Node Contract Creation During Rent Contract Grace Period

[sameh-farouk]

Description:

This issue affects node contracts when they exist alongside a rent contract. The issue occurs as node contracts are synced only when the rent contract state changes and no check is performed on the state of the rent contract when the user tries to deploy workloads (create node contracts) on their rented nodes.

Issue Details:

1. Sync Limitation: Node contracts are only synced with the rent contract when the rent contract state changes. This allows for a state mismatch between the rent contract and node contracts when certain actions are performed.

2. No State Check on Node Creation: When a user creates a node contract on a rented node, the state of the rent contract is not checked. This becomes problematic if the rent contract is in a grace period.

Example Case:

• A user rents a node, and the rent contract transitions to the grace period due to unpaid dues.
• After this transition, the user is still able to create node contracts (without public IP addresses) on the rented node.
• These node contracts stay active throughout the grace period, allowing the user to deploy workloads without interruption, even though the rent contract is suspended.

Proposed Solution:

• State Check for Rent Contract: A check should be added to verify the state of the rent contract when a user attempts to create a node contract on a rented node. If the rent contract is in a grace period or suspended state, the system should block the creation of new node contracts and return an error until the rent contract is restored to active status.

Notes:

• This issue can allow users to exploit the grace period of the rent contract and deploy workloads without incurring costs during the grace period.
• Implementing the proposed check will ensure consistent behavior between rent contracts and node contracts, preventing misuse.
• Currently, there are some checks on the client side to prevent this misuse, but it's vulnerable to easy manipulation.

[renauter]

Good catch!
Indeed, for a node under a rent contract, the state of the latter should be checked before allowing to create new node contract on it.

The idea is to add this extra check somewhere in this part of code, correct ?

tfchain/substrate-node/pallets/pallet-smart-contract/src/grid_contract.rs

Lines 44 to 60 in ea6fdf3

	// In case there is a rent contract make sure only the contract owner can deploy
	// If not, allow to deploy only if node is not dedicated
	match ActiveRentContractForNode::<T>::get(node_id) {
	Some(contract_id) => {
	let rent_contract =
	Contracts::<T>::get(contract_id).ok_or(Error::<T>::ContractNotExists)?;
	if rent_contract.twin_id != twin_id {
	return Err(Error::<T>::NodeNotAvailableToDeploy.into());
	}
	}
	None => {
	if node_is_dedicated {
	return Err(Error::<T>::NodeNotAvailableToDeploy.into());
	}
	}
	}

[sameh-farouk]

Exactly.
Once we have obtained the rent contract, we should also verify its state.

[sameh-farouk]

Update:
PR pending review