[metrics-bugs] #22640 [Metrics/metrics-lib]: Change encoding of microdescriptor digests in network status entries from hex to base64
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Sat Jun 17 19:38:33 UTC 2017
#22640: Change encoding of microdescriptor digests in network status entries from
hex to base64
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Reporter: karsten | Owner: metrics-team
Type: defect | Status: new
Priority: Medium | Milestone: metrics-lib 1.9.0
Component: Metrics/metrics-lib | Version:
Severity: Normal | Keywords:
Actual Points: | Parent ID:
Points: | Reviewer:
Sponsor: |
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CollecTor's `ReferenceChecker` is acting up again, reporting tons of
missing microdescriptors, basically all of them. Today I found out why.
Turns out that neither `NetworkStatusEntry#getMicrodescriptorDigests()`
nor `NetworkStatusEntry#getMicrodescriptorDigestsSha256Base64()` returns
base64-encoded digests but hex-encoded ones. The former exists since
1.0.0, the latter was added in 1.7.0 in an attempt to streamline digest
method names, deprecating the former.
Neither of the two methods says in its JavaDocs that it returns
base64-encoded digests, though the latter indicates that in its method
name. The original digest string contained in votes and microdesc
consensuses is base64-encoded, too. All in all it seems like we should
change both methods to return base64-encoded strings and document that.
This issue is related to the bug we fixed in 1.8.0 where
`Microdescriptor#getMicrodescriptorDigest()` and
`Microdescriptor#getDigestSha256Base64()` return a hex string rather than
a base64 string. In that case we even claimed in the JavaDocs that we'd
return a base64-encoded string, which we didn't.
The current issue is not a regression, it's just an oversight of a very
similar bug that was introduced far before 1.8.0 or even 1.7.0. That's
why I suggest to fix it in 1.9.0 next week and not put out a third patch
release for 1.8.0 this weekend. I can just ignore CollecTor's warnings
for a few more days.
I'll attach a branch in a minute. That branch also prevents similar bugs
in the future by changing `ParseHelper` method signatures to return `void`
if we don't plan to use the result and add new methods for parsing,
verifying, and converting to another encoding.
I tested this branch in a local CollecTor instance and can confirm that it
does silence the `ReferenceChecker`.
--
Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/22640>
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