fix(types/address): correct sort comparator in Compose to satisfy strict weak ordering

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -155,6 +155,7 @@ This patch release contains only minor dependency bumps.
 * (x/group) [#25917](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/25917) Prevent creation of zero-weight groups.
 * (x/group) [#25919](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/25919) add safer type assertions to group `DecisionPolicy` getter calls.
 * (x/group) [#25920](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/25920) Expand voting period check to verify period is positive instead of nonzero.
+* (types/address) [#25944] (https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/25944) correct sort comparator in Compose to satisfy strict weak ordering.
 * (baseapp) [#26063](https://github.com/cosmos/cosmos-sdk/pull/26063) Fixes an issue where values embedded in context during ante handling were wiped after the handlers returned.
 
 ### Deprecated

types/address/hash.go

@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ func Compose(typ string, subAddresses []Addressable) ([]byte, error) {
 		totalLen += len(as[i])
 	}
 
-	sort.Slice(as, func(i, j int) bool { return bytes.Compare(as[i], as[j]) <= 0 })
+	sort.Slice(as, func(i, j int) bool { return lessBytes(as[i], as[j]) })
 	key := make([]byte, totalLen)
 	offset := 0
 	for i := range as {
@@ -63,6 +63,10 @@ func Compose(typ string, subAddresses []Addressable) ([]byte, error) {
 	return Hash(typ, key), nil
 }
 
+func lessBytes(a, b []byte) bool {
+	return bytes.Compare(a, b) < 0
+}
+
 // Module is a specialized version of a composed address for modules. Each module account
 // is constructed from a module name and a sequence of derivation keys (at least one
 // derivation key must be provided). The derivation keys must be unique

types/address/hash_test.go

@@ -61,6 +61,25 @@ func (suite *AddressSuite) TestComposed() {
 	_, err = Compose(typ, []Addressable{a1, addrMock{make([]byte, 300)}})
 	assert.Error(err)
 	assert.Contains(err.Error(), "should be max 255 bytes, got 300")
+
+	// strict weak ordering: irreflexive and asymmetric
+	la := []byte{1, 2}
+	lb := []byte{3, 4}
+	assert.False(lessBytes(la, la), "lessBytes must be irreflexive")
+	assert.True(lessBytes(la, lb), "lessBytes(a,b) must be true when a < b")
+	assert.False(lessBytes(lb, la), "lessBytes must be asymmetric")
+
+	// Compose must be order-independent even when sub-addresses include duplicates
+	da := addrMock{[]byte{1, 2, 3}}
+	db := addrMock{[]byte{4, 5, 6}}
+	aab, err := Compose("test", []Addressable{da, da, db})
+	assert.NoError(err)
+	aba, err := Compose("test", []Addressable{da, db, da})
+	assert.NoError(err)
+	baa, err := Compose("test", []Addressable{db, da, da})
+	assert.NoError(err)
+	assert.Equal(aab, aba, "Compose must be order-independent with duplicates")
+	assert.Equal(aab, baa, "Compose must be order-independent with duplicates")
 }
 
 func (suite *AddressSuite) TestModule() {