netsync: avoid clock tick race in sync state test
What the developer wrote
Authored by Boris Nagaev
netsync: avoid clock tick race in sync state test
TestSyncStateMachine checked that handleHeadersMsg advanced
lastProgressTime by comparing it against the timestamp written by
startSync. Those two writes can happen within the same clock tick, so
the handler can update the field while time.After still reports false.
Reset lastProgressTime to the zero value before delivering headers and
assert that the handler writes a non-zero value. This keeps the test
focused on the behavior under test without depending on adjacent
time.Now calls producing distinct timestamps.
What changed, and why it matters
This change only fixes a flaky test. It does not change any production code, so it has no security impact on real users or the network.
No security action needed. Treat as a normal test reliability fix.
Security signals we found
No strong security signals were identified.
Evidence from the diff
The commit modifies netsync/manager_test.go to eliminate a race in TestSyncStateMachine where two time.Now() calls could fall within the same clock tick. The test previously compared timestamps to verify that handleHeadersMsg updated lastProgressTime; now it resets the field to the zero value and asserts it becomes non-zero. No runtime behavior of btcd is changed.
Changed components
netsync/manager_test.goInspect captured patch +5 / −4
diff --git a/netsync/manager_test.go b/netsync/manager_test.go
index 4d304fc..1e40dd8 100644
--- a/netsync/manager_test.go
+++ b/netsync/manager_test.go
@@ -869,9 +869,10 @@ func syncSendHeaders(t *testing.T, sm *SyncManager,
t.Helper()
- // Record the progress time set by startIBD so we can verify
- // that handleHeadersMsg advances it.
- progressBefore := sm.lastProgressTime
+ // Reset the progress time to a zero sentinel so the assertion below
+ // verifies that handleHeadersMsg writes it without depending on the
+ // system clock advancing between calls to time.Now.
+ sm.lastProgressTime = time.Time{}
headers := wire.NewMsgHeaders()
for _, block := range blocks {
@@ -887,7 +888,7 @@ func syncSendHeaders(t *testing.T, sm *SyncManager,
_, bestHeaderHeight := sm.chain.BestHeader()
require.Equal(t, int32(totalBlocks), bestHeaderHeight)
- require.True(t, sm.lastProgressTime.After(progressBefore),
+ require.False(t, sm.lastProgressTime.IsZero(),
"handleHeadersMsg should update lastProgressTime")
wantRequested := make(map[chainhash.Hash]struct{}, len(blocks))
Why this scored 15/100
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