This summary text is fully AI-generated and may therefore contain errors or be incomplete.
A recent cybersecurity vulnerability in certain versions of Bitcoin Core and Bitcoin Knots has been identified and added to the National Vulnerability Database (NVD), managed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). This vulnerability allows the bypassing of datacarrier limits by masking data as code. It has been exploited by a group called Inscriptions in 2022 and 2023.
The potential impact of this vulnerability is the spamming of the Bitcoin blockchain with non-transactional data, which could lead to increased network size, decreased performance, and higher fees. Bitcoin Core developer Luke Dashjr alleges that Inscriptions are exploiting this vulnerability to spam the network, comparing it to receiving junk mail that slows down the process.
The relevance of this vulnerability to Ordinals, a protocol that allows for the direct embedding of unique digital arts into Bitcoin transactions, is significant. Ordinals transactions have already caused network congestion in 2023, resulting in higher fees and slower processing times. If the bug is patched, it could potentially restrict Ordinals inscriptions on the network, although existing inscriptions would remain intact due to the immutability of the blockchain.
Overall, this vulnerability poses a threat to the security and efficiency of the Bitcoin network, and its impact on Ordinals transactions highlights the need for a fix. The NVD’s recognition of this vulnerability underscores its importance for public awareness and the ongoing analysis of Bitcoin’s network vulnerability.