Triple Duplicate ACK
First one must understand what a duplicate ACK is.
Duplicate ACK
RFC 5681 gives the following definition:
DUPLICATE ACKNOWLEDGMENT: An acknowledgment is considered a "duplicate" in the following algorithms when
- the receiver of the ACK has outstanding data,
- the incoming acknowledgment carries no data,
- the SYN and FIN bits are both off,
- the acknowledgment number is equal to the greatest acknowledgment received on the given connection (TCP.UNA from [RFC793]) and
- the advertised window in the incoming acknowledgment equals the advertised window in the last incoming acknowledgment.
Alternatively, a TCP that utilizes selective acknowledgments (SACKs) [RFC2018, RFC2883] can leverage the SACK information to determine when an incoming ACK is a "duplicate" (e.g., if the ACK contains previously unknown SACK information).
Triple Duplicate ACK
A triple duplicate ACK is literally the third duplicate ACK (four identical ACKs). See RFC 5681