hyperledger/fabric · error

error marshaling SignatureHeader: proto: Marshal called with

Error message

error marshaling SignatureHeader: proto: Marshal called with nil

What it means

GetBytesSignatureHeader wraps proto.Marshal failures with 'error marshaling SignatureHeader'. The message 'proto: Marshal called with nil' means the *common.SignatureHeader pointer passed in was nil (protobuf cannot serialize a nil message). This family of helpers guards against nil and returns this explicit error instead of panicking inside proto.Marshal.

Source

Thrown at protoutil/proputils.go:192

		return nil, errors.New("error marshaling ProposalResponse: proto: Marshal called with nil")
	}
	respBytes, err := proto.Marshal(pr)
	return respBytes, errors.Wrap(err, "error marshaling ProposalResponse")
}

// GetBytesHeader get the bytes of Header from the message
func GetBytesHeader(hdr *common.Header) ([]byte, error) {
	if hdr == nil {
		return nil, errors.New("error marshaling Header: proto: Marshal called with nil")
	}
	bytes, err := proto.Marshal(hdr)
	return bytes, errors.Wrap(err, "error marshaling Header")
}

// GetBytesSignatureHeader get the bytes of SignatureHeader from the message
func GetBytesSignatureHeader(hdr *common.SignatureHeader) ([]byte, error) {
	if hdr == nil {
		return nil, errors.New("error marshaling SignatureHeader: proto: Marshal called with nil")
	}
	bytes, err := proto.Marshal(hdr)
	return bytes, errors.Wrap(err, "error marshaling SignatureHeader")
}

// GetBytesTransaction get the bytes of Transaction from the message
func GetBytesTransaction(tx *peer.Transaction) ([]byte, error) {
	if tx == nil {
		return nil, errors.New("error marshaling Transaction: proto: Marshal called with nil")
	}
	bytes, err := proto.Marshal(tx)
	return bytes, errors.Wrap(err, "error unmarshalling Transaction")
}

// GetBytesPayload get the bytes of Payload from the message
func GetBytesPayload(payl *common.Payload) ([]byte, error) {
	if payl == nil {
		return nil, errors.New("error marshaling Payload: proto: Marshal called with nil")

View on GitHub (pinned to 2736b63f8f)

Solutions

1. Check the SignatureHeader pointer for nil before calling GetBytesSignatureHeader and populate it (Creator, Nonce, Txid) via protoutil.NewSignatureHeader or SignOrPanic helpers
2. Trace back to where the header was created; ensure Proposal.Header is unmarshaled with UnmarshalSignatureHeader before use
3. Log the caller path to find which proposal-construction step was skipped

Example fix

// before
sigHdrBytes, err := protoutil.GetBytesSignatureHeader(prop.Header.SignatureHeader) // nil if Header unset
// after
if prop.Header == nil || prop.Header.SignatureHeader == nil {
	return nil, errors.New("proposal header/signature header not initialized")
}
sigHdrBytes, err := protoutil.GetBytesSignatureHeader(prop.Header.SignatureHeader)

func validSigHdr(h *common.SignatureHeader) error {
	if h == nil {
		return errors.New("SignatureHeader is nil")
	}
	return nil
}

func hasSignatureHeader(p *common.Payload) bool {
	return p != nil && p.Header != nil && p.Header.SignatureHeader != nil
}

hdrBytes, err := protoutil.GetBytesSignatureHeader(hdr)
if err != nil {
	return fmt.Errorf("signature header serialization failed: %w", err)
}

When it happens

Trigger: Calling protoutil.GetBytesSignatureHeader(nil), or passing a struct field that is a nil *common.SignatureHeader, e.g. when a Proposal header was never initialized in test or proposal-construction code paths like TestProposal.

Common situations: Building proposals/envelopes manually in SDK or test code where the SignatureHeader was not populated because creator identity, nonce, or txid generation was skipped; refactorings that leave header fields unset.

Related errors

• error marshaling
• unmarshal failed
• marshal failed
• proto: Marshal called with nil
• proto: Marshal called with nil

AI-assisted analysis of hyperledger/fabric@2736b63f8f (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/bc9c11334eb68012. Report an issue: GitHub.