Ethereum suffered a hard fork due to outdated nodes. Developers advised users and merchants to use the new Geth client update.
The Ethereum network has faced a fork or breakdown of the decentralized consensus, causing there to be currently two independent blockchains in operation.
According to a series of researchings by The Block Research, a bug in the Geth client, the first software used in Ethereum nodes, would have been exploited on August 27, 2021.
The medium points out that the bug was also a target of exploitation in the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) and Huobi ECO Chain, blockchains compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), Ethereum virtual computer.
Ethereum’s principal security developer, Martin Swede, confirmed on Twitter the morning of August 27 the breakdown of the decentralized consensus on the network.
“A fork of the chain happened on the main Ethereum network. The incident got solved in the previously announced v1.10.8. Please update the node, if you haven’t already! ”they said this morning.
The developer further stated that luckily most Ethereum miners would have updated the software promptly so that the new blockchain is still the longest chain. This rule is a principle that often applies to confirm the validity of a blockchain.
Tim Beiko, one of the leading developers of Ethereum, clarified that the mining pools BTC.com, FlexPool, and Binance Pool, were still mining the old chain. Beiko highlighted that they would be contacting the operators of this pool to notify them about the software update.
If you Have an Ethereum Node, Update it as Soon as Possible
Geth used the official Twitter account to make the statement. From there they urged to launch the new update for this client. But not all nodes have received synchronicity to this version, released on August 24 on GitHub.
The new version, Geth v1.10.8, deprecated v1.10.7, which would present a serious flaw in its operation; it did not face disclosure to avoid security incidents. The bug appeared and got found by the Telos project on August 18, who notified the Ethereum team, according to a press release.
According to the Ethernodes.org website, at least 74.6% of the nodes on the Ethereum network run the Geth client. Only 28% have received an update to the new version.
Of the 5,300 Ethereum nodes, at least 3,955 nodes come from the Geth client, but only 1,123 work with v1.10.8, a secure version of the software. This situation met its origin from the fact that only 21% of Ethereum nodes are in operation with updated software (Geth v1.10.8).
Strong forks might be dangerous, as users could end up spending their coins on both chains when sealing a transaction. This situation poses timing and performance issues that can place users in a context filled with heavy monetary losses, including the entire industry and platforms that run on Ethereum smart contracts.
This problem happened during the same month that the London hard fork came to take effect, which was controlled and planned. Commission rates have not crumbled down so far, as many users expected with the new monetary scheme introduced, which could attract positive effects on rates, but in the long term.
By: Jenson Nuñez
