UINT8 is actually too small even in S3_0.
In S3_0 this needs to be fixed with a optional capability. So does #45499, if we decide to do it for S3_0 too. For S3_0 part, it's best to handle them together (in the same commit), so that we don't need to introduce two separate capabilities but have both issues fixed under the same capability.
Keeping marked S3_1-npf as the target milestone, as that's one hard deadline. The S3_0 fix is very much meant to be pushed in regardless.
For not breaking the frozen protocol, but to have an optional capability, S3_0 patch is far more complex than the one for later branches.
Max number of connections is at least 1000 in S3_1 and master. Yet PACKET_CONN_PING_INFO has just UINT8 for storing number of connections.