hyperledger/fabric · error · VSCCEndorsementPolicyError

Only Endorser Transactions are supported, provided type %d

Error message

Only Endorser Transactions are supported, provided type %d

What it means

VSCC's Validate() only processes transactions whose envelope header type is ENDORSER_TRANSACTION. If the header type is any other value (e.g. CONFIG, CONFIG_UPDATE, PEER_RESOURCE_UPDATE, or an undefined numeric type), validation fails with this message wrapped in a policy error so the transaction is marked invalid.

Source

Thrown at core/handlers/validation/builtin/v12/validation_logic.go:136

		return policyErr(err)
	}

	// ...and the payload...
	payl, err := protoutil.UnmarshalPayload(env.Payload)
	if err != nil {
		logger.Errorf("VSCC error: GetPayload failed, err %s", err)
		return policyErr(err)
	}

	chdr, err := protoutil.UnmarshalChannelHeader(payl.Header.ChannelHeader)
	if err != nil {
		return policyErr(err)
	}

	// validate the payload type
	if common.HeaderType(chdr.Type) != common.HeaderType_ENDORSER_TRANSACTION {
		logger.Errorf("Only Endorser Transactions are supported, provided type %d", chdr.Type)
		return policyErr(fmt.Errorf("Only Endorser Transactions are supported, provided type %d", chdr.Type))
	}

	// ...and the transaction...
	tx, err := protoutil.UnmarshalTransaction(payl.Data)
	if err != nil {
		logger.Errorf("VSCC error: GetTransaction failed, err %s", err)
		return policyErr(err)
	}

	cap, err := protoutil.UnmarshalChaincodeActionPayload(tx.Actions[actionPosition].Payload)
	if err != nil {
		logger.Errorf("VSCC error: GetChaincodeActionPayload failed, err %s", err)
		return policyErr(err)
	}

	signatureSet, err := vscc.deduplicateIdentity(cap)
	if err != nil {
		return policyErr(err)

View on GitHub (pinned to 2736b63f8f)

Solutions

1. Ensure clients create envelopes via protoutil.CreateSignedTx with HeaderType_ENDORSER_TRANSACTION
2. If validating a config-style transaction, route it through the config validation path instead of VSCC
3. Inspect the offending envelope's chdr.Type (the number is in the message) and correct the producer code

Example fix

// before
chdr.Type = int32(common.HeaderType_CONFIG)
env, _ := protoutil.CreateSignedTx(prop, signer, res)
// after
chdr.Type = int32(common.HeaderType_ENDORSER_TRANSACTION)
env, _ := protoutil.CreateSignedTx(prop, signer, res)

chdr, err := protoutil.UnmarshalChannelHeader(payload.Header)
if err != nil { return err }
if common.HeaderType(chdr.Type) != common.HeaderType_ENDORSER_TRANSACTION {
    return fmt.Errorf("refusing to submit: header type %d is not ENDORSER_TRANSACTION", chdr.Type)
}

if txerr := txr.ValidationCode; txerr != pt.And 
// typical handling: inspect invalid transaction reason on commit event
for r := range notifier {
    if r.Code != pb.TxValidationCode_VALID {
        log.Printf("tx %s invalid: %v", r.TxId, r.Code)
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Submitting a non-endorser envelope (e.g. a raw config update or a tampered transaction whose chdr.Type was altered) to the transaction validation path; a client marshaling an envelope with an incorrect Type field.

Common situations: Hand-crafted envelopes in tools or tests that set the wrong header type; replaying admin config-update messages through the transaction path; malicious or corrupted payloads on the wire.

Related errors

• VSCC error: endorsement policy failure, err: %s
• stateFetcher not passed in init
• Endorsement policy evaluation failure might be caused by dup
• malformed chaincode invocation spec
• panic(err)

AI-assisted analysis of hyperledger/fabric@2736b63f8f (2026-09-04). Data as JSON: /api/errors/9a2e0bc8767a5e17. Report an issue: GitHub.