KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The Stellar Development Foundation identified a bug in Stellar’s state archival feature, affecting blockchain scalability and transaction fees.
- A temporary pause on the eviction of archived states was implemented to prevent further corruption.
- A permanent fix requiring a new protocol version is proposed, with a validator vote scheduled to upgrade the network.
- Stellar plans a mainnet upgrade vote on October 22, aiming to implement Protocol 24 for enhanced network stability.
On October 9, the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) identified a bug within Stellar’s state archival feature, a first-of-its-kind innovation designed to archive unused blockchain states for later restoration. This feature aims to tackle blockchain scalability issues by preventing state bloat and maintaining low transaction fees.
The bug was discovered in Whisk (Protocol 23), which the network had upgraded to on September 3, 2025. It resulted in outdated entries being archived and then restored incorrectly, producing a state that did not match the canonical on-chain history. Upon discovery, the SDF conducted an immediate assessment and proposed a temporary pause on the eviction of archived states to prevent further corruption.
Tier 1 validators voted to accept this change, halting the writing of corrupted entries. On October 10, SDF released a patch for Stellar Core, blocking transactions that attempted to interact with corrupted entries, effectively quarantining the erroneous state. All Tier 1 validators quickly upgraded to this patch.
Impact and Proposed Solutions
The bug affected a limited subset of Stellar smart contract entries, specifically 478 entries. Before the quarantine, 84 corrupted entries were restored and incorporated into the live ledger state, with 77 of those being modified. The remaining 394 entries were not restored. No other ledger entries from the approximately 47 million were impacted.
To address the issue, a permanent fix requiring a new protocol version is proposed. This will involve a validator vote to upgrade the network. The proposed solution aims to revert entries corrupted during the archival process to their pre-archival state, focusing on entries that were never restored. This approach is expected to fix the majority of impacted entries, with the remaining few to be resolved individually by affected organizations.
The full technical details are available in the Core Advancement Proposal (CAP), which outlines the changes and provides instructions for auditing the proposed updates. The CAP is currently in its final public comment period, and feedback is encouraged before the validator vote next week. The vote will determine if the fix will be incorporated into the Stellar protocol.
Upcoming Protocol Upgrade and Network Stability
Stellar has scheduled stable releases for Stellar Core, RPC, and Horizon on Monday, October 20. A testnet upgrade is planned for Tuesday, October 21, at 17:00 UTC, followed by a mainnet upgrade vote on Wednesday, October 22, at 17:00 UTC. If ratified by validators, the network will immediately upgrade to Protocol 24. Infrastructure not running Protocol-24-compatible software will lose sync with the network.
It is crucial for Stellar’s transaction history to remain immutable. The proposed fix will realign internal databases with corrected values, but only for corrupted data that was never used or observed by any transactions. All transactions recorded on Stellar will remain unchanged in the permanent ledger.
For more detailed information, the Stellar Development Foundation has provided a comprehensive overview here.
Why This Matters: Impact, Industry Trends & Expert Insights
The Stellar Development Foundation has identified and addressed a bug in its state archival feature, aiming to enhance blockchain scalability by preventing state bloat and maintaining low transaction fees. This issue was discovered in Protocol 23 and has led to a proposed protocol upgrade to rectify the affected entries.
Recent industry reports indicate significant advancements in blockchain scalability solutions, including the adoption of Layer 2 solutions and modular blockchain architectures. This trend is evident in Stellar’s efforts to address state bloat and improve network efficiency through its state archival feature.
A report highlights that protocol upgrades are pivotal in driving the maturity and mainstream adoption of blockchain networks. This reinforces Stellar’s initiative to upgrade its protocol as a critical step towards maintaining network stability and scalability.
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