Crash on invalid WebSocket response

[dcposch]

Check existing issues

• I checked there isn't already an issue for the bug I encountered.

Viem Version

1.21.4

Current Behavior

Node process occasionally crashes when using reactContract with a websocket transport.

The error is likely triggered by invalid server server responses. We're using QuickNode.

However, I don't see a way to catch this error in user code since it occurs in Viem's internal WS message handler. The error is not passed back to readContract caller. Note how entire call stack is native code > viem:

[VIEM] request 84532 eth_getBlockByNumber

TypeError: Cannot read properties of null (reading 'method')
    at WebSocket.onMessage (/Users/dc/code/daimo/node_modules/viem/utils/rpc.ts:185:40)
    at WebSocket.[nodejs.internal.kHybridDispatch] (node:internal/event_target:816:20)
    at WebSocket.dispatchEvent (node:internal/event_target:751:26)
    at fireEvent (node:internal/deps/undici/undici:10966:14)
    at websocketMessageReceived (node:internal/deps/undici/undici:10988:7)
    at ByteParser.run (node:internal/deps/undici/undici:11439:17)
    at ByteParser._write (node:internal/deps/undici/undici:11315:14)
    at writeOrBuffer (node:internal/streams/writable:564:12)
    at _write (node:internal/streams/writable:493:10)
    at ByteParser.Writable.write (node:internal/streams/writable:502:10)

Node.js v22.2.0

Expected Behavior

RPC response errors should be passed back to the caller.

Steps To Reproduce

Intermittent issue, probably triggered by bad RPC responses.

Anything else?

No response

[github-actions]

Hello @dcposch.

Please provide a minimal reproduction using StackBlitz, TypeScript Playground (for type issues), or a separate minimal GitHub repository.

Minimal reproductions are required as they save us a lot of time reproducing your config/environment and issue, and allow us to help you faster.

Once a minimal reproduction is added, a team member will confirm it works, then re-open the issue.

[github-actions]

This issue has been locked since it has been closed for more than 14 days.

If you found a concrete bug or regression related to it, please open a new bug report with a reproduction against the latest Viem version. If you have any questions or comments you can create a new discussion thread.