From b483fe9e71ff2197976c30d046643edf6934e261 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Jonny Rhea <5555162+jrhea@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Tue, 4 Aug 2026 01:16:45 -0500
Subject: [PATCH] eth/syncer: fix nil deref when the target block is missing
 (#35442)

i didn't try to trigger the nil deref, but fixing it shouldn't be
controversial
---
 eth/syncer/syncer.go | 7 ++++---
 1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/eth/syncer/syncer.go b/eth/syncer/syncer.go
index b04d8f22e8..dfe4b80e93 100644
--- a/eth/syncer/syncer.go
+++ b/eth/syncer/syncer.go
@@ -180,9 +180,10 @@ func (s *Syncer) run() {
 				var synced bool
 				var block *types.Header
 				if target != nil {
-					tb := s.backend.BlockChain().GetBlockByHash(target.Hash())
-					synced = tb != nil
-					block = tb.Header()
+					if tb := s.backend.BlockChain().GetBlockByHash(target.Hash()); tb != nil {
+						synced = true
+						block = tb.Header()
+					}
 				} else {
 					timestamp := time.Unix(int64(ev.Latest.Time), 0)
 					synced = time.Since(timestamp) < 10*time.Minute