Even though device object is not freed, fill_res_entry() can get called on
device which doesn't have a driver anymore. Kernel core device reference
count is not sufficient, as this only keeps the structure valid, and
doesn't guarantee the driver is still loaded.
Similar race can occur with device renaming and device removal, where
device_rename() tries to rename a unregistered device. While this is fine
for devices of a class which are not net namespace aware, but it is
incorrect for net namespace aware class coming in subsequent series. If a
class is net namespace aware, then the below [1] call trace is observed in
above situation.
Therefore, to avoid the race, keep a reference count and let device
unregistration wait until all netlink users drop the reference.