Ethereum developers postpone Glamsterdam test-network launch over contract security concerns

Ethereum developers have put back a scheduled trial of the Glamsterdam network upgrade after security researchers pointed to possible dangers for smart contracts already running on the chain. The activation, which had been set for Monday on the Hoodi test network, was canceled before it went ahead.

According to wire reports on the decision, the concern centers on revised gas rules included in the upgrade. Researchers demonstrated a scenario in which those rules could allow smart contracts to permanently record operations that had failed. That outcome would be an unintended side effect for code deployed under the current rules, which is why developers treated it as a risk to existing contracts and not only to new ones.

Coverage of the episode also states that the Ethereum Foundation confirmed the postponement on Oct. 22. One report describes the issue as the latest obstacle for an upgrade that the community has been awaiting for some time, and says that 13 separate security risks have surfaced. The reporting reviewed by FXMARE does not detail what each of those risks involves, so the full scope of the findings is not set out here.

Hoodi is one of Ethereum's public test networks, where protocol changes are rehearsed before being applied to the main network. Running an upgrade there is meant to expose problems of this kind while no real value is at stake. In that sense, the cancellation reflects the test stage doing its intended job: a flaw identified ahead of activation can be examined and addressed before the change moves further along.

The available reports do not give a new date for the Hoodi activation, nor do they say how the gas rules might be modified or when a mainnet launch could occur. Those details have not been supplied, and FXMARE is not offering a timeline beyond what has been confirmed. For now, the verified facts are that the test-network activation has been postponed, that the cause is a set of security concerns involving existing smart contracts, and that the Ethereum Foundation has confirmed the delay.