linux/include
Jonas Köppeler 815980fe6d net_sched: codel: fix stale state for empty flows in fq_codel
When codel_dequeue() finds an empty queue, it resets vars->dropping
but does not reset vars->first_above_time.  The reference CoDel
algorithm (Nichols & Jacobson, ACM Queue 2012) resets both:

  dodeque_result codel_queue_t::dodeque(time_t now) {
      ...
      if (r.p == NULL) {
          first_above_time = 0;   // <-- Linux omits this
      }
      ...
  }

Note that codel_should_drop() does reset first_above_time when called
with a NULL skb, but codel_dequeue() returns early before ever calling
codel_should_drop() in the empty-queue case.  The post-drop code paths
do reach codel_should_drop(NULL) and correctly reset the timer, so a
dropped packet breaks the cycle -- but the next delivered packet
re-arms first_above_time and the cycle repeats.

For sparse flows such as ICMP ping (one packet every 200ms-1s), the
first packet arms first_above_time, the flow goes empty, and the
second packet arrives after the interval has elapsed and gets dropped.
The pattern repeats, producing sustained loss on flows that are not
actually congested.

Test: veth pair, fq_codel, BQL disabled, 30000 iptables rules in the
consumer namespace (NAPI-64 cycle ~14ms, well above fq_codel's 5ms
target), ping at 5 pps under UDP flood:

  Before fix:  26% ping packet loss
  After fix:    0% ping packet loss

Fix by resetting first_above_time to zero in the empty-queue path
of codel_dequeue(), matching the reference algorithm.

Fixes: 76e3cc126b ("codel: Controlled Delay AQM")
Fixes: d068ca2ae2 ("codel: split into multiple files")
Co-developed-by: Jesper Dangaard Brouer <hawk@kernel.org>
Signed-off-by: Jesper Dangaard Brouer <hawk@kernel.org>
Signed-off-by: Jonas Köppeler <j.koeppeler@tu-berlin.de>
Reported-by: Chris Arges <carges@cloudflare.com>
Tested-by: Jonas Köppeler <j.koeppeler@tu-berlin.de>
Reviewed-by: Toke Høiland-Jørgensen <toke@redhat.com>
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/all/20260318134826.1281205-7-hawk@kernel.org/
Reviewed-by: Eric Dumazet <edumazet@google.com>
Link: https://patch.msgid.link/20260323174920.253526-1-hawk@kernel.org
Signed-off-by: Jakub Kicinski <kuba@kernel.org>
2026-03-24 20:57:57 -07:00
..
acpi mailbox: platform and core updates 2026-02-14 11:13:32 -08:00
asm-generic kbuild: Split .modinfo out from ELF_DETAILS 2026-02-26 11:50:19 -07:00
clocksource
crypto Networking changes for 7.0 2026-02-11 19:31:52 -08:00
cxl
drm drm/dp: Add definition for Panel Replay full-line granularity 2026-03-04 15:26:08 +02:00
dt-bindings phy-for-7.0 2026-02-17 11:40:04 -08:00
hyperv hyperv-next for v7.0 2026-02-20 08:48:31 -08:00
keys
kunit kunit: irq: Ensure timer doesn't fire too frequently 2026-02-24 14:44:21 -08:00
kvm
linux virtio-net: correct hdr_len handling for tunnel gso 2026-03-24 11:12:08 +01:00
math-emu
media [GIT PULL for v7.0] media updates 2026-02-11 12:20:25 -08:00
memory
misc
net net_sched: codel: fix stale state for empty flows in fq_codel 2026-03-24 20:57:57 -07:00
pcmcia
ras
rdma RDMA/core: Check id_priv->restricted_node_type in cma_listen_on_dev() 2026-02-25 07:50:10 -05:00
rv rv: Fix multiple definition of __pcpu_unique_da_mon_this 2026-02-20 13:12:00 +01:00
scsi SCSI misc on 20260212 2026-02-12 15:43:02 -08:00
soc
sound ASoC: Fixes for v7.0 2026-03-05 17:22:14 +01:00
target
trace vfs-7.0-rc3.fixes 2026-03-04 15:03:16 -08:00
uapi ARM: 2026-03-15 12:22:10 -07:00
ufs
vdso
video
xen xen/xenbus: better handle backend crash 2026-03-04 15:31:40 +01:00
Kbuild