Cardano Network Faces Temporary Disruption Due to Malformed Transaction

• Cardano faces temporary disruption due to a malformed delegation transaction.
• Developers quickly address blockchain partition issue, restoring Cardano network stability.
• Responsible individual apologizes for unintentional transaction causing Cardano’s network fork.

Cardano’s mainnet recently faced an unexpected disruption when a malformed delegation transaction led to a temporary blockchain partition. This incident resulted in slowed block production and inconsistencies across several Cardano services. Notably, the disruption occurred after developers identified a similar issue on the testnet, prompting swift action from the development team.

The problem arose from a bug in newer versions of the cardano-node software, which caused the blockchain to fork under specific conditions. Older node versions continued to function as expected, allowing the primary chain to remain unaffected. However, the newer versions resulted in two competing chains, leading to slower block production and issues with user-facing services such as explorers and wallet interfaces.

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Developers Work Quickly to Resolve Issue

According to the Cardano development team, the issue was traced to a cryptographic library bug that had existed since 2022. This bug led to the creation of a malformed delegation transaction, triggering the blockchain partition. The development team responded promptly, pushing a hotfix to stake pool operators (SPOs) to prevent further disruption. By updating to version 10.5.3, SPOs were able to ensure that the unaffected chain overtook the forked one.

Charles Hoskinson, founder of Cardano, noted that the malformed transaction appeared to target his own stake pool. He revealed that blocks continued to be produced on both chains until the necessary upgrades were made. Once completed, the “poisoned” chain’s blocks would be orphaned. Any affected transactions might require later reconciliation depending on the feasibility of replaying them.

Apology Issued by Responsible Party

In a surprising turn of events, an individual identified as “Homer J (AAA)” took responsibility for the incident. The individual claimed that the disruption was unintentional and resulted from an attempt to replicate the flawed transaction. They clarified that the issue arose from incorrect instructions executed on a Linux server, with no financial motive or intention to manipulate the market. The individual expressed regret for their actions and acknowledged the impact on the Cardano community.

Despite the disruption, Cardano’s blockchain remained functional throughout the incident, with the network continuing to produce blocks. Developers acted quickly to mitigate the impact, ensuring that the mainnet remained operational and the situation was brought under control without significant long-term consequences for the network.

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