Summary

Replace .expect() on inherent data decoding in get_data_from_inherent_data with typed Result<Option<...>, InherentError> error handling, preventing simultaneous validator panics on malformed inherent data.

🎫 PM-21799 📐 Engineering

Motivation

The get_data_from_inherent_data function in the cnight-observation pallet decodes inherent data on every block through three consensus-critical entry points: create_inherent, check_inherent, and is_inherent_required. The function uses .expect() on the decode result, which means any malformed inherent data — from serialization bugs, version mismatches, or data corruption — causes all validators to panic simultaneously, permanently halting the chain with no automatic recovery.

This fix adopts the error handling pattern already established in the sibling federated-authority-observation pallet: returning Result<Option<...>, InherentError> with a new DecodeFailed variant, allowing each caller to handle decode failures appropriately without crashing.

Changes

Primitives (primitives/cnight-observation/src/lib.rs)

• Add DecodeFailed variant to InherentError enum with #[cfg_attr(feature = "std", error("Inherent data decode failed"))]
• Variant inherits is_fatal_error() = true from the blanket IsFatalError impl

Pallet (pallets/cnight-observation/src/lib.rs)

• get_data_from_inherent_data — Return type changed from Option<T> to Result<Option<T>, InherentError>; .expect() replaced with .map_err(|_| InherentError::DecodeFailed)
• create_inherent — Match on Ok/Err; error path logs log::error! with target cnight-observation and returns None
• check_inherent — Propagate decode error via ?, then .ok_or(InherentError::Other)? for the missing-data case
• is_inherent_required — Propagate decode error via ? before checking .is_some()

Tests (pallets/cnight-observation/tests/tests.rs)

• Add create_malformed_inherent() helper (puts invalid bytes for INHERENT_IDENTIFIER)
• create_inherent_with_malformed_data_returns_none — verifies no panic, returns None
• check_inherent_with_malformed_data_returns_error — verifies Err(InherentError::DecodeFailed)
• is_inherent_required_with_malformed_data_returns_error — verifies Err(InherentError::DecodeFailed)

Consensus safety

• Valid inherent data paths produce identical results before and after the change
• DecodeFailed is fatal (is_fatal_error() = true), so blocks with corrupted inherent data are rejected during import

📌 Submission Checklist

• Changes are backward-compatible (or flagged if breaking)
• Pull request description explains why the change is needed
• Self-reviewed the diff
• I have included a change file, or skipped for this reason: bug fix with no product-visible change
• If the changes introduce a new feature, I have bumped the node minor version
• Update documentation (if relevant)
• No new todos introduced

🔱 Fork Strategy

• Node Runtime Update
• Node Client Update
• Other
• N/A

🗹 TODO before merging

• Ready for review
• Commit signing (agent environment lacks GPG — may need manual re-sign)