hyperledger/fabric · error

error marshaling SignatureHeader

Error message

error marshaling SignatureHeader

What it means

This is the wrapper error from GetBytesSignatureHeader: the underlying proto.Marshal failed while serializing a *common.SignatureHeader. The wrapped cause (e.g. 'proto: Marshal called with nil' or a real marshal failure) is carried by the errors.Wrap chain. It indicates proposal/envelope header bytes could not be produced.

Source

Thrown at protoutil/proputils.go:195

	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")
	}
	bytes, err := proto.Marshal(payl)
	return bytes, errors.Wrap(err, "error marshaling Payload")

View on GitHub (pinned to 2736b63f8f)

Solutions

1. Inspect the wrapped cause via errors.Cause / %v of the returned error to confirm nil vs real marshal failure
2. Guarantee the SignatureHeader is non-nil and populated before serialization
3. Use higher-level helpers (protoutil.CreateProposal, SignOrPanic) that build the header correctly

Example fix

// before
bytes, err := proto.Marshal(hdr) // hdr nil -> wrapped error
// after
if hdr == nil {
	return nil, errors.New("nil SignatureHeader")
}
bytes, err := proto.Marshal(hdr)

if hdr == nil || !hdr.ProtoReflect().IsValid() {
	return errors.New("SignatureHeader nil or invalid")
}

func isValidMessage(m proto.Message) bool {
	return m != nil && m.ProtoReflect() != nil && m.ProtoReflect().IsValid()
}

if err != nil {
	var cause error
	for e := err; e != nil; e = errors.Unwrap(e) { cause = e }
	log.Printf("SignatureHeader marshal failed, cause: %v", cause)
	return err
}

When it happens

Trigger: Any error returned by proto.Marshal(hdr) inside GetBytesSignatureHeader, most commonly hdr == nil reaching the marshal call from callers such as TestProposal or proposal-signing helpers.

Common situations: Test code constructing Proposals by hand; code paths where UnmarshalSignatureHeader failed silently upstream or was never called, leaving nil sub-messages.

Related errors

• error unmarshalling Transaction
• error marshaling Payload
• error marshaling Envelope
• error marshaling
• unmarshal failed

AI-assisted analysis of hyperledger/fabric@2736b63f8f (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/45f15c342ef680d6. Report an issue: GitHub.