Uncatchable “missing v” when sending transaction

[ricmoo]

Ethers Version

6.9.0

Search Terms

Missing v, signature

Describe the Problem

This is related to two issues:

1. An Ethers bug, related to fix: catch rejected promise #4512 where an error during sending a transaction is not catchable
2. wallets not returning a v or yParity in the response to eth_getTransactionByHash.

I’m working on a fix for 1 (which is exposing some other possible oddity) and communicating with other groups for 2.

If you are experiencing this issue, ca you please let me know which wallet you are using? It seems like MetaMask through Wallet Connect is having this issue at least. Curious if there are others.

Code Snippet

No response

Contract ABI

No response

Errors

No response

Environment

No response

Environment (Other)

No response

[ricmoo]

It seems like this isn’t a WalletConnect issue, but maybe a MetaMask issue (for part 2). Still investigating.

I currently only have data points for MetaMask through WalletConnect. There is a “hacky” solution I can imagine if necessary. Since only the v is missing, what ethers could do for EIP-1559 transaction transactions, at least, is use ecrecover to compute from using a v of 27 and 28, if one of those match to tx, use it to fill in the transaction.

The doesn’t help for EIP-155 transactions though, unless the chain ID is incorporated, which starts feeling more hacky. I’d ether fix this upstream, as it seems like a wallet bug, but seeking feedback on some other ideas too. ;)

[llopez]

I am using ethers v6.9.0 and web3modal v3.4.0 + metamask extension

[llopez]

it happens after several times of sending a transaction.

code snippet:

  const provider = new BrowserProvider(walletProvider.value, 80001)
  const signer = await provider.getSigner()
  const admin  = await signer.getAddress();
  const contract = new ethers.Contract(CONTRACT_ADDRESS, ABI, signer);

  const r = await contract.votingEscrow();
  console.log(r);

  const tokenBptAddr = '0x975Ec7795F0Fbab6aF88C9C4228a46359165F3B0';
  const name = 'test'
  const symbol = 'test1'
  const maxLockTime = 60*60*24*7; // 1 week
  const now = new Date();
  const rewardDistributorStartTime = now.getTime() + (60 * 60);

  try {
    const tx = await contract.deploy(tokenBptAddr, name, symbol, maxLockTime, rewardDistributorStartTime, admin, admin)
    console.log('tx submitted', tx)
    const receipt = await tx.wait();
    console.log('tx success', receipt);
  } catch (error) {
    console.log('error', error);
  }

it never catches the error

[glitch-txs]

I'm not able to reproduce it, I was able to do txs with both MetaMask and Rabby.

it happens after several times of sending a transaction.

So does it mean it happens randomly?

[llopez]

yes. It is a random error. I would be great at least if we can catch it.

[ricmoo]

Catching it is coming. :)

[WooMai]

Same error here (but transaction sent successfully), randomly happening about 90% of the time, using ethers.js 6.9.0 with @metamask/sdk-react-ui 0.14.1 and MetaMask Chrome Extension

async function mintToken() {
        const provider = new BrowserProvider(sdk!.getProvider());

        const contract = new Contract(tokenInfo!.address, [{
            "inputs": [
                {
                    "internalType": "uint256",
                    "name": "nonce",
                    "type": "uint256"
                }
            ],
            "name": "mint",
            "outputs": [],
            "stateMutability": "nonpayable",
            "type": "function"
        }], await provider.getSigner());
        const tx = await contract.mint(foundNonce!);  // this promise rejected
        console.log('mint tx', tx);
    }

the error message is

Uncaught (in promise) TypeError: missing v (argument="signature", value={ "accessList": null, "blockHash": null, "blockNumber": null, "from": "(sender address)", "gas": "0xf856", "gasPrice": "0x2540be400", "hash": "(removed)", "input": "(removed)", "maxFeePerGas": "0x2540be400", "maxPriorityFeePerGas": "0x2540be400", "nonce": "0x16", "r": "(removed)", "s": "(removed)", "to": "(removed)", "transactionIndex": null, "type": "0x2", "value": "0x0" }, code=INVALID_ARGUMENT, version=6.9.0)

just debugged for a couple hours for this problem until I saw this issue :´(

[llopez]

I noticed that the error occurs when I send a transaction with the same data than the previous one. maybe the code does not regenerate the signature because the data is the same.. not sure

[llopez]

yes. that is the way to reproduce the error. send the same transaction two times in a row

[glitch-txs]

@llopez awesome! Could you try with a different wallet? It would be nice to know if this is a MetaMask issue or the issue is somewhere else

[WWZ90]

I am experiencing the same problem now

Uncaught (in promise) TypeError: missing v (argument="signature", value={ "accessList": null, "blockHash": null,...

here:

try {
      await usdc.balanceOf(owner).then(async (balance) => {
        await usdc.approve(import.meta.env.VITE_OO_CONTRACT_ADDRESS, balance).then(async tx => {
          tx.wait();
          await usdc.balanceOf(owner).then(async (balance) => {

await usdc.approve when I click for Aproval on metamask, the error shows, and nothing more happens. waiting forever.
This is something that works a few days ago, and now is broken for some reason.

[elleria-bot]

Getting the same issue on Metamask v11.7.0 on Ethers v6.7.1

Some of our players are experiencing this as well, even on the first transaction (no need to do twice in a row).
Seems to be a relatively new issue, we only started getting stuck reports a day ago (16 December 12pm UTC)

[KukretiShubham]

I just had this issue, was working fine till yesterday. Wallet: Metamask

[Anjan-poudel-1]

had the same issue

using ethers 6.9 and metamask wallet.

same transaction works well with "web3" package

[hmMachghoul]

It appears that the issue I'm encountering is specific to MetaMask. When using other wallets like Coinbase, WalletConnect (WC), or Ruby, this problem does not occur. I've attempted using different RPC endpoints with MetaMask, but they all seem to fail, although occasionally it does work correctly. It's worth noting that my testing was exclusively on various testnets, including Ethereum's Sepolia, Binance Smart Chain's Testnet, and Mumbai.

[wenjoy]

I get this error when I'm using ethers.js@6.8.1 with metamask@11.7.0 on testnet Sepolia.

P.S. I'm curious why here try to get signature from value, can anyone give me a clue about it?

ethers.js/src.ts/providers/format.ts

Line 242 in 6ee1a5f

result.signature = Signature.from(value);

[wenjoy]

@ricmoo has mentioned why this happened at Describe the Problem, in case someone missing it at first glim like me, I paste here again #4512.

And as a temporary work around, you can handle it by window.onerror.

[kule1163]

Hello guys i have same issue i build a nft marketplace app about 1 month ago everything works fine but now i start to create new one i have this issue i test my old app my old app have the same issue. I realised that it gives error but smart contract funtions go on to work very fine. If i try to use transaction i randomly get this error but i remove transaction on my code just run smart contract function i dont have any problem about 24 hours i try to find a solution for it. Now i am happy i not alone. If i have a solution for it as soon as possible i will share with u. Have good a luck

[kule1163]

Hi again try to use coinbase wallet everything works fine till metamask solve this problem i will use coinbase

[ChristianGreinke]

We ran into the same issue when ethers is trying to resolve transaction data with metamask before metamask has received enough confirmations from the network. Apparently metamask returns the transaction without complete signature data.
Further the sendTransaction function handles that by reissuing checkTx if tx is null but the internal from(sig) function would just break out with an assertError in the case of missing v. I fixed the issue with the change to the sendTransaction function below. Obviously that would run into an endless loop for permanent missing v error. Feel free to adapt. For our test case that change is sufficient.

original

async sendTransaction(tx) {
        // This cannot be mined any earlier than any recent block
        const blockNumber = await this.provider.getBlockNumber();
        // Send the transaction
        const hash = await this.sendUncheckedTransaction(tx);
        // Unfortunately, JSON-RPC only provides and opaque transaction hash
        // for a response, and we need the actual transaction, so we poll
        // for it; it should show up very quickly
        return await (new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
            const timeouts = [1000, 100];
            const checkTx = async () => {
                // Try getting the transaction
                const tx = await this.provider.getTransaction(hash);
                if (tx != null) {
                    resolve(tx.replaceableTransaction(blockNumber));
                    return;
                }
                // Wait another 4 seconds
                this.provider._setTimeout(() => { checkTx(); }, timeouts.pop() || 4000);
            };
            checkTx();
        }));
    }

my change

async sendTransaction(tx) {
        // This cannot be mined any earlier than any recent block
        const blockNumber = await this.provider.getBlockNumber();
        // Send the transaction
        const hash = await this.sendUncheckedTransaction(tx);
        // Unfortunately, JSON-RPC only provides and opaque transaction hash
        // for a response, and we need the actual transaction, so we poll
        // for it; it should show up very quickly
        return await (new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
            const timeouts = [1000, 100];
            const checkTx = async () => {
                // Try getting the transaction
                try{
                    const tx = await this.provider.getTransaction(hash);
                    if (tx != null) {
                        resolve(tx.replaceableTransaction(blockNumber));
                        return;
                    }
                }catch(error){
                    if(error.toString().includes('missing v')){

                    }else{
                        reject(hash);
                    }
                }
                // Wait another 4 seconds
                this.provider._setTimeout(() => { checkTx(); }, timeouts.pop() || 4000);
            };
            checkTx();
        }));
    }

[ricmoo]

@wenjoy The reason that value is passed to Signature.from is that it will use any signing properties on the transaction to derive the Signature. It could be r, s and v or might use yParity instead of V if one is missing and will also validate that everything matches.

Ethers is very much a “don’t trust, verify" mindset, which is why there is a problem right now; the node is returning corrupt (missing the v) transactions. This is why you see libraries that just return the raw result without validating it work.

I do have an idea for a fix if this isn’t fixed upstream soon, which is to “just try” both yParity of 0 and 1, and whichever matches the from address, use it to populate the v. It feels a bit hacky, but it’s important things work. :)

The uncatchable part is entirely my fault though, and I’m still working on it. My current fix is still showing some weirdness in my tests I’m trying to track down.

[eolszewski]

Hey @ricmoo - is there anything in particular that you'd recommend to mitigate this issue in the meantime? It seems like this is an error coming from metamask, so, I imagine this won't be addressed for a little bit.

[glitch-txs]

has anyone opened an issue in MM repo?

[bd100b]

@qureshikaif You must install NPM with the URL provided above to try out the experimental branch with the fix. I have not published to NPM yet.

this also helped me. Thanks

[sharebravery]

@ricmoo
I installed the latest changes using "ethers": "github:ethers-io/ethers.js#main", and the 'missing v' error is no longer present. However, a new error has emerged.

“
ethers.js?v=b83c03a4:5500 Uncaught (in promise) TypeError: Cannot destructure property 'networkV' of '(intermediate value)(...)' as it is undefined.
at _Signature.from (ethers.js?v=b83c03a4:5500:13)
at formatTransactionResponse (ethers.js?v=b83c03a4:14410:35)
at BrowserProvider._wrapTransactionResponse (ethers.js?v=b83c03a4:15375:36)
at BrowserProvider.getTransaction (ethers.js?v=b83c03a4:15686:17)
at async checkTx (ethers.js?v=b83c03a4:16843:21)
”

[baixiaoyu2997]

@qureshikaif You must install NPM with the URL provided above to try out the experimental branch with the fix. I have not published to NPM yet.

works on sepolia, thanks

[irfanonk]

any ideas why this error occurs only google chrome? it works as expected in egde and firefox

Do not work on:

Google Chrome Version 119.0.6045.199 (Official Build) (arm64) and Version 120.0.6099.109 (Official Build) (arm64)
Mumbai Network
metamask 11.7.0
ethers 6.8.1

Works on:

Firefox 121.0
Mumbai Network
MetaMask 11.4.1
ethers 6.8.1

Microsoft Edge Version 119.0.2151.97 (Official build) (arm64)
Mumbai Network
MetaMask 11.6.2
ethers 6.8.1

[ricmoo]

This has been published to NPM as v6.9.1.

The fix for uncatchable errors is fixed for good (problem 1 listed above).

However, there is still an underlying issue with MetaMask (problem 2 listed above), but this version also has a stop-gap solution to help mitigate the problem from manifesting. Hopefully at some point in the (distant) future, this code will be removed or possibly extended to be more robust against data that can technically be recovered from.

Thanks! :)

[ricmoo]

@irfanonk The issue is with specific versions of MetaMask when the mobile and extension had part of their code bases merged. The mobile version had a small issue which was never caught until merged into the extension.

The latest version of Ethers now has code to mitigate the issue though. Updating should fix any affected platform.

[tuncatunc]

I had the same problem with TrustWallet.

[kfazil]

@ricmoo I'm using 6.9.1 version directly from github. I've tested 10+ tx on goerli network everthing was good but then I got a same missing v error on a tx.

PS: I think this is in catch part. Catch works but metamask issue still persist.

[danielojedapy]

Yes, when i use the release 6.9.1, the error is happen again.

Actually, i'm using the current version of main from ether.
With that, i didn't see the error again. @ricmoo

[daenamkim]

I think the latest version (11.7.2) of MetaMask has fixed this issue.
MetaMask/metamask-extension@v11.7.1...v11.7.2

[syamsoul]

I think the latest version (11.7.2) of MetaMask has fixed this issue. MetaMask/metamask-extension@v11.7.1...v11.7.2

confirmed...after update MetaMask, it's working fine now...

[ricmoo]

Closing this now. If anyone continues to experience any issues (after updating to the latest version of Ethers), please re-open or create a new issue.

Thanks! :)