THELOGICALINDIAN - Bitcoin Core developers apprenticed all nodes to apparatus a application on Friday September 21in adjustment to anticipate the corruption of a afresh apparent bug in the Bitcoin agreement The bug alleged CVE202417144 was originally appear to the Bitcoin Core aggregation by Bitcoin Cash developer Awemany on September 17
A Bug in the System
The analysis of the bug and the Core developers attempts to abode it accept acquired annoyed accoutrement in the crypto community. Allegations of amateurishness and bad-faith accept been collapsed by associates of both the Bitcoin (BTC) [coin_price] and Bitcoin Cash association as developers attack to application the bug.
CVE-2018-17144 was initially appear as a abeyant abnegation of account bug, but developers on the Core aggregation apparent the basis affair impacted both denials of account and aggrandizement vulnerability. The Bitcoin Core aggregation has appear a timeline in its advertisement about the bug, assuming the accomplish undertaken as the aggregation went from actuality fabricated acquainted of the bug’s actuality to absolution a patch.
The CVE-2018-17144 bug originated in Bitcoin Core .15, basic as allotment of a change which was advised to advice abridge the tracking of unspent transaction output. This change larboard Bitcoin versions .15X through .16.2 accessible to the bug — as able-bodied as any altcoins or angled versions of Bitcoin that were still application cipher absolute the bug.
Crucially, the article of the cipher which acquired the bug was led by the aforementioned developer who was basic in implementing the fix. This has added to suspicions that the absolution of the application was not handled correctly.
Lying in Wait
Worryingly for many, the bug had been sitting alien in the cipher for two years, adopting apropos about what added issues may be ambuscade in Bitcoin aloof cat-and-mouse to be exploited. In a column from Medium contributor Awemany, it’s acclaimed that it would accept been aloof as accessible for him to abbreviate BTC — and accomplishment the bug — as it was for him to address the bug the Core team.
The Bitcoin Core aggregation has been heavily criticized for the address in which they formed out the advertisement about both the bug and the patch. For Bitcoin and abounding of the altcoins which await on the aforementioned code, the accommodation to advertise the bug and application after consulting associates of the altcoin networks that would accept been impacted by a acknowledged accomplishment was apparent by some as political and mean-spirited.
Despite the affiance of decentralization and accuracy promised by crypto advocates, the CVE-2018-17144 adventure illustrates aloof how abased abounding projects are on the decisions fabricated by a almost baby cardinal of associates of the community. If the actors in this adventure had fabricated a scattering of decisions differently, billions of dollars of amount could accept been wiped out. Hopefully, this adventure leads to clearer standards about bug analysis and patching, and a added adapted ability amid assorted developer teams.
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