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Moderate 67 Bitcoin

Make `TxBuilder::get_next_commitment_stats` fallible

Public commit record

What the developer wrote

Authored by Leo Nash

63/100 · Adequate
Make `TxBuilder::get_next_commitment_stats` fallible

Anytime we ask `TxBuilder` for stats on a commitment transaction,
`TxBuilder` can now return an error to indicate that a balance not
including the commitment transaction fee has been overdrawn. We then
map this error to the appropriate action depending on where in the
life cycle of the channel the error occurred.

We now do not require that `channel_value_satoshis * 1000` is greater
than or equal to `value_to_holder_msat`; we previously would panic
in this case.
✓ Specific, descriptive subject✓ Provides detailed explanatory context
The short version

What changed, and why it matters

This commit removes a panic (crash) condition in the Lightning Dev Kit's channel transaction builder. Previously, if a channel's accounting reached an unexpected state where the holder's balance exceeded the total channel value, the code would panic and crash the node. Now it returns a proper error, allowing the node to close the channel gracefully instead of crashing. This is a defensive fix that prevents a potential denial-of-service where a malicious or buggy counterparty could crash your Lightning node by driving channel state into an overdrawn condition.

Recommended action

Review whether any other call sites still unwrap or expect results from `get_next_commitment_stats` or `get_holder_counterparty_balances_incl_fee_msat`. The test/fuzzing paths use `.expect()` with explanatory messages, which is acceptable for test-only builds but should not be present in production code paths. Consider adding regression tests that exercise the overdrawn balance paths to ensure graceful handling.

Security signals we found

01

Replaces panic/expect with fallible Result propagation

02

Adds graceful channel closure instead of node crash on balance overdraw

03

Adds new HTLC failure reason for overdrawn channel balance

04

Changes balance fields from Option<u64> to u64 with checked arithmetic

05

Prevents potential denial-of-service via crafted channel state

Risk score

Why this scored 67/100

Our methodology →
Potential impact 20/30
Exploitability 15/25
Stealth signal 8/15
Affected reach 12/15
Confidence 8/10
Evidence quality 4/5
Human-validated context

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