Chia 1.1.5 update -- we were not checking for coins with negative values

Chia Farming & Harvesting
1

Fixed

  • We were not checking for negative values in the uint64 constructor. Therefore coins with negative values were added to the mempool. These blocks passed validation, but they did not get added into the blockchain due to negative values not serializing in uint64. Farmers making these blocks would make blocks that did not make it into or advance the chain, so the blockchain slowed down starting at block 255518 around 6:35AM PDT. The fix adds a check in the mempool and block validation, and does not disconnect peers who send these invalid blocks (any peer 1.1.4 or older), making this update not mandatory but is recommended. Users not updating might see their blocks get rejected from other peers.

Chia Chinese community

3 Likes
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This grammar here is so weirdly passive. WHY are people making coins with negative values? Is this malicious or a side effect of some other bug. It seems like it was some sort of hacking attempt… Someone looked at the source and noticed the lack of bounds checking in the constructor and thought. hmmm… let’s see what happens if I do this…

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Isn’t that how most bugs are found out? I’m glad it happened, it wasn’t being written into blocks, and they fixed it within hours.

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That must be embarrassing for the devs