hyperledger/fabric · error

malformed chaincode invocation spec

Error message

malformed chaincode invocation spec

What it means

ValidateLSCCInvocation unmarshalled the proposal payload but the ChaincodeInvocationSpec is incomplete — ChaincodeSpec, its Input, or Input.Args is nil. VSCC cannot determine which LSCC function is being invoked.

Source

Thrown at core/handlers/validation/builtin/v13/lscc_validation_logic.go:363

) commonerrors.TxValidationError {
	cpp, err := protoutil.UnmarshalChaincodeProposalPayload(cap.ChaincodeProposalPayload)
	if err != nil {
		logger.Errorf("VSCC error: GetChaincodeProposalPayload failed, err %s", err)
		return policyErr(err)
	}

	cis := &pb.ChaincodeInvocationSpec{}
	err = proto.Unmarshal(cpp.Input, cis)
	if err != nil {
		logger.Errorf("VSCC error: Unmarshal ChaincodeInvocationSpec failed, err %s", err)
		return policyErr(err)
	}

	if cis.ChaincodeSpec == nil ||
		cis.ChaincodeSpec.Input == nil ||
		cis.ChaincodeSpec.Input.Args == nil {
		logger.Errorf("VSCC error: committing invalid vscc invocation")
		return policyErr(fmt.Errorf("malformed chaincode invocation spec"))
	}

	lsccFunc := string(cis.ChaincodeSpec.Input.Args[0])
	lsccArgs := cis.ChaincodeSpec.Input.Args[1:]

	logger.Debugf("VSCC info: ValidateLSCCInvocation acting on %s %#v", lsccFunc, lsccArgs)

	switch lsccFunc {
	case lscc.UPGRADE, lscc.DEPLOY:
		logger.Debugf("VSCC info: validating invocation of lscc function %s on arguments %#v", lsccFunc, lsccArgs)

		if len(lsccArgs) < 2 {
			return policyErr(fmt.Errorf("Wrong number of arguments for invocation lscc(%s): expected at least 2, received %d", lsccFunc, len(lsccArgs)))
		}

		if (!ac.PrivateChannelData() && len(lsccArgs) > 5) ||
			(ac.PrivateChannelData() && len(lsccArgs) > 6) {
			return policyErr(fmt.Errorf("Wrong number of arguments for invocation lscc(%s): received %d", lsccFunc, len(lsccArgs)))

View on GitHub (pinned to 2736b63f8f)

Solutions

1. Ensure LSCC invocations carry a fully populated ChaincodeSpec with args
2. Reject the malformed transaction

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at core/handlers/validation/builtin/v13/lscc_validation_logic.go:363 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

Understand the failure class

• Parsing and encoding errors: unexpected token, malformed input — why parsers reject input and how to find the real culprit.

AI-assisted analysis of hyperledger/fabric@2736b63f8f (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a89ada13dd6726bf. Report an issue: GitHub.