hyperledger/fabric · error

error unmarshalling IdentifierHeader

Error message

error unmarshalling IdentifierHeader

What it means

Returned by protoutil.UnmarshalIdentifierHeader when proto.Unmarshal fails on the supplied bytes — they do not decode as a common.IdentifierHeader. Generic unmarshal wrapper for this rarely used header type.

Source

Thrown at protoutil/unmarshalers.go:82

// UnmarshalChaincodeID unmarshals bytes to a ChaincodeID
func UnmarshalChaincodeID(bytes []byte) (*peer.ChaincodeID, error) {
	ccid := &peer.ChaincodeID{}
	err := proto.Unmarshal(bytes, ccid)
	return ccid, errors.Wrap(err, "error unmarshalling ChaincodeID")
}

// UnmarshalSignatureHeader unmarshals bytes to a SignatureHeader
func UnmarshalSignatureHeader(bytes []byte) (*common.SignatureHeader, error) {
	sh := &common.SignatureHeader{}
	err := proto.Unmarshal(bytes, sh)
	return sh, errors.Wrap(err, "error unmarshalling SignatureHeader")
}

// UnmarshalIdentifierHeader unmarshals bytes to an IdentifierHeader
func UnmarshalIdentifierHeader(bytes []byte) (*common.IdentifierHeader, error) {
	ih := &common.IdentifierHeader{}
	err := proto.Unmarshal(bytes, ih)
	return ih, errors.Wrap(err, "error unmarshalling IdentifierHeader")
}

func UnmarshalSerializedIdentity(bytes []byte) (*msp.SerializedIdentity, error) {
	sid := &msp.SerializedIdentity{}
	err := proto.Unmarshal(bytes, sid)
	return sid, errors.Wrap(err, "error unmarshalling SerializedIdentity")
}

// UnmarshalHeader unmarshals bytes to a Header
func UnmarshalHeader(bytes []byte) (*common.Header, error) {
	hdr := &common.Header{}
	err := proto.Unmarshal(bytes, hdr)
	return hdr, errors.Wrap(err, "error unmarshalling Header")
}

// UnmarshalConfigEnvelope unmarshals bytes to a ConfigEnvelope
func UnmarshalConfigEnvelope(bytes []byte) (*common.ConfigEnvelope, error) {
	cfg := &common.ConfigEnvelope{}

View on GitHub (pinned to 2736b63f8f)

Solutions

1. Reject the message carrying the malformed identifier header
2. Confirm the bytes actually encode an IdentifierHeader

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at protoutil/unmarshalers.go:82 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of hyperledger/fabric@2736b63f8f (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/2c3290811fdee6f7. Report an issue: GitHub.