The upcoming October release will improve transaction fee estimates, enhance block processing, and address a security vulnerability in wallet configurations.
By Shaurya Malwa|Edited by Jamie Crawley1 hr ago3 min readMake preferred on ShareShare this articleCopy linkX (Twitter)LinkedInFacebookEmailMake preferred on (CoinDesk)SummaryShow- Bitcoin Core 32.0 began its final testing phase on September 14, with a full release anticipated on October 10.
- This update seeks to refine fee estimation, speed up block processing, and implement PSBT version 2 as the default for various wallet commands, all without altering Bitcoin's consensus rules.
- A security flaw allowing command execution in specific wallet configurations has been resolved, along with a memory exhaustion issue in the new web server.
The Bitcoin Core software, essential for operating Bitcoin nodes, has progressed to the final testing phase for its latest update, which includes modifications to transaction fees, block processing, and wallet transaction creation.
The initial release candidate for version 32.0 was tagged on September 14, marking the beginning of the final testing phase ahead of the expected release on October 10, as outlined in the project's release schedule.
This software enables users to independently validate transactions and blocks according to Bitcoin's established rules, which will remain unchanged in version 32.
Currently, Bitcoin Core estimates transaction fees primarily based on fees from previously confirmed transactions. The new version will introduce an additional estimator that considers transactions pending confirmation.
This dual approach will allow the software to recommend lower fees when network conditions permit, facilitating quicker fee adjustments during periods of lower congestion, as detailed in the draft release notes.
Nodes will also benefit from enhanced data retrieval capabilities, utilizing multiple processing threads to check blocks simultaneously. By default, Bitcoin Core will employ eight threads, minimizing delays when synchronizing with the blockchain.
A vulnerability affecting wallet creation permissions, present since Bitcoin Core version 24.0 on non-Windows platforms, has been addressed. This flaw could allow an authenticated user to run commands on the host node under specific conditions. The new version will treat wallet names as plain text, eliminating the risk of command execution.
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Changes in Wallet Management and Server Memory Issues
Four commands within Bitcoin Core that create partially signed transactions will default to the updated PSBT version 2 format. This format is commonly used for transferring transactions between wallet applications and signing devices.
While older formats can still be requested, services designed around these core commands will need to adapt to support the new version.
Additionally, version 32 will replace the existing web server that manages incoming requests from other applications interacting with a node.
A recent audit of the new server, conducted using Moonshot AI's Kimi K3 model, revealed that it could accept new data from clients while still processing previous requests. This accumulation of data in memory could lead to excessive memory usage, potentially crashing the node.
The developer responsible for the fix described the situation as a memory exhaustion scenario. Fortunately, the issue was identified before the stable release of version 32.
Testing indicated that this problem also affected Bitcoin Core's REST interface, which does not require authentication. In one test, sixteen unauthenticated REST connections caused a node's memory usage to spike from 46 MB to approximately 3 GB in under a minute. Following the fix, a similar test resulted in only 3 MB of memory usage.
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