The IDXGIObject has a function to obtain a pointer to its parent GetParent. Unfortunately, the docs don't say whether I have to call Release() on the returned interface or not -- calling or not calling it works fine in both debug/release (that is, no crash), but I wonder whether I should release or rather not. Any idea how this is supposed to work?
Yes, GetParent() adds a reference to the returned objects, so you need to call Release () on them.