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/*
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Package lite is deprecated and will be removed in v0.34!
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Package lite allows you to securely validate headers without a full node.
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This library pulls together all the crypto and algorithms, so given a
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relatively recent (< unbonding period) known validator set, one can get
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indisputable proof that data is in the chain (current state) or detect if the
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node is lying to the client.
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Tendermint RPC exposes a lot of info, but a malicious node could return any
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data it wants to queries, or even to block headers, even making up fake
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signatures from non-existent validators to justify it. This is a lot of logic
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to get right, to be contained in a small, easy to use library, that does this
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for you, so you can just build nice applications.
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We design for clients who have no strong trust relationship with any Tendermint
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node, just the blockchain and validator set as a whole.
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SignedHeader
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SignedHeader is a block header along with a commit -- enough validator
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precommit-vote signatures to prove its validity (> 2/3 of the voting power)
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given the validator set responsible for signing that header. A FullCommit is a
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SignedHeader along with the current and next validator sets.
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The hash of the next validator set is included and signed in the SignedHeader.
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This lets the lite client keep track of arbitrary changes to the validator set,
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as every change to the validator set must be approved by inclusion in the
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header and signed in the commit.
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In the worst case, with every block changing the validators around completely,
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a lite client can sync up with every block header to verify each validator set
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change on the chain. In practice, most applications will not have frequent
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drastic updates to the validator set, so the logic defined in this package for
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lite client syncing is optimized to use intelligent bisection and
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block-skipping for efficient sourcing and verification of these data structures
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and updates to the validator set (see the DynamicVerifier for more
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information).
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The FullCommit is also declared in this package as a convenience structure,
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which includes the SignedHeader along with the full current and next
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ValidatorSets.
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Verifier
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A Verifier validates a new SignedHeader given the currently known state. There
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are two different types of Verifiers provided.
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BaseVerifier - given a validator set and a height, this Verifier verifies
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that > 2/3 of the voting power of the given validator set had signed the
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SignedHeader, and that the SignedHeader was to be signed by the exact given
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validator set, and that the height of the commit is at least height (or
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greater).
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DynamicVerifier - this Verifier implements an auto-update and persistence
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strategy to verify any SignedHeader of the blockchain.
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Provider and PersistentProvider
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A Provider allows us to store and retrieve the FullCommits.
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type Provider interface {
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// LatestFullCommit returns the latest commit with
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// minHeight <= height <= maxHeight.
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// If maxHeight is zero, returns the latest where
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// minHeight <= height.
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LatestFullCommit(chainID string, minHeight, maxHeight int64) (FullCommit, error)
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}
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* client.NewHTTPProvider - query Tendermint rpc.
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A PersistentProvider is a Provider that also allows for saving state. This is
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used by the DynamicVerifier for persistence.
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type PersistentProvider interface {
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Provider
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// SaveFullCommit saves a FullCommit (without verification).
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SaveFullCommit(fc FullCommit) error
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}
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* DBProvider - persistence provider for use with any libs/DB.
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* MultiProvider - combine multiple providers.
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The suggested use for local light clients is client.NewHTTPProvider(...) for
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getting new data (Source), and NewMultiProvider(NewDBProvider("label",
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dbm.NewMemDB()), NewDBProvider("label", db.NewFileDB(...))) to store confirmed
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full commits (Trusted)
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How We Track Validators
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Unless you want to blindly trust the node you talk with, you need to trace
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every response back to a hash in a block header and validate the commit
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signatures of that block header match the proper validator set. If there is a
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static validator set, you store it locally upon initialization of the client,
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and check against that every time.
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If the validator set for the blockchain is dynamic, verifying block commits is
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a bit more involved -- if there is a block at height H with a known (trusted)
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validator set V, and another block at height H' (H' > H) with validator set V'
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!= V, then we want a way to safely update it.
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First, we get the new (unconfirmed) validator set V' and verify that H' is
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internally consistent and properly signed by this V'. Assuming it is a valid
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block, we check that at least 2/3 of the validators in V also signed it,
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meaning it would also be valid under our old assumptions. Then, we accept H'
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and V' as valid and trusted and use that to validate for heights X > H' until a
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more recent and updated validator set is found.
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If we cannot update directly from H -> H' because there was too much change to
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the validator set, then we can look for some Hm (H < Hm < H') with a validator
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set Vm. Then we try to update H -> Hm and then Hm -> H' in two steps. If one
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of these steps doesn't work, then we continue bisecting, until we eventually
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have to externally validate the validator set changes at every block.
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Since we never trust any server in this protocol, only the signatures
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themselves, it doesn't matter if the seed comes from a (possibly malicious)
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node or a (possibly malicious) user. We can accept it or reject it based only
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on our trusted validator set and cryptographic proofs. This makes it extremely
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important to verify that you have the proper validator set when initializing
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the client, as that is the root of all trust.
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The software currently assumes that the unbonding period is infinite in
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duration. If the DynamicVerifier hasn't been updated in a while, you should
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manually verify the block headers using other sources.
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TODO: Update the software to handle cases around the unbonding period.
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*/
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package lite
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