Major Ethereum bug leads to chain split

The Ethereum network has been hit by a major consensus bug, resulting in a chain split.

An attacker took advantage of a deficiency discovered in older versions of Ethereum's top software client Geth. This made older nodes split from the network, according to developer Marius van der Wijden.

The Geth version 1.10.8 (Hades Gamma), which consists of a remedy to the vulnerability in question, was posted on GitHub earlier this week.

Although developers were tight-lipped about the elements of the said bug, the public announcement might have somehow favored the attacker.

Node operators have been advised to install the amended version as soon as possible. So far, only 27% of nodes have adopted the amended Hades Gamma. Notwithstanding, the worst-case scenario has been averted since most miners have already deployed the latest version, ruling out the likelihood of double-spending attacks.

About 75% of all Ethereum nodes rely on Geth, according to data provided by Ethernodes.org. The exploit has highlighted how dependent the Ethereum network is on the widely used client.

However, the discovery of the active bug on the Ethereum network has had no effect on Ethereum’s value, possibly because vulnerabilities are not uncommon on Ethereum.

13% of the network's nodes went offline due to a major bug in OpenEthereum's codebase around the same time last year.

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