# EPF5 Dev Updates - Week 2

## Weekly Highlights
This week, I made significant progress in resolving technical issues, attending meetings, and diving deeper into protocol security and testing. Here's a detailed overview of my activities and achievements.

### Resolving Environment Setup Issues
#### Error Resolution in ethereum/execution-test-spec Setup:
I encountered errors while setting up the environment for ethereum/execution-test-spec. The main issue was building the wheel for coincurve. Here’s how I resolved it:
- Ensure Python 3.10 or Higher is Installed:
- Created and activated a virtual environment:

    python3.10 -m venv newenv
    source newenv/bin/activate

- Install Dependencies Manually:
- Installed common dependencies:

    pip install numpy pytz cryptography

- Use Different Installation Commands:
- Instead of using `-e.[docs,lint,test]`, installed dependencies separately:

    pip install coincurve[docs]
    pip install coincurve[lint]
    pip install coincurve[test]

With these steps, I successfully set up my environment.


### Meetings and Workshops
#### Weekly Stand-Up and Office Hours
- **Weekly Stand-Up:** Attended the weekly stand-up meeting.
- **Meeting with Saulius:** Had a productive meeting on Thursday.
- **Office Hours:** Attended office hours eagerly because Fredrik Svantes presented on Protocol Security. He also answered some pending questions I had.

### Working on Grandine Client
Having an interest in protocol security, I chose to engage with Grandine as a client after thoroughly examining their codebase and the comprehensive security measures and tests they have implemented. Here’s an overview:

#### Building Grandine on macOS
Initially, I had to test Grandine on my system since I use macOS, but the software is primarily tested on Linux by its developers. Despite the lack of native support, I had to figure out how to build Grandine on my macOS system. Here’s my approach to getting Grandine up and running on my PC.
- Instead of running `apt-get install` commands, I used brew to install necessary packages individually:

brew install openssl
brew install llvm
brew install cmake
brew install unzip
brew install protobuf
brew install zlib

- **Breakdown of the Packages:**
- `ca-certificates:` Homebrew doesn't explicitly install this as a package because macOS handles SSL certificates natively.
- `libssl-dev:` The openssl package in Homebrew includes SSL libraries.
- `clang:` Installed with the llvm package, which includes clang.
- `cmake:` Installed as cmake.
- `unzip:` Installed as unzip.
- `protobuf-compiler:` Installed as protobuf.
- `libz-dev:` Installed as zlib.

- **Additional Configuration:**
- Exported paths to ensure the build process could locate necessary libraries:

  export PATH="/usr/local/opt/openssl/bin:$PATH"
  export LDFLAGS="-L/usr/local/opt/openssl/lib"
  export CPPFLAGS="-I/usr/local/opt/openssl/include"
  export PKG_CONFIG_PATH="/usr/local/opt/openssl/lib/pkgconfig"

#### Handling Build Errors
I encountered an error related to downloading the `rust-std-aarch64-unknown-linux-gnu` component due to a timeout. To resolve this, I:
- **Retry the Build:**
Network issues are often temporary, so I retried the build command.
- **Increase Timeout:**
Set a higher timeout value:

  export CARGO_HTTP_TIMEOUT=600

- **Increase Docker Memory:**
- Increased the memory allocated to Docker, which led to a successful build.

docker build . --tag grandine:local


Next, I plan to join a validator on Holesky and see if anything breaks. This will help determine the success of building Grandine macOS support.

### Observations from Office Hours
Reflecting on the office hours held on Tuesday, I gained valuable insights and answers to my questions. Here's a detailed breakdown:

#### Three Types of Tests in Grandine
- **Type 1 Tests:** Ethereum Foundation Tests (`consensus-spec-test`): Standardized tests provided by the Ethereum Foundation to ensure consensus and compatibility across different clients.
- **Type 2 Tests:** Unit Tests Written in Rust. These cover a broader range of cases than the Ethereum Foundation tests and are written in Rust.
- **Type 3 Tests:** Hive Tests are thorough yet occasionally unreliable for continuous integration due to their complexity, which sometimes causes issues when running on Grandine.

# Fuzzing Grandine

## Previous Fuzzing Efforts
- I noticed that the last time Grandine was fuzzed was two years ago.

## Plan to Update Fuzzing Tools
- I intend to speak with Fredrik Svantes to gain access to the latest fuzzer, which is not publicly available. The folder I found on GitHub is outdated and pertains to a previous hard fork, making it less relevant for current needs.

## Research on Fuzzers
- I have explored various fuzzers and their methodologies, including:
- **AFL/AFL++ Fuzzer:** Known for its effectiveness and wide adoption in the community.
- **Peach Fuzz and Sulley Fuzz:** Targeted fuzzers designed for specific use cases.
- **Feedback-Driven Fuzzers:** Honggfuzz and AFL, which use feedback to improve the fuzzing process.

## Plans for Week 3
- **Complete macOS Support:**
- My immediate goal is to finish the support for running the Grandine client on macOS. The time required for this task will determine how soon I can start fuzzing Grandine.

- **Start Fuzzing Gradine:**
- Once macOS support is in place, I will begin fuzzing Grandine. This involves:
- Gaining access to the latest fuzzer through discussions with Fredrik Svantes.
- Learning how to effectively utilize the fuzzing tool to test Grandine to ensure robustness and security.

# Final Thoughts

This week has been a significant step forward in my journey with the Ethereum Protocol Fellowship (EPF5). I've made substantial progress in resolving technical issues, attending meetings, and delving deeper into protocol security and testing.

# References

[Trail of Bits opensource fuzzing](https://www.trailofbits.com/opensource/#fuzzing)
[AppSec Docs on Fuzzing](https://appsec.guide/docs/fuzzing/)
[Learn how to Fuzz like a Pro](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QofNQxW_K08)
[AFL/AFL++](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8ex1hqaQ7E)

Looking forward to another productive week!