webrtc: skip the controller's ICE re-send instead of queueing it twice

The controller sends every candidate twice, because the server's hop to a
peer registered over UDP can lose one. The ICE agent that dedups repeats
sits downstream of the answerer's queue, so the answerer paid for both
copies: a slot, a JSON parse, and the ICE agent's lock, once per repeat.

Remember a digest of what was queued and skip the repeat. Recorded only
once queued, so a candidate a full queue refused stays repairable by the
re-send.

The queue's depth is unchanged. A real peer gathers well under it - four
STUN servers, link-local IPv6 filtered, one component - and the drain
empties it as candidates trickle in, so what this removes is the redundant
work, not an overflow.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_019aokqJuhjvB3kijXtAg5Ns

src/rendezvous_mediator.rs

@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 use std::{
-    collections::HashMap,
+    collections::{hash_map::RandomState, HashMap, VecDeque},
+    hash::BuildHasher,
     net::SocketAddr,
     sync::{
         atomic::{AtomicBool, Ordering},
@@ -53,12 +54,16 @@ lazy_static::lazy_static! {
     static ref SOLVING_PK_MISMATCH: Mutex<String> = Default::default();
     static ref LAST_MSG: Mutex<(SocketAddr, Instant)> = Mutex::new((SocketAddr::new([0; 4].into(), 0), Instant::now()));
     static ref LAST_RELAY_MSG: Mutex<(SocketAddr, Instant)> = Mutex::new((SocketAddr::new([0; 4].into(), 0), Instant::now()));
-    static ref WEBRTC_ICE_TXS: Mutex<HashMap<String, mpsc::Sender<String>>> = Default::default();
+    static ref WEBRTC_ICE_TXS: Mutex<HashMap<String, IceRoute>> = Default::default();
+    static ref ICE_DIGEST_STATE: RandomState = Default::default();
 }
-/// Remote ICE candidates buffered per session while the answerer applies them. Mirrors the
+/// Remote ICE candidates buffered per session while the answerer applies them. Same depth as the
-/// controller's own cap: gathering yields host, then srflx, then relay, so a real peer sends
+/// controller's own buffer (`Client::MAX_PENDING_WEBRTC_ICE`), though that one evicts its oldest
-/// well under this, and anything past it is someone deciding how much memory this process holds.
+/// where a full channel here refuses the newest.
 const MAX_PENDING_REMOTE_ICE: usize = 64;
+/// Queued candidates remembered so the controller's re-send is skipped instead of taking a slot
+/// of its own. Far more than an honest peer gathers, at eight bytes each.
+const ICE_DEDUP_WINDOW: usize = 256;
 // The rendezvous ICE route is reachable without a prior punch and the peer decides how many
 // candidates it sends, so these sites would let someone else set how much this machine writes to
 // its log file. One line a minute each, carrying the suppressed count.
@@ -70,6 +75,45 @@ static REJECTED_REMOTE_ICE_LOG: hbb_common::log_throttle::LogThrottle =
 static FULL_ICE_QUEUE_LOG: hbb_common::log_throttle::LogThrottle =
     hbb_common::log_throttle::LogThrottle::new(ICE_LOG_INTERVAL);
 
+struct IceRoute {
+    tx: mpsc::Sender<String>,
+    recent: VecDeque<u64>,
+}
+
+impl IceRoute {
+    fn new(tx: mpsc::Sender<String>) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            tx,
+            recent: VecDeque::new(),
+        }
+    }
+
+    /// Keeps `queue` the only way onto the channel, so nothing reaches it unrecorded.
+    fn is_same_channel(&self, other: &mpsc::Sender<String>) -> bool {
+        self.tx.same_channel(other)
+    }
+
+    /// Skip the controller's re-send of a candidate already queued: the ICE agent that dedups
+    /// repeats is downstream of this queue, so the copy would spend a slot of its own.
+    /// False means the candidate was dropped.
+    fn queue(&mut self, candidate: String) -> bool {
+        let digest = ICE_DIGEST_STATE.hash_one(candidate.as_str());
+        if self.recent.contains(&digest) {
+            // Only honest about the drop if the route is still alive to have taken it.
+            return !self.tx.is_closed();
+        }
+        // Recorded once queued, never before: a refused candidate stays repairable by the re-send.
+        if self.tx.try_send(candidate).is_err() {
+            return false;
+        }
+        if self.recent.len() >= ICE_DEDUP_WINDOW {
+            self.recent.pop_front();
+        }
+        self.recent.push_back(digest);
+        true
+    }
+}
+
 static SHOULD_EXIT: AtomicBool = AtomicBool::new(false);
 static MANUAL_RESTARTED: AtomicBool = AtomicBool::new(false);
 static SENT_REGISTER_PK: AtomicBool = AtomicBool::new(false);
@@ -422,19 +466,27 @@ impl RendezvousMediator {
                 });
             }
             Some(rendezvous_message::Union::IceCandidate(ice)) => {
-                let tx = WEBRTC_ICE_TXS.lock().await.get(&ice.session_key).cloned();
+                let queued = {
-                if let Some(tx) = tx {
+                    let mut txs = WEBRTC_ICE_TXS.lock().await;
-                    if tx.try_send(ice.candidate).is_err() {
+                    txs.get_mut(&ice.session_key)
+                        .map(|route| route.queue(ice.candidate))
+                };
+                match queued {
+                    Some(false) => {
                         if let Some(n) = FULL_ICE_QUEUE_LOG.due() {
                             log::debug!("dropped {} ICE candidate(s): queue full or closed", n);
                         }
                     }
-                } else if let Some(n) = UNKNOWN_ICE_SESSION_LOG.due() {
+                    None => {
-                    log::debug!(
+                        if let Some(n) = UNKNOWN_ICE_SESSION_LOG.due() {
-                        "dropped {} ICE candidate(s) for unknown WebRTC session key, last: {}",
+                            log::debug!(
-                        n,
+                                "dropped {} ICE candidate(s) for unknown WebRTC session key, last: {}",
-                        ice.session_key
+                                n,
-                    );
+                                ice.session_key
+                            );
+                        }
+                    }
+                    _ => {}
                 }
             }
             Some(rendezvous_message::Union::ConfigureUpdate(cu)) => {
@@ -714,17 +766,17 @@ impl RendezvousMediator {
             return Ok(answer);
         };
 
-        // Bounded, like the controller's own candidate buffer: how many candidates arrive is the
+        // Bounded: how many candidates arrive is the sender's choice, while draining one costs a
-        // sender's choice, while draining one costs a JSON parse and the ICE agent's lock, so an
+        // JSON parse and the ICE agent's lock, so an unbounded queue lets whoever can reach this
-        // unbounded queue lets whoever can reach this session's route grow it without limit inside
+        // session's route grow it without limit inside a long-lived service process. A full queue
-        // a long-lived service process. A full queue drops the newest candidate, which costs at
+        // drops the newest candidate, and the controller re-sends it once — the digests beside the
-        // most one path; ICE keeps whatever pairs it already has.
+        // sender are what keep that re-send from spending a slot of its own.
         let (remote_ice_tx, mut remote_ice_rx) = mpsc::channel::<String>(MAX_PENDING_REMOTE_ICE);
         let own_ice_tx = remote_ice_tx.clone();
         WEBRTC_ICE_TXS
             .lock()
             .await
-            .insert(session_key.clone(), remote_ice_tx);
+            .insert(session_key.clone(), IceRoute::new(remote_ice_tx));
 
         let stream_for_remote_ice = stream.clone();
         tokio::spawn(async move {
@@ -806,7 +858,7 @@ impl RendezvousMediator {
                 let mut txs = WEBRTC_ICE_TXS.lock().await;
                 if txs
                     .get(&session_key_for_cleanup)
-                    .is_some_and(|tx| tx.same_channel(&own_ice_tx))
+                    .is_some_and(|route| route.is_same_channel(&own_ice_tx))
                 {
                     txs.remove(&session_key_for_cleanup);
                 }
@@ -1236,3 +1288,73 @@ impl Drop for CheckIfResendPk {
         }
     }
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::{mpsc, IceRoute, ICE_DEDUP_WINDOW, MAX_PENDING_REMOTE_ICE};
+
+    fn queue(route: &mut IceRoute, candidate: &str) -> bool {
+        route.queue(candidate.to_owned())
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn the_re_sent_copy_does_not_spend_a_queue_slot() {
+        // Two slots, three sends: without the dedup the re-send takes the second and "relay",
+        // the one that traverses NAT, is the one refused.
+        let (tx, mut rx) = mpsc::channel::<String>(2);
+        let mut route = IceRoute::new(tx);
+        for _ in 0..2 {
+            assert!(queue(&mut route, "host"));
+        }
+        assert!(queue(&mut route, "relay"));
+        let mut queued = Vec::new();
+        while let Ok(candidate) = rx.try_recv() {
+            queued.push(candidate);
+        }
+        assert_eq!(queued, vec!["host".to_owned(), "relay".to_owned()]);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn a_candidate_the_full_queue_refused_is_not_remembered() {
+        let (tx, mut rx) = mpsc::channel::<String>(1);
+        let mut route = IceRoute::new(tx);
+        assert!(queue(&mut route, "host"));
+        assert!(!queue(&mut route, "relay"));
+        // The re-send is the only repair for a refused candidate; remembering it would swallow it.
+        assert_eq!(rx.try_recv().ok(), Some("host".to_owned()));
+        assert!(queue(&mut route, "relay"));
+        assert_eq!(rx.try_recv().ok(), Some("relay".to_owned()));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn a_re_send_is_skipped_while_the_original_is_still_queued() {
+        let (tx, mut rx) = mpsc::channel::<String>(MAX_PENDING_REMOTE_ICE);
+        let mut route = IceRoute::new(tx);
+        for i in 0..MAX_PENDING_REMOTE_ICE {
+            assert!(queue(&mut route, &format!("candidate-{}", i)));
+        }
+        assert!(queue(&mut route, "candidate-0"));
+        let mut queued = 0;
+        while rx.try_recv().is_ok() {
+            queued += 1;
+        }
+        assert_eq!(queued, MAX_PENDING_REMOTE_ICE);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn the_window_forgets_in_arrival_order() {
+        let (tx, mut rx) = mpsc::channel::<String>(MAX_PENDING_REMOTE_ICE);
+        let mut route = IceRoute::new(tx);
+        for i in 0..=ICE_DEDUP_WINDOW {
+            assert!(queue(&mut route, &format!("candidate-{}", i)));
+            assert!(rx.try_recv().is_ok());
+        }
+        // The oldest digest made room for the newest, so its re-send is admitted again.
+        assert!(queue(&mut route, "candidate-0"));
+        assert!(rx.try_recv().is_ok());
+        // A recent one is still skipped.
+        let recent = format!("candidate-{}", ICE_DEDUP_WINDOW);
+        assert!(queue(&mut route, &recent));
+        assert!(rx.try_recv().is_err());
+    }
+}