The National Vulnerability Database (NVD) has identified Bitcoin's inscriptions as a cybersecurity risk, bringing attention to a security flaw.
The National Vulnerability Database (NVD) has identified Bitcoin's inscriptions as a cybersecurity risk, bringing attention to a security flaw that paved the way for the development of the Ordinals Protocol in 2022. The database flagged the issue on December 9, citing the exploitation of a data carrier limit bypass in certain versions of Bitcoin Core and Bitcoin Knots by the Inscriptions group in 2022 and 2023.
The current vulnerability in Bitcoin's network is being analyzed, and one potential consequence could be the flooding of the blockchain with large amounts of non-transactional data, leading to increased network size, compromised performance, and higher fees.
The significance of this vulnerability lies in its connection to the Ordinals Protocol. Inscriptions involve embedding additional data into specific satoshis (the smallest units of Bitcoin), creating a permanent part of the blockchain. The high volume of Ordinals transactions has at times congested Bitcoin's network in 2023, resulting in increased competition for transaction confirmations, higher fees, and slower processing times.
The NVD's website features a recent post by Bitcoin Core developer Luke Dashjr on X. Dashjr claims that inscriptions exploit a vulnerability in Bitcoin Core to spam the network, and is working to fix it in the subsequent upgrades. If the bug is patched, it could potentially restrict Ordinals inscriptions on the network. Dashjr confirmed that new Ordinals and BRC-20 tokens would no longer be possible if the vulnerability was fixed.
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