Ethereum Delays Glamsterdam Over 8 Smart Contract Security Alerts
Auditors are seeking to determine whether the fee change could alter instructions executed after an error.
A change to gas consumption rules could alter how smart contracts already operating on Ethereum function.
The concern led developers to postpone Glamsterdam testing on the Hoodi testnet while they investigate eight possible incompatibilities and determine whether to adjust existing applications or modify the upgrade specifications.
The issue is related to proposals EIP-8037 and EIP-8038, which would change gas costs for creating new data and accessing data already stored on the network.
Although these adjustments aim to change the network's cost structure, they could also affect contracts programmed under the current rules.
The main concern arises when a contract calls another contract and the operation fails. Some programs use gas consumption as a signal to stop certain actions or record that an error occurred.
However, under the new rules, more gas could remain available after a failed call, allowing additional instructions to run.
This means a contract could continue with an operation that its developers expected to halt, or record a result different from the one intended.
The impact will depend on how each program is written, so this does not mean that all Ethereum contracts will experience failures.
#ChainSecurity warned about this behavior in an analysis published on October 13.
Based on these observations, the Ethereum Foundation compiled eight technical assumptions that could cease to hold under the proposed changes.
These include assumptions about how much gas an operation requires and what happens to the available resources when a call reverts.
To facilitate review, the organization published a repository with examples and instructions to help developers identify potential issues in their contracts, document their findings, and propose solutions.
It also called on independent auditors to contribute ahead of the upcoming All Core Developers discussions.