[PATCH] tcp: fix marked lost packets not being retransmitted

[Pengcheng Yang]

When the packet pointed to by retransmit_skb_hint is unlinked by ACK,
retransmit_skb_hint will be set to NULL in tcp_clean_rtx_queue().
If packet loss is detected at this time, retransmit_skb_hint will be set
to point to the current packet loss in tcp_verify_retransmit_hint(),
then the packets that were previously marked lost but not retransmitted
due to the restriction of cwnd will be skipped and cannot be
retransmitted.

To fix this, when retransmit_skb_hint is NULL, retransmit_skb_hint can
be reset only after all marked lost packets are retransmitted
(retrans_out >= lost_out), otherwise we need to traverse from
tcp_rtx_queue_head in tcp_xmit_retransmit_queue().

Packetdrill to demonstrate:

// Disable RACK and set max_reordering to keep things simple
    0 `sysctl -q net.ipv4.tcp_recovery=0`
   +0 `sysctl -q net.ipv4.tcp_max_reordering=3`

// Establish a connection
   +0 socket(..., SOCK_STREAM, IPPROTO_TCP) = 3
   +0 setsockopt(3, SOL_SOCKET, SO_REUSEADDR, [1], 4) = 0
   +0 bind(3, ..., ...) = 0
   +0 listen(3, 1) = 0

  +.1 < S 0:0(0) win 32792 <mss 1000,sackOK,nop,nop,nop,wscale 7>
   +0 > S. 0:0(0) ack 1 <...>
 +.01 < . 1:1(0) ack 1 win 257
   +0 accept(3, ..., ...) = 4

// Send 8 data segments
   +0 write(4, ..., 8000) = 8000
   +0 > P. 1:8001(8000) ack 1

// Enter recovery and 1:3001 is marked lost
 +.01 < . 1:1(0) ack 1 win 257 <sack 3001:4001,nop,nop>
   +0 < . 1:1(0) ack 1 win 257 <sack 5001:6001 3001:4001,nop,nop>
   +0 < . 1:1(0) ack 1 win 257 <sack 5001:7001 3001:4001,nop,nop>

// Retransmit 1:1001, now retransmit_skb_hint points to 1001:2001
   +0 > . 1:1001(1000) ack 1

// 1001:2001 was ACKed causing retransmit_skb_hint to be set to NULL
 +.01 < . 1:1(0) ack 2001 win 257 <sack 5001:8001 3001:4001,nop,nop>
// Now retransmit_skb_hint points to 4001:5001 which is now marked lost

// BUG: 2001:3001 was not retransmitted
   +0 > . 2001:3001(1000) ack 1

Signed-off-by: Pengcheng Yang <yangpc@xxxxxxxxxx>
---
 net/ipv4/tcp_input.c | 7 ++++---
 1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/net/ipv4/tcp_input.c b/net/ipv4/tcp_input.c
index 0238b55..5347ab2 100644
--- a/net/ipv4/tcp_input.c
+++ b/net/ipv4/tcp_input.c
@@ -915,9 +915,10 @@ static void tcp_check_sack_reordering(struct sock *sk, const u32 low_seq,
 /* This must be called before lost_out is incremented */
 static void tcp_verify_retransmit_hint(struct tcp_sock *tp, struct sk_buff *skb)
 {
-	if (!tp->retransmit_skb_hint ||
-	    before(TCP_SKB_CB(skb)->seq,
-		   TCP_SKB_CB(tp->retransmit_skb_hint)->seq))
+	if ((!tp->retransmit_skb_hint && tp->retrans_out >= tp->lost_out) ||
+	    (tp->retransmit_skb_hint &&
+	     before(TCP_SKB_CB(skb)->seq,
+		    TCP_SKB_CB(tp->retransmit_skb_hint)->seq)))
 		tp->retransmit_skb_hint = skb;
 }
 
-- 
1.8.3.1