diff mbox series

v4l2-ctrls: fix reference to freed memory

Message ID 319aa93f-24f9-ddef-0814-a06011d9e73f@xs4all.nl (mailing list archive)
State New, archived
Headers show
Series v4l2-ctrls: fix reference to freed memory | expand

Commit Message

Hans Verkuil April 12, 2021, 10:10 a.m. UTC
When controls are used together with the Request API, then for
each request a v4l2_ctrl_handler struct is allocated. This contains
the controls that can be set in a request. If a control is *not* set in
the request, then the value used in the most recent previous request
must be used, or the current value if it is not found in any outstanding
requests.

The framework tried to find such a previous request and it would set
the 'req' pointer in struct v4l2_ctrl_ref to the v4l2_ctrl_ref of the
control in such a previous request. So far, so good. However, when that
previous request was applied to the hardware, returned to userspace, and
then userspace would re-init or free that request, any 'ref' pointer in
still-queued requests would suddenly point to freed memory.

This was not noticed before since the drivers that use this expected
that each request would always have the controls set, so there was
never any need to find a control in older requests. This requirement
was relaxed, and now this bug surfaced.

The use of the 'req' pointer in v4l2_ctrl_ref was very fragile, so
drop this entirely. Instead add a valid_p_req bool to indicate that
p_req contains a valid value for this control. And if it is false,
then call the new find_ctrl_in_prev_request() helper function that
walks through older outstanding requests to find if one of them set
the same control, and uses that value as per the API specification.

This simplifies the code as well and is a lot more robust.

Also added some more comments, since it was not always clear what
was going on.

Signed-off-by: Hans Verkuil <hverkuil-cisco@xs4all.nl>
Reported-by: Ezequiel Garcia <ezequiel@collabora.com>
Reported-by: Yunfei Dong (董云飞) <Yunfei.Dong@mediatek.com>
Tested-by: Ezequiel Garcia <ezequiel@collabora.com>
Tested-by: Nicolas Dufresne <nicolas@ndufresne.ca>
Fixes: 6fa6f831f095 ("media: v4l2-ctrls: add core request support")
Cc: <stable@vger.kernel.org>      # for v5.9 and up
---
While the bug was actually introduced when the Request API was merged,
it was not in active use until the H.264 stateless codec API was made
part of the uAPI. That's why the CC to stable explicitly says v5.9 and
up, since this patch won't apply for older kernels, and that's OK since
it was not in active use AFAIK.

If that assumption is wrong, then let me know and I will have to create
custom patches for older kernels, but I prefer to avoid doing that.

I'm not planning to get this merged for 5.12 since we are close to a
release, so I think it is OK to get this in for 5.13 and have it backported
to 5.12. I also would like to have feedback from Alexandre and Yunfei
that this patch indeed fixes your issues as well.

I plan on creating better tests in v4l2-compliance using vivid to verify
correct behavior of controls in requests. Proper tests are definitely
needed to avoid bugs like this.

Regards,

	Hans
---
 drivers/media/v4l2-core/v4l2-ctrls.c | 124 +++++++++++++--------------
 include/media/v4l2-ctrls.h           |  12 +--
 2 files changed, 69 insertions(+), 67 deletions(-)

Comments

Hans Verkuil April 12, 2021, 11 a.m. UTC | #1
On 12/04/2021 12:10, Hans Verkuil wrote:
> When controls are used together with the Request API, then for
> each request a v4l2_ctrl_handler struct is allocated. This contains
> the controls that can be set in a request. If a control is *not* set in
> the request, then the value used in the most recent previous request
> must be used, or the current value if it is not found in any outstanding
> requests.
> 
> The framework tried to find such a previous request and it would set
> the 'req' pointer in struct v4l2_ctrl_ref to the v4l2_ctrl_ref of the
> control in such a previous request. So far, so good. However, when that
> previous request was applied to the hardware, returned to userspace, and
> then userspace would re-init or free that request, any 'ref' pointer in
> still-queued requests would suddenly point to freed memory.
> 
> This was not noticed before since the drivers that use this expected
> that each request would always have the controls set, so there was
> never any need to find a control in older requests. This requirement
> was relaxed, and now this bug surfaced.
> 
> The use of the 'req' pointer in v4l2_ctrl_ref was very fragile, so
> drop this entirely. Instead add a valid_p_req bool to indicate that
> p_req contains a valid value for this control. And if it is false,
> then call the new find_ctrl_in_prev_request() helper function that
> walks through older outstanding requests to find if one of them set
> the same control, and uses that value as per the API specification.
> 
> This simplifies the code as well and is a lot more robust.
> 
> Also added some more comments, since it was not always clear what
> was going on.

Ignore this patch, I just realized that it can be simplified some more.
I'll post a v2 soon.

Regards,

	Hans

> 
> Signed-off-by: Hans Verkuil <hverkuil-cisco@xs4all.nl>
> Reported-by: Ezequiel Garcia <ezequiel@collabora.com>
> Reported-by: Yunfei Dong (董云飞) <Yunfei.Dong@mediatek.com>
> Tested-by: Ezequiel Garcia <ezequiel@collabora.com>
> Tested-by: Nicolas Dufresne <nicolas@ndufresne.ca>
> Fixes: 6fa6f831f095 ("media: v4l2-ctrls: add core request support")
> Cc: <stable@vger.kernel.org>      # for v5.9 and up
> ---
> While the bug was actually introduced when the Request API was merged,
> it was not in active use until the H.264 stateless codec API was made
> part of the uAPI. That's why the CC to stable explicitly says v5.9 and
> up, since this patch won't apply for older kernels, and that's OK since
> it was not in active use AFAIK.
> 
> If that assumption is wrong, then let me know and I will have to create
> custom patches for older kernels, but I prefer to avoid doing that.
> 
> I'm not planning to get this merged for 5.12 since we are close to a
> release, so I think it is OK to get this in for 5.13 and have it backported
> to 5.12. I also would like to have feedback from Alexandre and Yunfei
> that this patch indeed fixes your issues as well.
> 
> I plan on creating better tests in v4l2-compliance using vivid to verify
> correct behavior of controls in requests. Proper tests are definitely
> needed to avoid bugs like this.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> 	Hans
> ---
>  drivers/media/v4l2-core/v4l2-ctrls.c | 124 +++++++++++++--------------
>  include/media/v4l2-ctrls.h           |  12 +--
>  2 files changed, 69 insertions(+), 67 deletions(-)
> 
> diff --git a/drivers/media/v4l2-core/v4l2-ctrls.c b/drivers/media/v4l2-core/v4l2-ctrls.c
> index c7bcc5c25771..0627d16f6334 100644
> --- a/drivers/media/v4l2-core/v4l2-ctrls.c
> +++ b/drivers/media/v4l2-core/v4l2-ctrls.c
> @@ -2504,7 +2504,7 @@ static void new_to_req(struct v4l2_ctrl_ref *ref)
>  	if (!ref)
>  		return;
>  	ptr_to_ptr(ref->ctrl, ref->ctrl->p_new, ref->p_req);
> -	ref->req = ref;
> +	ref->valid_p_req = true;
>  }
> 
>  /* Copy the request value to the new value */
> @@ -2512,8 +2512,8 @@ static void req_to_new(struct v4l2_ctrl_ref *ref)
>  {
>  	if (!ref)
>  		return;
> -	if (ref->req)
> -		ptr_to_ptr(ref->ctrl, ref->req->p_req, ref->ctrl->p_new);
> +	if (ref->valid_p_req)
> +		ptr_to_ptr(ref->ctrl, ref->p_req, ref->ctrl->p_new);
>  	else
>  		ptr_to_ptr(ref->ctrl, ref->ctrl->p_cur, ref->ctrl->p_new);
>  }
> @@ -3694,39 +3694,8 @@ static void v4l2_ctrl_request_queue(struct media_request_object *obj)
>  	struct v4l2_ctrl_handler *hdl =
>  		container_of(obj, struct v4l2_ctrl_handler, req_obj);
>  	struct v4l2_ctrl_handler *main_hdl = obj->priv;
> -	struct v4l2_ctrl_handler *prev_hdl = NULL;
> -	struct v4l2_ctrl_ref *ref_ctrl, *ref_ctrl_prev = NULL;
> 
>  	mutex_lock(main_hdl->lock);
> -	if (list_empty(&main_hdl->requests_queued))
> -		goto queue;
> -
> -	prev_hdl = list_last_entry(&main_hdl->requests_queued,
> -				   struct v4l2_ctrl_handler, requests_queued);
> -	/*
> -	 * Note: prev_hdl and hdl must contain the same list of control
> -	 * references, so if any differences are detected then that is a
> -	 * driver bug and the WARN_ON is triggered.
> -	 */
> -	mutex_lock(prev_hdl->lock);
> -	ref_ctrl_prev = list_first_entry(&prev_hdl->ctrl_refs,
> -					 struct v4l2_ctrl_ref, node);
> -	list_for_each_entry(ref_ctrl, &hdl->ctrl_refs, node) {
> -		if (ref_ctrl->req)
> -			continue;
> -		while (ref_ctrl_prev->ctrl->id < ref_ctrl->ctrl->id) {
> -			/* Should never happen, but just in case... */
> -			if (list_is_last(&ref_ctrl_prev->node,
> -					 &prev_hdl->ctrl_refs))
> -				break;
> -			ref_ctrl_prev = list_next_entry(ref_ctrl_prev, node);
> -		}
> -		if (WARN_ON(ref_ctrl_prev->ctrl->id != ref_ctrl->ctrl->id))
> -			break;
> -		ref_ctrl->req = ref_ctrl_prev->req;
> -	}
> -	mutex_unlock(prev_hdl->lock);
> -queue:
>  	list_add_tail(&hdl->requests_queued, &main_hdl->requests_queued);
>  	hdl->request_is_queued = true;
>  	mutex_unlock(main_hdl->lock);
> @@ -3783,7 +3752,7 @@ v4l2_ctrl_request_hdl_ctrl_find(struct v4l2_ctrl_handler *hdl, u32 id)
>  {
>  	struct v4l2_ctrl_ref *ref = find_ref_lock(hdl, id);
> 
> -	return (ref && ref->req == ref) ? ref->ctrl : NULL;
> +	return (ref && ref->valid_p_req) ? ref->ctrl : NULL;
>  }
>  EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(v4l2_ctrl_request_hdl_ctrl_find);
> 
> @@ -3972,6 +3941,31 @@ static int class_check(struct v4l2_ctrl_handler *hdl, u32 which)
>  	return find_ref_lock(hdl, which | 1) ? 0 : -EINVAL;
>  }
> 
> +/*
> + * Find the most recent queued request that contains the given control.
> + * Return the reference to that control if found, or NULL otherwise.
> + */
> +static struct v4l2_ctrl_ref *
> +find_ctrl_in_prev_request(struct v4l2_ctrl_handler *hdl,
> +			  struct v4l2_ctrl_ref *ref)
> +{
> +	struct v4l2_ctrl_handler *main_hdl = ref->ctrl->handler;
> +	u32 id = ref->ctrl->id;
> +
> +	/*
> +	 * The main handler must be locked since we're traversing
> +	 * the requests_queued list.
> +	 */
> +	WARN_ON(!mutex_is_locked(main_hdl->lock));
> +	list_for_each_entry_continue_reverse(hdl, &main_hdl->requests_queued,
> +					     requests_queued) {
> +		ref = find_ref_lock(hdl, id);
> +		if (ref && ref->valid_p_req)
> +			return ref;
> +	}
> +	return NULL;
> +}
> +
>  /* Get extended controls. Allocates the helpers array if needed. */
>  static int v4l2_g_ext_ctrls_common(struct v4l2_ctrl_handler *hdl,
>  				   struct v4l2_ext_controls *cs,
> @@ -3982,8 +3976,10 @@ static int v4l2_g_ext_ctrls_common(struct v4l2_ctrl_handler *hdl,
>  	int ret;
>  	int i, j;
>  	bool def_value;
> +	bool is_request;
> 
>  	def_value = (cs->which == V4L2_CTRL_WHICH_DEF_VAL);
> +	is_request = (cs->which == V4L2_CTRL_WHICH_REQUEST_VAL);
> 
>  	cs->error_idx = cs->count;
>  	cs->which = V4L2_CTRL_ID2WHICH(cs->which);
> @@ -4012,6 +4008,7 @@ static int v4l2_g_ext_ctrls_common(struct v4l2_ctrl_handler *hdl,
>  		int (*ctrl_to_user)(struct v4l2_ext_control *c,
>  				    struct v4l2_ctrl *ctrl);
>  		struct v4l2_ctrl *master;
> +		u32 idx = i;
> 
>  		ctrl_to_user = def_value ? def_to_user : cur_to_user;
> 
> @@ -4032,22 +4029,35 @@ static int v4l2_g_ext_ctrls_common(struct v4l2_ctrl_handler *hdl,
>  			ret = call_op(master, g_volatile_ctrl);
>  			ctrl_to_user = new_to_user;
>  		}
> +
> +		if (ret) {
> +			v4l2_ctrl_unlock(master);
> +			break;
> +		}
> +
>  		/* If OK, then copy the current (for non-volatile controls)
>  		   or the new (for volatile controls) control values to the
>  		   caller */
> -		if (!ret) {
> -			u32 idx = i;
> +		do {
> +			struct v4l2_ctrl_ref *ref = helpers[idx].ref;
> +
> +			/*
> +			 * If this is part of a request, and the request does
> +			 * not contain the value of this control, then try to
> +			 * find it in an older, still queued request. If found,
> +			 * then use the value from that request, otherwise use
> +			 * the current control value.
> +			 */
> +			if (is_request && !ref->valid_p_req)
> +				ref = find_ctrl_in_prev_request(hdl, ref) ? : ref;
> +
> +			if (ref->valid_p_req)
> +				ret = req_to_user(cs->controls + idx, ref);
> +			else
> +				ret = ctrl_to_user(cs->controls + idx, ref->ctrl);
> +			idx = helpers[idx].next;
> +		} while (!ret && idx);
> 
> -			do {
> -				if (helpers[idx].ref->req)
> -					ret = req_to_user(cs->controls + idx,
> -						helpers[idx].ref->req);
> -				else
> -					ret = ctrl_to_user(cs->controls + idx,
> -						helpers[idx].ref->ctrl);
> -				idx = helpers[idx].next;
> -			} while (!ret && idx);
> -		}
>  		v4l2_ctrl_unlock(master);
>  	}
> 
> @@ -4690,8 +4700,6 @@ void v4l2_ctrl_request_complete(struct media_request *req,
>  		unsigned int i;
> 
>  		if (ctrl->flags & V4L2_CTRL_FLAG_VOLATILE) {
> -			ref->req = ref;
> -
>  			v4l2_ctrl_lock(master);
>  			/* g_volatile_ctrl will update the current control values */
>  			for (i = 0; i < master->ncontrols; i++)
> @@ -4701,21 +4709,13 @@ void v4l2_ctrl_request_complete(struct media_request *req,
>  			v4l2_ctrl_unlock(master);
>  			continue;
>  		}
> -		if (ref->req == ref)
> +		if (ref->valid_p_req)
>  			continue;
> 
> +		/* Copy the current control value into the request */
>  		v4l2_ctrl_lock(ctrl);
> -		if (ref->req) {
> -			ptr_to_ptr(ctrl, ref->req->p_req, ref->p_req);
> -		} else {
> -			ptr_to_ptr(ctrl, ctrl->p_cur, ref->p_req);
> -			/*
> -			 * Set ref->req to ensure that when userspace wants to
> -			 * obtain the controls of this request it will take
> -			 * this value and not the current value of the control.
> -			 */
> -			ref->req = ref;
> -		}
> +		ptr_to_ptr(ctrl, ctrl->p_cur, ref->p_req);
> +		ref->valid_p_req = true;
>  		v4l2_ctrl_unlock(ctrl);
>  	}
> 
> @@ -4779,7 +4779,7 @@ int v4l2_ctrl_request_setup(struct media_request *req,
>  				struct v4l2_ctrl_ref *r =
>  					find_ref(hdl, master->cluster[i]->id);
> 
> -				if (r->req && r == r->req) {
> +				if (r->valid_p_req) {
>  					have_new_data = true;
>  					break;
>  				}
> diff --git a/include/media/v4l2-ctrls.h b/include/media/v4l2-ctrls.h
> index c1d20bd8f25f..a5953b812878 100644
> --- a/include/media/v4l2-ctrls.h
> +++ b/include/media/v4l2-ctrls.h
> @@ -304,12 +304,14 @@ struct v4l2_ctrl {
>   *		the control has been applied. This prevents applying controls
>   *		from a cluster with multiple controls twice (when the first
>   *		control of a cluster is applied, they all are).
> - * @req:	If set, this refers to another request that sets this control.
> + * @valid_p_req: If set, then p_req contains the control value for the request.
>   * @p_req:	If the control handler containing this control reference
>   *		is bound to a media request, then this points to the
> - *		value of the control that should be applied when the request
> + *		value of the control that must be applied when the request
>   *		is executed, or to the value of the control at the time
> - *		that the request was completed.
> + *		that the request was completed. If @valid_p_req is false,
> + *		then this control was never set for this request and the
> + *		control will not be updated when this request is applied.
>   *
>   * Each control handler has a list of these refs. The list_head is used to
>   * keep a sorted-by-control-ID list of all controls, while the next pointer
> @@ -322,7 +324,7 @@ struct v4l2_ctrl_ref {
>  	struct v4l2_ctrl_helper *helper;
>  	bool from_other_dev;
>  	bool req_done;
> -	struct v4l2_ctrl_ref *req;
> +	bool valid_p_req;
>  	union v4l2_ctrl_ptr p_req;
>  };
> 
> @@ -349,7 +351,7 @@ struct v4l2_ctrl_ref {
>   * @error:	The error code of the first failed control addition.
>   * @request_is_queued: True if the request was queued.
>   * @requests:	List to keep track of open control handler request objects.
> - *		For the parent control handler (@req_obj.req == NULL) this
> + *		For the parent control handler (@req_obj.ops == NULL) this
>   *		is the list header. When the parent control handler is
>   *		removed, it has to unbind and put all these requests since
>   *		they refer to the parent.
>
diff mbox series

Patch

diff --git a/drivers/media/v4l2-core/v4l2-ctrls.c b/drivers/media/v4l2-core/v4l2-ctrls.c
index c7bcc5c25771..0627d16f6334 100644
--- a/drivers/media/v4l2-core/v4l2-ctrls.c
+++ b/drivers/media/v4l2-core/v4l2-ctrls.c
@@ -2504,7 +2504,7 @@  static void new_to_req(struct v4l2_ctrl_ref *ref)
 	if (!ref)
 		return;
 	ptr_to_ptr(ref->ctrl, ref->ctrl->p_new, ref->p_req);
-	ref->req = ref;
+	ref->valid_p_req = true;
 }

 /* Copy the request value to the new value */
@@ -2512,8 +2512,8 @@  static void req_to_new(struct v4l2_ctrl_ref *ref)
 {
 	if (!ref)
 		return;
-	if (ref->req)
-		ptr_to_ptr(ref->ctrl, ref->req->p_req, ref->ctrl->p_new);
+	if (ref->valid_p_req)
+		ptr_to_ptr(ref->ctrl, ref->p_req, ref->ctrl->p_new);
 	else
 		ptr_to_ptr(ref->ctrl, ref->ctrl->p_cur, ref->ctrl->p_new);
 }
@@ -3694,39 +3694,8 @@  static void v4l2_ctrl_request_queue(struct media_request_object *obj)
 	struct v4l2_ctrl_handler *hdl =
 		container_of(obj, struct v4l2_ctrl_handler, req_obj);
 	struct v4l2_ctrl_handler *main_hdl = obj->priv;
-	struct v4l2_ctrl_handler *prev_hdl = NULL;
-	struct v4l2_ctrl_ref *ref_ctrl, *ref_ctrl_prev = NULL;

 	mutex_lock(main_hdl->lock);
-	if (list_empty(&main_hdl->requests_queued))
-		goto queue;
-
-	prev_hdl = list_last_entry(&main_hdl->requests_queued,
-				   struct v4l2_ctrl_handler, requests_queued);
-	/*
-	 * Note: prev_hdl and hdl must contain the same list of control
-	 * references, so if any differences are detected then that is a
-	 * driver bug and the WARN_ON is triggered.
-	 */
-	mutex_lock(prev_hdl->lock);
-	ref_ctrl_prev = list_first_entry(&prev_hdl->ctrl_refs,
-					 struct v4l2_ctrl_ref, node);
-	list_for_each_entry(ref_ctrl, &hdl->ctrl_refs, node) {
-		if (ref_ctrl->req)
-			continue;
-		while (ref_ctrl_prev->ctrl->id < ref_ctrl->ctrl->id) {
-			/* Should never happen, but just in case... */
-			if (list_is_last(&ref_ctrl_prev->node,
-					 &prev_hdl->ctrl_refs))
-				break;
-			ref_ctrl_prev = list_next_entry(ref_ctrl_prev, node);
-		}
-		if (WARN_ON(ref_ctrl_prev->ctrl->id != ref_ctrl->ctrl->id))
-			break;
-		ref_ctrl->req = ref_ctrl_prev->req;
-	}
-	mutex_unlock(prev_hdl->lock);
-queue:
 	list_add_tail(&hdl->requests_queued, &main_hdl->requests_queued);
 	hdl->request_is_queued = true;
 	mutex_unlock(main_hdl->lock);
@@ -3783,7 +3752,7 @@  v4l2_ctrl_request_hdl_ctrl_find(struct v4l2_ctrl_handler *hdl, u32 id)
 {
 	struct v4l2_ctrl_ref *ref = find_ref_lock(hdl, id);

-	return (ref && ref->req == ref) ? ref->ctrl : NULL;
+	return (ref && ref->valid_p_req) ? ref->ctrl : NULL;
 }
 EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL(v4l2_ctrl_request_hdl_ctrl_find);

@@ -3972,6 +3941,31 @@  static int class_check(struct v4l2_ctrl_handler *hdl, u32 which)
 	return find_ref_lock(hdl, which | 1) ? 0 : -EINVAL;
 }

+/*
+ * Find the most recent queued request that contains the given control.
+ * Return the reference to that control if found, or NULL otherwise.
+ */
+static struct v4l2_ctrl_ref *
+find_ctrl_in_prev_request(struct v4l2_ctrl_handler *hdl,
+			  struct v4l2_ctrl_ref *ref)
+{
+	struct v4l2_ctrl_handler *main_hdl = ref->ctrl->handler;
+	u32 id = ref->ctrl->id;
+
+	/*
+	 * The main handler must be locked since we're traversing
+	 * the requests_queued list.
+	 */
+	WARN_ON(!mutex_is_locked(main_hdl->lock));
+	list_for_each_entry_continue_reverse(hdl, &main_hdl->requests_queued,
+					     requests_queued) {
+		ref = find_ref_lock(hdl, id);
+		if (ref && ref->valid_p_req)
+			return ref;
+	}
+	return NULL;
+}
+
 /* Get extended controls. Allocates the helpers array if needed. */
 static int v4l2_g_ext_ctrls_common(struct v4l2_ctrl_handler *hdl,
 				   struct v4l2_ext_controls *cs,
@@ -3982,8 +3976,10 @@  static int v4l2_g_ext_ctrls_common(struct v4l2_ctrl_handler *hdl,
 	int ret;
 	int i, j;
 	bool def_value;
+	bool is_request;

 	def_value = (cs->which == V4L2_CTRL_WHICH_DEF_VAL);
+	is_request = (cs->which == V4L2_CTRL_WHICH_REQUEST_VAL);

 	cs->error_idx = cs->count;
 	cs->which = V4L2_CTRL_ID2WHICH(cs->which);
@@ -4012,6 +4008,7 @@  static int v4l2_g_ext_ctrls_common(struct v4l2_ctrl_handler *hdl,
 		int (*ctrl_to_user)(struct v4l2_ext_control *c,
 				    struct v4l2_ctrl *ctrl);
 		struct v4l2_ctrl *master;
+		u32 idx = i;

 		ctrl_to_user = def_value ? def_to_user : cur_to_user;

@@ -4032,22 +4029,35 @@  static int v4l2_g_ext_ctrls_common(struct v4l2_ctrl_handler *hdl,
 			ret = call_op(master, g_volatile_ctrl);
 			ctrl_to_user = new_to_user;
 		}
+
+		if (ret) {
+			v4l2_ctrl_unlock(master);
+			break;
+		}
+
 		/* If OK, then copy the current (for non-volatile controls)
 		   or the new (for volatile controls) control values to the
 		   caller */
-		if (!ret) {
-			u32 idx = i;
+		do {
+			struct v4l2_ctrl_ref *ref = helpers[idx].ref;
+
+			/*
+			 * If this is part of a request, and the request does
+			 * not contain the value of this control, then try to
+			 * find it in an older, still queued request. If found,
+			 * then use the value from that request, otherwise use
+			 * the current control value.
+			 */
+			if (is_request && !ref->valid_p_req)
+				ref = find_ctrl_in_prev_request(hdl, ref) ? : ref;
+
+			if (ref->valid_p_req)
+				ret = req_to_user(cs->controls + idx, ref);
+			else
+				ret = ctrl_to_user(cs->controls + idx, ref->ctrl);
+			idx = helpers[idx].next;
+		} while (!ret && idx);

-			do {
-				if (helpers[idx].ref->req)
-					ret = req_to_user(cs->controls + idx,
-						helpers[idx].ref->req);
-				else
-					ret = ctrl_to_user(cs->controls + idx,
-						helpers[idx].ref->ctrl);
-				idx = helpers[idx].next;
-			} while (!ret && idx);
-		}
 		v4l2_ctrl_unlock(master);
 	}

@@ -4690,8 +4700,6 @@  void v4l2_ctrl_request_complete(struct media_request *req,
 		unsigned int i;

 		if (ctrl->flags & V4L2_CTRL_FLAG_VOLATILE) {
-			ref->req = ref;
-
 			v4l2_ctrl_lock(master);
 			/* g_volatile_ctrl will update the current control values */
 			for (i = 0; i < master->ncontrols; i++)
@@ -4701,21 +4709,13 @@  void v4l2_ctrl_request_complete(struct media_request *req,
 			v4l2_ctrl_unlock(master);
 			continue;
 		}
-		if (ref->req == ref)
+		if (ref->valid_p_req)
 			continue;

+		/* Copy the current control value into the request */
 		v4l2_ctrl_lock(ctrl);
-		if (ref->req) {
-			ptr_to_ptr(ctrl, ref->req->p_req, ref->p_req);
-		} else {
-			ptr_to_ptr(ctrl, ctrl->p_cur, ref->p_req);
-			/*
-			 * Set ref->req to ensure that when userspace wants to
-			 * obtain the controls of this request it will take
-			 * this value and not the current value of the control.
-			 */
-			ref->req = ref;
-		}
+		ptr_to_ptr(ctrl, ctrl->p_cur, ref->p_req);
+		ref->valid_p_req = true;
 		v4l2_ctrl_unlock(ctrl);
 	}

@@ -4779,7 +4779,7 @@  int v4l2_ctrl_request_setup(struct media_request *req,
 				struct v4l2_ctrl_ref *r =
 					find_ref(hdl, master->cluster[i]->id);

-				if (r->req && r == r->req) {
+				if (r->valid_p_req) {
 					have_new_data = true;
 					break;
 				}
diff --git a/include/media/v4l2-ctrls.h b/include/media/v4l2-ctrls.h
index c1d20bd8f25f..a5953b812878 100644
--- a/include/media/v4l2-ctrls.h
+++ b/include/media/v4l2-ctrls.h
@@ -304,12 +304,14 @@  struct v4l2_ctrl {
  *		the control has been applied. This prevents applying controls
  *		from a cluster with multiple controls twice (when the first
  *		control of a cluster is applied, they all are).
- * @req:	If set, this refers to another request that sets this control.
+ * @valid_p_req: If set, then p_req contains the control value for the request.
  * @p_req:	If the control handler containing this control reference
  *		is bound to a media request, then this points to the
- *		value of the control that should be applied when the request
+ *		value of the control that must be applied when the request
  *		is executed, or to the value of the control at the time
- *		that the request was completed.
+ *		that the request was completed. If @valid_p_req is false,
+ *		then this control was never set for this request and the
+ *		control will not be updated when this request is applied.
  *
  * Each control handler has a list of these refs. The list_head is used to
  * keep a sorted-by-control-ID list of all controls, while the next pointer
@@ -322,7 +324,7 @@  struct v4l2_ctrl_ref {
 	struct v4l2_ctrl_helper *helper;
 	bool from_other_dev;
 	bool req_done;
-	struct v4l2_ctrl_ref *req;
+	bool valid_p_req;
 	union v4l2_ctrl_ptr p_req;
 };

@@ -349,7 +351,7 @@  struct v4l2_ctrl_ref {
  * @error:	The error code of the first failed control addition.
  * @request_is_queued: True if the request was queued.
  * @requests:	List to keep track of open control handler request objects.
- *		For the parent control handler (@req_obj.req == NULL) this
+ *		For the parent control handler (@req_obj.ops == NULL) this
  *		is the list header. When the parent control handler is
  *		removed, it has to unbind and put all these requests since
  *		they refer to the parent.