diff --git a/pkg/router/route_group.go b/pkg/router/route_group.go
index 385127dae4..87585ed6a7 100644
--- a/pkg/router/route_group.go
+++ b/pkg/router/route_group.go
@@ -1200,6 +1200,15 @@ func (rg *RouteGroup) handlePongPacket(packet routing.Packet) error {
 
 	rg.logger.WithField("func", "RouteGroup.handlePongPacket").Tracef("Latency is around %.1f ms", latencyMs)
 
+	// A pong correlates to no specific ping (no in-flight tracking), so
+	// a long-delayed pong arriving after the host woke / queue drained
+	// produces a 30+ second sample. Reject up front so neither
+	// networkStats, the synchronous MeasureLatency consumer, nor the
+	// underlying transport see the bogus value.
+	if latencyMs <= 0 || latencyMs > transport.MaxReasonableRTTMs {
+		return nil
+	}
+
 	rg.networkStats.SetLatency(uint32(latencyMs)) //nolint: gosec
 
 	// If there's a pending synchronous measurement, send the result
@@ -1258,14 +1267,21 @@ func (rg *RouteGroup) MeasureLatency(ctx context.Context, count int) (min, max,
 		// Wait for pong with timeout
 		select {
 		case latencyMs := <-pongCh:
-			// Drop non-positive samples — a 0 here would seed min/max
-			// at 0 and produce a snapshot {min:0, max:X, avg:Y} that
-			// downstream consumers (TPD, /stats) treat as "no min
-			// measurement" and either reject or display misleadingly.
+			// Drop samples outside (0, transport.MaxReasonableRTTMs]:
+			//   - 0 seeds min/max at 0, producing {min:0, max:X, avg:Y}
+			//     that downstream consumers reject or display oddly.
+			//   - Stale pongs from earlier rounds (or from the periodic
+			//     pingLoop) can land in this buffered channel after a
+			//     long delay and produce 30+ second readings that
+			//     would pin Max indefinitely on the underlying tp.
 			if latencyMs <= 0 {
 				rg.logger.Debugf("Ping %d/%d: dropped non-positive sample (%.6f ms)", i+1, count, latencyMs)
 				continue
 			}
+			if latencyMs > transport.MaxReasonableRTTMs {
+				rg.logger.Debugf("Ping %d/%d: dropped outlier sample (%.0f ms) — likely stale pong", i+1, count, latencyMs)
+				continue
+			}
 			measurements = append(measurements, latencyMs)
 			rg.logger.Debugf("Ping %d/%d: %.2f ms", i+1, count, latencyMs)
 		case <-time.After(timeout):
diff --git a/pkg/transport/managed_transport.go b/pkg/transport/managed_transport.go
index 701a4826b3..62399df8a5 100644
--- a/pkg/transport/managed_transport.go
+++ b/pkg/transport/managed_transport.go
@@ -152,16 +152,29 @@ func (mt *ManagedTransport) GetLatencyStats() LatencyStats {
 	return mt.latencyStats
 }
 
+// MaxReasonableRTTMs is the upper bound for an accepted latency sample.
+// handleTransportPong has no in-flight tracking, so a pong that finally
+// arrives ~30s after its ping (delayed packet, suspended host, NIC
+// queue stall) yields rttMs in the tens of seconds. Min/Avg shrug it
+// off but Max only ever grows, so a single bad sample pins the
+// transport's Max forever (or until the lat:<id> key TTLs out 35 days
+// later). Real intercontinental RTT plus heavy queueing is comfortably
+// under 5s; 30s is a generous floor for "obviously bogus".
+//
+// Exported so router-side latency producers (RouteGroup.MeasureLatency,
+// RouteGroup.handlePongPacket) can apply the same threshold.
+const MaxReasonableRTTMs = 30_000.0
+
 // SetLatency sets the average inter-visor ping latency in milliseconds.
 // For backwards compatibility; prefer SetLatencyStats for full statistics.
 //
-// A non-positive sample is dropped: ns-resolution timestamps can produce
-// rttMs == 0 on a sub-microsecond loopback, and a 0 here would clobber
-// Avg and (via the `latencyMs < Min` branch) Min, leaving Max as the only
-// surviving field. Round-trip time is strictly positive in any real
-// measurement, so treating 0 as "no sample" is correct.
+// Samples outside (0, MaxReasonableRTTMs] are dropped:
+//   - rttMs <= 0 happens with ns-resolution timestamps on sub-µs loopback;
+//     a 0 there clobbers Avg and (via the `latencyMs < Min` branch) Min.
+//   - rttMs > MaxReasonableRTTMs happens when handleTransportPong receives
+//     a long-delayed pong; that 30+ second value would pin Max indefinitely.
 func (mt *ManagedTransport) SetLatency(latencyMs float64) {
-	if latencyMs <= 0 {
+	if latencyMs <= 0 || latencyMs > MaxReasonableRTTMs {
 		return
 	}
 	mt.latencyMx.Lock()
@@ -176,13 +189,17 @@ func (mt *ManagedTransport) SetLatency(latencyMs float64) {
 }
 
 // SetLatencyStats sets the full latency statistics. A snapshot with any
-// non-positive field is rejected: a partial measurement (e.g. all five
-// pings timed out except one that returned in <1µs) would otherwise
-// overwrite a previously good record with a zero in min or max.
+// field outside (0, MaxReasonableRTTMs] is rejected wholesale: a partial
+// measurement (e.g. all five pings timed out except one that returned in
+// <1µs) would otherwise overwrite a previously good record with a zero
+// in min, and a stragglerpong on the upper end would pin Max forever.
 func (mt *ManagedTransport) SetLatencyStats(stats LatencyStats) {
 	if stats.Min <= 0 || stats.Max <= 0 || stats.Avg <= 0 {
 		return
 	}
+	if stats.Min > MaxReasonableRTTMs || stats.Max > MaxReasonableRTTMs || stats.Avg > MaxReasonableRTTMs {
+		return
+	}
 	mt.latencyMx.Lock()
 	defer mt.latencyMx.Unlock()
 	mt.latencyStats = stats
@@ -412,6 +429,14 @@ func (mt *ManagedTransport) handleTransportPong(p routing.Packet) {
 	if rttMs <= 0 {
 		return // clock skew, corrupted timestamp, or sub-µs RTT we can't represent
 	}
+	if rttMs > MaxReasonableRTTMs {
+		// Pong arrived long after the ping — packet was delayed in a
+		// queue, the host was suspended, or the kernel held the
+		// timestamp. Accepting this would pin Max forever. SetLatency
+		// re-checks the same bound; mirrored here to avoid the log.
+		mt.log.WithField("rtt_ms", fmt.Sprintf("%.0f", rttMs)).Trace("Dropping outlier transport pong RTT")
+		return
+	}
 	mt.SetLatency(rttMs)
 	mt.log.WithField("rtt_ms", fmt.Sprintf("%.2f", rttMs)).Trace("Transport ping RTT")
 }
diff --git a/pkg/transport/managed_transport_test.go b/pkg/transport/managed_transport_test.go
index 49075c0053..cd9c8c2d53 100644
--- a/pkg/transport/managed_transport_test.go
+++ b/pkg/transport/managed_transport_test.go
@@ -208,3 +208,54 @@ func TestSetLatencyStatsDropsPartialZero(t *testing.T) {
 	mt.SetLatencyStats(better)
 	require.Equal(t, better, mt.GetLatencyStats())
 }
+
+// A pong arriving long after its ping (delayed packet, suspended host)
+// produces an outlier RTT that would pin Max indefinitely. The
+// upper-bound guard must drop such samples without disturbing the
+// running stats. Live evidence: production transports observed with
+// min/avg ~190ms and max ~35,000ms after a single straggler.
+func TestSetLatencyDropsOutliers(t *testing.T) {
+	mt := &ManagedTransport{}
+	mt.SetLatency(15.5)
+	require.Equal(t, LatencyStats{Min: 15.5, Max: 15.5, Avg: 15.5}, mt.GetLatencyStats())
+
+	// Just above the bound is rejected.
+	mt.SetLatency(MaxReasonableRTTMs + 1)
+	require.Equal(t, LatencyStats{Min: 15.5, Max: 15.5, Avg: 15.5}, mt.GetLatencyStats(),
+		"outlier sample updated the stats")
+
+	// 35-second straggler — the production case.
+	mt.SetLatency(35_000)
+	require.Equal(t, LatencyStats{Min: 15.5, Max: 15.5, Avg: 15.5}, mt.GetLatencyStats(),
+		"35s straggler updated the stats")
+
+	// At the bound — accepted.
+	mt.SetLatency(MaxReasonableRTTMs)
+	require.Equal(t, LatencyStats{Min: 15.5, Max: MaxReasonableRTTMs, Avg: MaxReasonableRTTMs}, mt.GetLatencyStats(),
+		"sample exactly at the bound was rejected")
+}
+
+// SetLatencyStats must reject the entire snapshot when any field
+// exceeds the bound — better to keep the previous good record than
+// allow a 35s max to land alongside otherwise-fine min/avg values.
+func TestSetLatencyStatsDropsOutliers(t *testing.T) {
+	mt := &ManagedTransport{}
+	good := LatencyStats{Min: 100, Max: 250, Avg: 180}
+	mt.SetLatencyStats(good)
+
+	for _, bad := range []LatencyStats{
+		{Min: 100, Max: MaxReasonableRTTMs + 1, Avg: 180},     // straggler max
+		{Min: 100, Max: 35_000, Avg: 180},                     // 35s production case
+		{Min: MaxReasonableRTTMs + 1, Max: 35_000, Avg: 180},  // both at the upper end
+		{Min: 100, Max: 250, Avg: MaxReasonableRTTMs + 0.001}, // avg over the line
+	} {
+		mt.SetLatencyStats(bad)
+		require.Equal(t, good, mt.GetLatencyStats(),
+			"outlier snapshot %+v overwrote good stats", bad)
+	}
+
+	// At the bound — accepted.
+	atBound := LatencyStats{Min: 100, Max: MaxReasonableRTTMs, Avg: 5_000}
+	mt.SetLatencyStats(atBound)
+	require.Equal(t, atBound, mt.GetLatencyStats())
+}