RangeError: Invalid WebSocket frame: RSV2 and RSV3 must be clear

[ORESoftware]

Is there an existing issue for this?

• I've searched for any related issues and avoided creating a duplicate issue.

Description

Not sure what causes this error, but looking for find away around it.

In a child process, I have:

process.on('message', (m,socket) => {
    console.log('child received message:', m);
    socket.write('foo'); // <---- error happens here!
});

in the parent, I create the child using:

const cp = require('child_process');
const ws = require('ws');
const server = new ws.WebSocketServer({port: 5151});


server.on('connection', c => {

    console.log('new connection');

    const fd = c._socket._handle.fd; // ignore for now

    const k = cp.fork('k.js', ['--file-descriptor', fd],{
        stdio: 'pipe',
        detached: false
    });

    k.send('foobar', c._socket);

    k.on('message', (a, b, c) => {
        console.log('parent received message:', a, b, c);
    });

    k.stdout.pipe(process.stdout);
    k.stderr.pipe(process.stderr);


});

here is the full stack trace;

RangeError: Invalid WebSocket frame: RSV2 and RSV3 must be clear
    at Receiver.getInfo (/Users/alex.mills/codes/uta-phd/node_modules/ws/lib/receiver.js:176:14)
    at Receiver.startLoop (/Users/alex.mills/codes/uta-phd/node_modules/ws/lib/receiver.js:136:22)
    at Receiver._write (/Users/alex.mills/codes/uta-phd/node_modules/ws/lib/receiver.js:83:10)
    at writeOrBuffer (node:internal/streams/writable:392:12)
    at _write (node:internal/streams/writable:333:10)
    at Writable.write (node:internal/streams/writable:337:10)
    at Socket.socketOnData (/Users/alex.mills/codes/uta-phd/node_modules/ws/lib/websocket.js:1272:35)
    at Socket.emit (node:events:513:28)
    at addChunk (node:internal/streams/readable:324:12)

ws version

"version": "8.11.0",

Node.js Version

v18.12.1

System

System:
OS: macOS 12.6
CPU: (12) x64 Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-9750H CPU @ 2.60GHz
Memory: 24.73 MB / 32.00 GB
Shell: 5.8.1 - /bin/zsh

Expected result

No response

Actual result

No response

Attachments

No response

[lpinca]

It means the WebSocket received an invalid frame.

[lpinca]

You can reproduce like this:

const WebSocket = require('ws');

const server = new WebSocket.WebSocketServer({ port: 0 }, function () {
  const websocket = new WebSocket(`ws://localhost:${server.address().port}`);

  websocket.on('open', function () {
    const chunk = Buffer.from('a180', 'hex');

    websocket._socket.write(chunk);
  });
});

server.on('connection', function (websocket) {
  websocket.on('error', console.error);
});

See https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc6455#section-5.2.

[lpinca]

See also #154.

[ORESoftware]

thanks I added a comment to that thread - looking for info on the 'upgrade' event and handleUpgrade, never heard of those, I will look at the docs

[sysrage]

@lpinca I'm encountering this invalid frame error fairly-consistently with iOS Safari. Unfortunately, when it happens it disconnects all active websocket connections and they're unable to reconnect.

I've reviewed the following:

• Corrupted messages between server and client #1285
• Websocket RangeError: Invalid WebSocket frame: RSV2 and RSV3 must be clear #1354
• Passing a live socket to a child process #154

Based on feedback in those issues, I've added the following to my server:

ws._socket.prependListener('data', (data) => console.log('ws data', data.toString()));
ws.on('error', (error) => {
  console.error(error);
});

All normal/working frames are shown as binary data, but the frame that breaks the websocket connection is clear text:

ws data ��☻�S�y�'�r�q� �&�j�=�k�2�g��c�#�m�6� �q�g�'�l�q�
���♠��� ������J������J������☺���
ws data {"type":"authenticate","appToken":"testing"}
RangeError: Invalid WebSocket frame: RSV2 and RSV3 must be clear
    at Receiver.getInfo (C:\project\server\node_modules\ws\lib\receiver.js:186:14)
    at Receiver.startLoop (C:\project\server\node_modules\ws\lib\receiver.js:146:22)
    at Receiver._write (C:\project\help-button\server\node_modules\ws\lib\receiver.js:84:10)
    at writeOrBuffer (node:internal/streams/writable:392:12)
    at _write (node:internal/streams/writable:333:10)
    at Writable.write (node:internal/streams/writable:337:10)
    at Socket.socketOnData (C:\project\server\node_modules\ws\lib\websocket.js:1278:35)
    at Socket.emit (node:events:525:35)
    at addChunk (node:internal/streams/readable:324:12)
    at readableAddChunk (node:internal/streams/readable:297:9) {
  code: 'WS_ERR_UNEXPECTED_RSV_2_3',
  [Symbol(status-code)]: 1002
}
ws data ���‼�L�1�5�v�v�r�8�v�8�p�8�1�n�c�↑�x�"�)�8�`�%�t�1
ws data ���>���∟��[�ݬ_��[��]��∟���N���U���♦���M��Y��

In my test, I have Windows Chrome connected and working perfectly for days. When I make a connection with an iOS Safari device, I often see the above problematic frame. Once the frame is seen, the Chrome connection is dropped and cannot reconnect until the server is restarted.

I realize this is likely an issue with the iOS WebSocket implementation, but it shouldn't be crashing the ws server when I have an error handler present?

[lpinca]

@sysrage make sure that the 'error' listener is not removed until the 'close' event is emitted.

[sysrage]

@lpinca the listener is never removed. I can keep refreshing the page in iOS and keep getting invalid frame errors (and crashing other clients).

[lpinca]

@sysrage see #2098 (comment). The server does not crash.

[sysrage]

Sorry, terrible wording all-around on my part. You're correct that nothing is crashing. However, in my configuration, other clients are getting disconnected. The server stays up and reloading the page does re-connect them.

So, my auto-reconnect code is apparently busted since reloading the page works. But, I don't believe a bad frame from one client should disconnect other clients. I'll expand your minimum repro and test with multiple clients to verify. Thank you for the input.

[lpinca]

However, in my configuration, other clients are getting disconnected.

It shouldn't be possible because the TCP connection is not shared. There is one socket for each WebSocket.

[sysrage]

You're right. It was a bug in my code removing other connections. Sorry for wasting your time!