc_stream.h:313`;
  skip pattern in `dc_resource.c:2419`
- **[Phase 6]** `git describe HEAD` → v6.18.44; buggy code confirmed at
  lines 145-148 without phantom skip
- **[Phase 6]** Cherry-pick test of 10f5f9c0ef32d → auto-merge success
- **[Phase 8]** Failure mode: NULL deref on second
  `dc_update_planes_and_stream()` call after phantom freed

**YES**

 drivers/gpu/drm/amd/display/dc/link/accessories/link_dp_cts.c | 2 ++
 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+)

diff --git a/drivers/gpu/drm/amd/display/dc/link/accessories/link_dp_cts.c b/drivers/gpu/drm/amd/display/dc/link/accessories/link_dp_cts.c
index 2676ae9f6fe83..5f70793b8372e 100644
--- a/drivers/gpu/drm/amd/display/dc/link/accessories/link_dp_cts.c
+++ b/drivers/gpu/drm/amd/display/dc/link/accessories/link_dp_cts.c
@@ -143,6 +143,8 @@ static void dp_retrain_link_dp_test(struct dc_link *link,
 	// Set DPMS on with stream update
 	// Cache all streams on current link since dc_update_planes_and_stream might kill current_state
 	for (i = 0; i < MAX_PIPES; i++) {
+		if (state->streams[i] && state->streams[i]->is_phantom)
+			continue;
 		if (state->streams[i] && state->streams[i]->link && state->streams[i]->link == link)
 			streams_on_link[num_streams_on_link++] = state->streams[i];
 	}
-- 
2.53.0