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fix: skip parallel BAL path while Firehose traces - #68

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sduchesneau merged 2 commits into
release/reth-2.xfrom
hotfix/sepolia-11856337
Oct 6, 2026
Merged

sduchesneau merged 2 commits into
release/reth-2.xfrom
hotfix/sepolia-11856337

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@sduchesneau sduchesneau commented Oct 6, 2026 •

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Cause

Block 11856337 is the first Sepolia block that carries a block access list (BAL). It has 101 transactions, and sender 0x7609…5456 has three of them in a row: index 48 (nonce 75785), 49 (75786) and 50 (75787).

  • validate_block_with_state decides it can use the parallel BAL path before it checks whether Firehose is tracing. It then starts the payload processor in BAL mode.
  • In BAL mode, for blocks with 30 or more transactions, the payload processor recovers transaction signatures in parallel. It hands each transaction to execution as soon as it is ready, so they arrive out of block order (payload_processor/mod.rs:292).
  • Our traced execution path (execute_and_trace_block) runs transactions one after another using handle.iter_transactions(), which drops the index. It ran them in whatever order they arrived.
  • Tx 50 ran second, before txs 48 and 49, so it hit "nonce 75787 too high, expected 75785". received=1 in the log matches this: only one receipt had been produced when it failed.

The BAL from the public node has the correct nonce changes for this sender, so the block itself is valid. Our existing Amsterdam test didn't catch this because its blocks have fewer than 30 transactions, and those are still delivered in order.

Fix

At payload_validator.rs:615, don't use the parallel BAL path while Firehose tracing is on:
let parallel_bal_execution = ensure_ok!(self.bal_path_eligible(env.decoded_bal.as_deref())) &&
!reth_firehose::is_tracer_initialized();
With that, transactions arrive in block order, cache prewarming works from the transaction list, and the state root uses the hook from execution, which is how the traced path already ran before Amsterdam. I also extended firehose_live_tracing_amsterdam.rs with a block of 40 transfers from one sender, and it checks that the traced nonces come out as 0..39 in order.

Tests

passes updated local test

In BAL mode the payload processor streams transactions out of block order, which the sequential Firehose executor ran as-is, rejecting a sender's later nonces as too high.
@sduchesneau
sduchesneau force-pushed the hotfix/sepolia-11856337 branch from 74ce5be to 594c35a Compare October 6, 2026 14:30
@sduchesneau sduchesneau changed the title skip using parallel BAL path when firehose tracing is on fix: skip parallel BAL path while Firehose traces Oct 6, 2026
@sduchesneau
sduchesneau merged commit 21b7e1f into release/reth-2.x Oct 6, 2026
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@sduchesneau
sduchesneau deleted the hotfix/sepolia-11856337 branch October 6, 2026 14:46
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2 participants