hyperledger/fabric · error

error unmarshalling SignatureHeader

Error message

error unmarshalling SignatureHeader

What it means

Returned by protoutil.UnmarshalSignatureHeader when proto.Unmarshal fails on the supplied bytes — not a valid common.SignatureHeader encoding. Generic wrap used across proposal and transaction validation paths.

Source

Thrown at protoutil/unmarshalers.go:75

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

// 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{}

View on GitHub (pinned to 2736b63f8f)

Solutions

1. Reject the transaction/proposal with the malformed signature header
2. Verify the client serialized the SignatureHeader correctly

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at protoutil/unmarshalers.go:75 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/8216f97ccf841dd7. Report an issue: GitHub.