Ethereum delays Glamsterdam hardfork process over gas invariant risks

Ethereum delays Glamsterdam hardfork process over gas invariant risks
Ethereum upgrade delayed

Ethereum is pausing part of its Glamsterdam upgrade process after newly identified smart contract risks raised concerns about how some projects would behave under the proposed gas changes. The delay affects plans to fork Hoodi and comes as developers seek wider input from contract teams and auditors on eight invariants that could break after EIP-8037 and EIP-8038.

Highlights

  • Ethereum Foundation delayed the Glamsterdam hardfork after ChainSecurity found several projects could become vulnerable due to gas calculation changes in EIP-8037 and EIP-8038.
  • The All Core Developers group will not fork Hoodi until issues related to broken invariants are resolved, seeking clarity on potential breaking changes and specification updates.
  • Ethereum is urging contract developers and auditors to review exposure to eight identified broken invariants and to contact the team if their projects are affected.

Upgrade risks prompt hardfork delay

As reported by the Ethereum Foundation blog, ChainSecurity found in recent weeks that several projects could become vulnerable after Glamsterdam because they rely on invariants that would no longer hold under EIP-8037 and EIP-8038. The two proposals rework how much gas is charged for certain operations and how gas is charged for state.

Based on those findings, the All Core Developers process has decided to delay the hardfork process and not fork Hoodi until the issues are resolved. The foundation says it needs a clearer view of what could break after Glamsterdam and whether any specification changes could prevent those issues before moving ahead.

Developers and auditors asked to review exposure

Ethereum says it is engaging multiple auditing companies and running internal audits, but cannot review all projects on the network, particularly their on-chain and off-chain code. It is therefore using the post as a call to action for contract developers, auditors and related teams to check whether their projects depend on any of the eight invariants identified for Glamsterdam.

The organization has created a repository listing the invariants expected to be broken by the upgrade, along with explanations, examples and prompts that teams can use to test their own projects. Projects that determine they are affected are being asked to contact the Ethereum team at glamsterdam@ethereum.org.

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