hyperledger/fabric · error · VSCCEndorsementPolicyError

malformed chaincode invocation spec

Error message

malformed chaincode invocation spec

What it means

When a transaction calls lscc, VSCC's ValidateLSCCInvocation re-validates the original proposal payload. This error means the ChaincodeInvocationSpec unmarshaled from the payload has no ChaincodeSpec, no Input, or nil Args — the invocation structure is incomplete, so it cannot be validated. The transaction is rejected as a policy error.

Source

Thrown at core/handlers/validation/builtin/v12/validation_logic.go:506

) 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. Fix the client to construct a complete ChaincodeInvocationSpec with ChaincodeSpec, Input, and at least one Arg (the lscc function name).
2. Use the SDK's high-level invoke/chaincode-install APIs instead of manually assembling protobuf envelopes.
3. Verify the marshaled proposal payload is not truncated or altered between endorsement and commit.
4. Re-submit the transaction; the rejected tx cannot be repaired post-commit.

Example fix

// before: incomplete spec
cis := &pb.ChaincodeInvocationSpec{}
// after: fully populated
cis := &pb.ChaincodeInvocationSpec{
  ChaincodeSpec: &pb.ChaincodeSpec{
    Type: pb.ChaincodeSpec_GOLANG,
    ChaincodeId: &pb.ChaincodeID{Name: "lscc"},
    Input: &pb.ChaincodeInput{Args: [][]byte{[]byte("deploy"), ccName, ccVersion, cdsBytes}},
  },
}

// client-side check before submitting an lscc invocation
if cis.ChaincodeSpec == nil || cis.ChaincodeSpec.Input == nil || len(cis.ChaincodeSpec.Input.Args) == 0 {
    return errors.New("refusing to submit: ChaincodeInvocationSpec is missing ChaincodeSpec/Input/Args")
}

func isWellFormedInvocationSpec(cis *pb.ChaincodeInvocationSpec) bool {
    return cis != nil && cis.ChaincodeSpec != nil &&
        cis.ChaincodeSpec.Input != nil &&
        cis.ChaincodeSpec.Input.Args != nil && len(cis.ChaincodeSpec.Input.Args) > 0
}

When it happens

Trigger: Committing a transaction whose ChaincodeProposalPayload.Input does not unmarshal into a fully-populated ChaincodeInvocationSpec: ChaincodeSpec == nil, ChaincodeSpec.Input == nil, or ChaincodeSpec.Input.Args == nil — e.g. a hand-crafted or truncated proposal envelope.

Common situations: Custom client code building envelopes manually with missing fields; SDK misuse where the invoke spec was never populated; tampered or corrupted transactions; testing tools that submit partially-filled ChaincodeInvocationSpec messages.

Understand the failure class

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

Related errors

• failed unmarshalling lscc read value into ChaincodeData
• unmarshalling ChaincodeQueryResponse failed
• invalid collection configuration supplied for chaincode %s:%
• Wrong number of arguments for invocation lscc(%s): expected
• Wrong number of arguments for invocation lscc(%s): received

AI-assisted analysis of hyperledger/fabric@2736b63f8f (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f88592ea17d58b81. Report an issue: GitHub.