diff options
| author | Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi <memxor@gmail.com> | 2026-09-04 10:43:19 +0200 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Alexei Starovoitov <ast@kernel.org> | 2026-09-04 07:58:36 -0700 |
| commit | 6668ed271eaefaa63e686bdfbedaeb7b8e492722 (patch) | |
| tree | 58e8288fead484f6755ad0815fc74c3742663761 /Documentation/networking/tcp-thin.rst | |
| download | linux-stable-6668ed271eaefaa63e686bdfbedaeb7b8e492722.tar.gz linux-stable-6668ed271eaefaa63e686bdfbedaeb7b8e492722.zip | |
selftests/bpf: Reject graph kptr use after RCU unlockgrafted
Add a sleepable verifier test that loads a graph-node local kptr in an
explicit RCU read-side critical section, then passes its node to
bpf_rbtree_remove() after the section ends.
Before the verifier fix, the stale NON_OWN_REF flag makes the node look like
a live borrowed reference and the program is accepted. After the fix, the
pointer is demoted without NON_OWN_REF and the graph kfunc argument is
rejected.
Also exercise a graph kptr loaded while a spin lock provides implicit RCU
protection. The pointer must be invalidated when the lock is released, which
guards the required ordering between non-owning-reference invalidation and
RCU demotion.
Update the existing fault-protected load test state description. The
post-unlock pointer no longer carries NON_OWN_REF, but remains readable
because the load is rewritten to use BPF_PROBE_MEM.
Signed-off-by: Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi <memxor@gmail.com>
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/r/20260904084325.52250-7-memxor@gmail.com
Signed-off-by: Alexei Starovoitov <ast@kernel.org>
Diffstat (limited to 'Documentation/networking/tcp-thin.rst')
| -rw-r--r-- | Documentation/networking/tcp-thin.rst | 52 |
1 files changed, 52 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/networking/tcp-thin.rst b/Documentation/networking/tcp-thin.rst new file mode 100644 index 000000000..b06765c96 --- /dev/null +++ b/Documentation/networking/tcp-thin.rst @@ -0,0 +1,52 @@ +.. SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0 + +==================== +Thin-streams and TCP +==================== + +A wide range of Internet-based services that use reliable transport +protocols display what we call thin-stream properties. This means +that the application sends data with such a low rate that the +retransmission mechanisms of the transport protocol are not fully +effective. In time-dependent scenarios (like online games, control +systems, stock trading etc.) where the user experience depends +on the data delivery latency, packet loss can be devastating for +the service quality. Extreme latencies are caused by TCP's +dependency on the arrival of new data from the application to trigger +retransmissions effectively through fast retransmit instead of +waiting for long timeouts. + +After analysing a large number of time-dependent interactive +applications, we have seen that they often produce thin streams +and also stay with this traffic pattern throughout its entire +lifespan. The combination of time-dependency and the fact that the +streams provoke high latencies when using TCP is unfortunate. + +In order to reduce application-layer latency when packets are lost, +a set of mechanisms has been made, which address these latency issues +for thin streams. In short, if the kernel detects a thin stream, +the retransmission mechanisms are modified in the following manner: + +1) If the stream is thin, fast retransmit on the first dupACK. +2) If the stream is thin, do not apply exponential backoff. + +These enhancements are applied only if the stream is detected as +thin. This is accomplished by defining a threshold for the number +of packets in flight. If there are less than 4 packets in flight, +fast retransmissions can not be triggered, and the stream is prone +to experience high retransmission latencies. + +Since these mechanisms are targeted at time-dependent applications, +they must be specifically activated by the application using the +TCP_THIN_LINEAR_TIMEOUTS and TCP_THIN_DUPACK IOCTLS or the +tcp_thin_linear_timeouts and tcp_thin_dupack sysctls. Both +modifications are turned off by default. + +References +========== +More information on the modifications, as well as a wide range of +experimental data can be found here: + +"Improving latency for interactive, thin-stream applications over +reliable transport" +http://simula.no/research/nd/publications/Simula.nd.477/simula_pdf_file |
