internal/ethapi: skip tx gas limit check for calls (#32641)

This disables the tx gaslimit cap for eth_call and related RPC operations.

I don't like how this fix works. Ideally we'd be checking the tx
gaslimit somewhere else, like in the block validator, or any other place
that considers block transactions. Doing the check in StateTransition
means it affects all possible ways of executing a message.

The challenge is finding a place for this check that also triggers
correctly in tests where it is wanted. So for now, we are just combining
this with the EOA sender check for transactions. Both are disabled for
call-type messages.

Author: fjl

core/state_transition.go

@@ -164,8 +164,12 @@ type Message struct {
 	// or the state prefetching.
 	SkipNonceChecks bool
 
-	// When SkipFromEOACheck is true, the message sender is not checked to be an EOA.
-	SkipFromEOACheck bool
+	// When set, the message is not treated as a transaction, and certain
+	// transaction-specific checks are skipped:
+	//
+	// - From is not verified to be an EOA
+	// - GasLimit is not checked against the protocol defined tx gaslimit
+	SkipTransactionChecks bool
 }
 
 // TransactionToMessage converts a transaction into a Message.
@@ -182,7 +186,7 @@ func TransactionToMessage(tx *types.Transaction, s types.Signer, baseFee *big.In
 		AccessList:            tx.AccessList(),
 		SetCodeAuthorizations: tx.SetCodeAuthorizations(),
 		SkipNonceChecks:       false,
-		SkipFromEOACheck:      false,
+		SkipTransactionChecks: false,
 		BlobHashes:            tx.BlobHashes(),
 		BlobGasFeeCap:         tx.BlobGasFeeCap(),
 	}
@@ -320,7 +324,12 @@ func (st *stateTransition) preCheck() error {
 				msg.From.Hex(), stNonce)
 		}
 	}
-	if !msg.SkipFromEOACheck {
+	isOsaka := st.evm.ChainConfig().IsOsaka(st.evm.Context.BlockNumber, st.evm.Context.Time)
+	if !msg.SkipTransactionChecks {
+		// Verify tx gas limit does not exceed EIP-7825 cap.
+		if isOsaka && msg.GasLimit > params.MaxTxGas {
+			return fmt.Errorf("%w (cap: %d, tx: %d)", ErrGasLimitTooHigh, params.MaxTxGas, msg.GasLimit)
+		}
 		// Make sure the sender is an EOA
 		code := st.state.GetCode(msg.From)
 		_, delegated := types.ParseDelegation(code)
@@ -354,7 +363,6 @@ func (st *stateTransition) preCheck() error {
 		}
 	}
 	// Check the blob version validity
-	isOsaka := st.evm.ChainConfig().IsOsaka(st.evm.Context.BlockNumber, st.evm.Context.Time)
 	if msg.BlobHashes != nil {
 		// The to field of a blob tx type is mandatory, and a `BlobTx` transaction internally
 		// has it as a non-nillable value, so any msg derived from blob transaction has it non-nil.
@@ -398,10 +406,6 @@ func (st *stateTransition) preCheck() error {
 			return fmt.Errorf("%w (sender %v)", ErrEmptyAuthList, msg.From)
 		}
 	}
-	// Verify tx gas limit does not exceed EIP-7825 cap.
-	if isOsaka && msg.GasLimit > params.MaxTxGas {
-		return fmt.Errorf("%w (cap: %d, tx: %d)", ErrGasLimitTooHigh, params.MaxTxGas, msg.GasLimit)
-	}
 	return st.buyGas()
 }
 

eth/tracers/api.go

@@ -984,7 +984,7 @@ func (api *API) TraceCall(ctx context.Context, args ethapi.TransactionArgs, bloc
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	var (
-		msg         = args.ToMessage(blockContext.BaseFee, true, true)
+		msg         = args.ToMessage(blockContext.BaseFee, true)
 		tx          = args.ToTransaction(types.LegacyTxType)
 		traceConfig *TraceConfig
 	)

internal/ethapi/api.go

@@ -699,15 +699,15 @@ func doCall(ctx context.Context, b Backend, args TransactionArgs, state *state.S
 	} else {
 		gp.AddGas(globalGasCap)
 	}
-	return applyMessage(ctx, b, args, state, header, timeout, gp, &blockCtx, &vm.Config{NoBaseFee: true}, precompiles, true)
+	return applyMessage(ctx, b, args, state, header, timeout, gp, &blockCtx, &vm.Config{NoBaseFee: true}, precompiles)
 }
 
-func applyMessage(ctx context.Context, b Backend, args TransactionArgs, state *state.StateDB, header *types.Header, timeout time.Duration, gp *core.GasPool, blockContext *vm.BlockContext, vmConfig *vm.Config, precompiles vm.PrecompiledContracts, skipChecks bool) (*core.ExecutionResult, error) {
+func applyMessage(ctx context.Context, b Backend, args TransactionArgs, state *state.StateDB, header *types.Header, timeout time.Duration, gp *core.GasPool, blockContext *vm.BlockContext, vmConfig *vm.Config, precompiles vm.PrecompiledContracts) (*core.ExecutionResult, error) {
 	// Get a new instance of the EVM.
 	if err := args.CallDefaults(gp.Gas(), blockContext.BaseFee, b.ChainConfig().ChainID); err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	msg := args.ToMessage(header.BaseFee, skipChecks, skipChecks)
+	msg := args.ToMessage(header.BaseFee, true)
 	// Lower the basefee to 0 to avoid breaking EVM
 	// invariants (basefee < feecap).
 	if msg.GasPrice.Sign() == 0 {
@@ -858,7 +858,7 @@ func DoEstimateGas(ctx context.Context, b Backend, args TransactionArgs, blockNr
 	if err := args.CallDefaults(gasCap, header.BaseFee, b.ChainConfig().ChainID); err != nil {
 		return 0, err
 	}
-	call := args.ToMessage(header.BaseFee, true, true)
+	call := args.ToMessage(header.BaseFee, true)
 
 	// Run the gas estimation and wrap any revertals into a custom return
 	estimate, revert, err := gasestimator.Estimate(ctx, call, opts, gasCap)
@@ -1301,7 +1301,7 @@ func AccessList(ctx context.Context, b Backend, blockNrOrHash rpc.BlockNumberOrH
 		statedb := db.Copy()
 		// Set the accesslist to the last al
 		args.AccessList = &accessList
-		msg := args.ToMessage(header.BaseFee, true, true)
+		msg := args.ToMessage(header.BaseFee, true)
 
 		// Apply the transaction with the access list tracer
 		tracer := logger.NewAccessListTracer(accessList, addressesToExclude)

internal/ethapi/simulate.go

@@ -287,7 +287,7 @@ func (sim *simulator) processBlock(ctx context.Context, block *simBlock, header,
 		tracer.reset(txHash, uint(i))
 		sim.state.SetTxContext(txHash, i)
 		// EoA check is always skipped, even in validation mode.
-		msg := call.ToMessage(header.BaseFee, !sim.validate, true)
+		msg := call.ToMessage(header.BaseFee, !sim.validate)
 		result, err := applyMessageWithEVM(ctx, evm, msg, timeout, sim.gp)
 		if err != nil {
 			txErr := txValidationError(err)

internal/ethapi/transaction_args.go

@@ -443,7 +443,7 @@ func (args *TransactionArgs) CallDefaults(globalGasCap uint64, baseFee *big.Int,
 // core evm. This method is used in calls and traces that do not require a real
 // live transaction.
 // Assumes that fields are not nil, i.e. setDefaults or CallDefaults has been called.
-func (args *TransactionArgs) ToMessage(baseFee *big.Int, skipNonceCheck, skipEoACheck bool) *core.Message {
+func (args *TransactionArgs) ToMessage(baseFee *big.Int, skipNonceCheck bool) *core.Message {
 	var (
 		gasPrice  *big.Int
 		gasFeeCap *big.Int
@@ -491,7 +491,7 @@ func (args *TransactionArgs) ToMessage(baseFee *big.Int, skipNonceCheck, skipEoA
 		BlobHashes:            args.BlobHashes,
 		SetCodeAuthorizations: args.AuthorizationList,
 		SkipNonceChecks:       skipNonceCheck,
-		SkipFromEOACheck:      skipEoACheck,
+		SkipTransactionChecks: true,
 	}
 }