An update to fix a security vulnerability in the XRP Ledger was pushed from October 23 to November 4 after validator support fell below the required threshold for about two hours.
According to network tracking data cited by CoinDesk, the approval counter reset less than two days before the fixCleanup3_4_0 amendment was due to take effect. Although support recovered quickly, the network’s rules restarted the 14-day waiting period.
Why did a two-hour disruption cost two weeks?
On the XRP Ledger, validators operate as independent servers that reach consensus on which transactions are valid. By default, 29 of the 35 trusted validators must support a change to the network’s rules. Support is checked about every 15 minutes, and the threshold must be maintained continuously for 14 days.
At the check on October 21 at 15:54 (TSİ), support fell to 26. When it returned to 29 about two hours later, at 17:46, the countdown started over. As a result, the activation time, previously projected for October 23 at 12:34, was updated on XRPLWin to November 4 at 17:46 (TSİ). This schedule depends on support not falling below the threshold during the new waiting period.
Support later rose to 31 validators. However, tracking dashboards do not show which validators were offline during the first check. A server being offline or restarting at the time can also prevent its vote from being counted, so it is not certain that the drop was due to opposition to the amendment.
What vulnerability will be fixed on the XRP Ledger?
According to the xrpld 3.4.0 release notes, the fix aims to close a vulnerability that, under certain conditions, could allow an account authorized only to burn an issuer’s tokens to create new tokens. The update also adjusts rules in the lending code that determine when loans are considered overdue or in default.
In the amendment previously in the news over a permission warning, what has changed this time is that the approval process restarted and the activation schedule shifted to November.
The lending code is part of a system Ripple has been introducing to banks and payment companies since June. Under this setup, XRP or other tokens are to be held in vaults and lent for set terms through an intermediary. As of October 22, the lending system had not yet been made available for use.
Not investment advice.