From cd007a53b4a2d7a83e35de559dc87da09302e956 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Mathis Felardos <mathis@mistral.ai>
Date: Thu, 27 Nov 2025 16:32:38 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] [bugfix] avoid NIXL_ERR_REMOTE_DISCONNECT in nixl_connector
 when Prefill dies (#28120)

Signed-off-by: Mathis Felardos <mathis@mistral.ai>
---
 .../kv_connector/v1/nixl_connector.py         | 62 ++++++++++++-------
 1 file changed, 41 insertions(+), 21 deletions(-)

diff --git a/vllm/distributed/kv_transfer/kv_connector/v1/nixl_connector.py b/vllm/distributed/kv_transfer/kv_connector/v1/nixl_connector.py
index ff51840b84b1..d5edf84e8e7f 100644
--- a/vllm/distributed/kv_transfer/kv_connector/v1/nixl_connector.py
+++ b/vllm/distributed/kv_transfer/kv_connector/v1/nixl_connector.py
@@ -1832,35 +1832,55 @@ class NixlConnectorWorker:
         done_req_ids: set[str] = set()
         for req_id, handles in list(transfers.items()):
             in_progress = False
-            for handle, _xfer_stime in handles:
-                xfer_state = self.nixl_wrapper.check_xfer_state(handle)
-                if xfer_state == "DONE":
-                    # Get telemetry from NIXL
-                    res = self.nixl_wrapper.get_xfer_telemetry(handle)
-                    self.xfer_stats.record_transfer(res)
-                    self.nixl_wrapper.release_xfer_handle(handle)
-                elif xfer_state == "PROC":
-                    in_progress = True
-                    continue
-                else:
-                    # transfer failed - mark blocks as invalid
-                    logger.error(
-                        "NIXL transfer failed for request %s with state %s. "
+            for handle, xfer_start_time in handles:
+                try:
+                    xfer_state = self.nixl_wrapper.check_xfer_state(handle)
+                    if xfer_state == "DONE":
+                        # Get telemetry from NIXL
+                        res = self.nixl_wrapper.get_xfer_telemetry(handle)
+                        self.xfer_stats.record_transfer(res)
+                        self.nixl_wrapper.release_xfer_handle(handle)
+                    elif xfer_state == "PROC":
+                        in_progress = True
+                        continue
+                    else:
+                        logger.error(
+                            "NIXL transfer failed for request %s with state "
+                            "%s. Marking blocks as invalid.",
+                            req_id,
+                            xfer_state,
+                        )
+                        self._handle_failed_transfer(req_id, handle)
+                        in_progress = False
+                except Exception:
+                    logger.exception(
+                        "NIXL transfer exception for request %s. "
                         "Marking blocks as invalid.",
                         req_id,
-                        xfer_state,
                     )
-                    # mark all (logical)blocks for this request as invalid
-                    if meta := self._recving_metadata.pop(req_id, None):
-                        self._invalid_block_ids.update(meta.local_block_ids)
-                    self._recving_metadata.pop(req_id, None)
-                    self.nixl_wrapper.release_xfer_handle(handle)
-                    self.xfer_stats.record_failed_transfer()
+                    self._handle_failed_transfer(req_id, handle)
+                    in_progress = False
+
             if not in_progress:
                 done_req_ids.add(req_id)
                 del transfers[req_id]
         return done_req_ids
 
+    def _handle_failed_transfer(self, req_id: str, handle: int):
+        """
+        Handle a failed transfer by marking all (logical) blocks as invalid and
+        recording the failure.
+
+        Args:
+            req_id: The request ID.
+            handle: The transfer handle.
+        """
+        if meta := self._recving_metadata.pop(req_id, None):
+            self._invalid_block_ids.update(meta.local_block_ids)
+        self._recving_metadata.pop(req_id, None)
+        self.nixl_wrapper.release_xfer_handle(handle)
+        self.xfer_stats.record_failed_transfer()
+
     def start_load_kv(self, metadata: NixlConnectorMetadata):
         """
         Start loading by triggering non-blocking nixl_xfer.