BSV Blockchain SDK has an Authentication Signature Data Preparation Vulnerability

Summary

The BSV Blockchain SDK is a unified TypeScript SDK for developing scalable apps on the BSV Blockchain. Prior to version 2.0.0, a cryptographic vulnerability in the TypeScript SDK's BRC-104 authentication implementation caused incorrect signature data preparation, resulting in signature incompatibility between SDK implementations and potential authentication bypass scenarios. The vulnerability was located in the `Peer.ts` file of the TypeScript SDK, specifically in the `processInitialRequest` and `processInitialResponse` methods where signature data is prepared for BRC-104 mutual authentication. The TypeScript SDK incorrectly prepared signature data by concatenating base64-encoded nonce strings (`message.initialNonce + sessionNonce`) then decoding the concatenated base64 string (`base64ToBytes(concatenatedString)`). This produced ~32-34 bytes of signature data instead of the correct 64 bytes. BRC-104 authentication relies on cryptographic signatures to establish mutual trust between peers. When signature data preparation is incorrect, signatures generated by the TypeScript SDK don't match those expected by Go/Python SDKs; cross-implementation authentication fails; and an attacker could potentially exploit this to bypass authentication checks. The fix in version 2.0.0 ensures all SDKs now produce identical cryptographic signatures, restoring proper mutual authentication across implementations.