Bitcoin Core V30 Bug Risks Total Wallet Loss For Legacy Users
Bitcoin Core builders issued an pressing discover after discovering a pockets migration bug in variations 30.0 and 30.1 that may, in uncommon circumstances, delete pockets information on the identical node, turning a routine improve step into a possible funds-loss occasion for customers with out backups.
In a Jan. 5 statement, the Bitcoin Core Project warned on X that “underneath uncommon circumstances, migrating a legacy (BDB) pockets can delete all pockets information on the identical node. If these wallets aren’t backed up, this can lead to a lack of funds.”
The group mentioned a repair is slated for Bitcoin Core 30.2 and suggested customers to not migrate legacy wallets utilizing 30.0 or 30.1 till that launch is out there. “Only the legacy pockets migration course of is affected. All different makes use of are unaffected. You can proceed utilizing Bitcoin Core usually, together with present wallets and working a node with out wallets.”
Bitcoin Community Divided Over Severity
The disclosure caps a simmering thread of reviews and frustration amongst customers monitoring the problem on GitHub. One X person, posting underneath the deal with @B__T__C, claimed “a number of customers had been reporting it for over two weeks” and argued the bug proved troublesome for maintainers to breed, linking to a public situation thread.
Another account, Greg Tonoski (@GregTonoski), pointed to earlier warnings forward of the v30 launch and steered the episode displays a broader disconnect between builders and customers. “Users had warned @bitcoincoreorg (@achow101) a month earlier than the v30 launch,” he wrote, including: “I’m beginning to doubt if Bitcoin continues to be catering to the Bitcoin person’s wants.”
The sharpest debate, nevertheless, has been over how “uncommon” interprets into real-world danger, particularly given the migration path that v30 customers might face. @barackomaba argued the influence is being understated as a result of Bitcoin Core v30.0 “explicitly stopped loading or creating BDB legacy wallets,” leaving affected customers with a sensible subsequent step: migrate.
“People are performing like legacy pockets migration is a few obscure edge case,” the account wrote. “But v30.0 explicitly stopped loading or creating BDB legacy wallets, so anybody who upgraded to v30 and nonetheless had a legacy wallet in Bitcoin Core successfully had just one path ahead: migrate.”
‘Legacy wallets’ have been the default pockets kind till April 2022 (earlier than 23.0, new wallets have been ‘legacy’ by default). Also, the migration must fail. This received’t be nearly all of migrations clearly, however there are lots of believable methods to set off this.”
He then described one such state of affairs: a person pruning their node whereas the pockets wasn’t loaded, which might trigger the migrated pockets load step to fail, sending the method down a “cleanup path” that deletes all the pockets listing and “the whole lot in it,” together with different wallets and even rollback backups created throughout migration.
Not everybody agreed the incident deserves alarm. @w_s_bitcoin pushed again by emphasizing adoption and noticed influence, arguing that Core v30 “at present” accounts for “1/fifth of all of the Bitcoin nodes” and that “reportedly just one single person was affected by this bug.” Wicked characterised it as “a shitty bug,” however added that it “didn’t end in any recognized bitcoin losses,” and mentioned the repair is welcome.
What shouldn’t be in dispute, primarily based on Bitcoin Core’s personal discover, is the sensible steerage: customers working 30.0 or 30.1 ought to keep away from migrating legacy (BDB) wallets till 30.2 ships, and guarantee pockets information are backed up earlier than making an attempt any migration in any respect.
At press time, Bitcoin traded at $91,717.
