Ethereum delays Glamsterdam test on Hoodi over contract risk

Glamsterdam test postponed on Hoodi

Ethereum developers have called off Monday's Glamsterdam upgrade on the Hoodi test network after security researchers identified a problem that could change how existing smart contracts (self-executing programs on a blockchain) handle failed transactions.

The upgrade was due to activate on Oct. 26 at 17:42:48 UTC, but developers postponed it during Thursday's All Core Devs Execution meeting to investigate the issue. No replacement date has been announced.

Gas rule changes raise contract concerns

The concern centers on EIP-8037, which changes how Ethereum charges for creating new records in its database, and EIP-8038. Together, the proposed changes could alter how contracts respond when another contract they call runs out of gas.

What the security analysis found

• Security firm ChainSecurity published an analysis on Oct. 13 showing that gas used to create certain records can be restored when those changes are undone. This can leave enough gas for a contract to complete a failure-handling operation that previously would have reversed, potentially making errors permanent.
• In the opposite direction, creating a new storage slot could require 110,020 gas when a separate allowance is exhausted, compared with 22,100 under the old rules. A contract using an existing gas budget might fail while carrying out an otherwise valid operation.
• The findings relate to how existing software would behave under the proposed rules. ChainSecurity has demonstrated the mechanisms but has not publicly established that a major production protocol is exploitable.

Testnet status and unconfirmed timeline

Glamsterdam completed its Sepolia testnet activation on Oct. 6. Hoodi was the next public rehearsal, alongside a planned increase in its gas limit to 200 million, which has now also been postponed. Ethereum's mainnet upgrade date remains unconfirmed.

Sources

• CoinDesk