Bitcoin Core disclosed three vulnerabilities that automated LLM scanning found, two of them capable of exhausting node memory. Developers released patches, but 32-bit systems, FAT32 storage and end-of-life 29.x branches remain exposed in some cases.
Bitcoin Core disclosed three AI-discovered vulnerabilities on Oct. 28, including one that lets an attacker remotely crash nodes on Windows and Mac systems. Two are medium-severity memory-exhaustion flaws, and the third is a low-severity file-overflow bug.
Developers shipped fixes in versions 29.5, 30.4, 31.2 and 32.1. The advisories did not report active exploitation.
A malicious peer can crash Windows, macOS and BSD nodes
The most immediately exploitable bug lets a malicious peer overwhelm nodes running on Windows, macOS and BSD by sending specially crafted network data. According to Bitcoin Core's advisory, the bug bypasses safeguards that limit incoming data, so memory use climbs until the node crashes. Linux systems are unaffected because they use a different mechanism for monitoring network connections.
A second flaw affects how Bitcoin Core talks to older peers that do not support a network feature introduced under Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 31. Malicious peers could make a node accumulate outgoing messages indefinitely, adding up to 2 megabytes per hour per inbound connection and 5 megabytes per hour per outbound connection.
Finally, a third flaw involves the files Bitcoin Core uses to reverse transactions during blockchain reorganizations. Under highly unusual circumstances, a miner could overflow file-position limits, potentially corrupting records and forcing affected nodes to shut down. Bitcoin Core rated it low severity because exploiting it on conventional 64-bit systems would require mining thousands of specially constructed blocks and engineering a precise reorganization.
Project Loupe found all three
Project Loupe, an automated LLM-based scanning initiative developed by Elias Rohrer at Spiral, identified all three flaws. Gregory Sanders then validated the findings and alerted Bitcoin Core's security team.
The earliest was discovered July 8, another on Sept. 15 and the Windows and macOS flaw on Oct. 23. Developers completed the patches on Oct. 26 and disclosed the bugs after releasing updated software over the next two days.
Some systems stay exposed
Patches do not close every gap. Bitcoin Core warned that 32-bit systems and nodes storing blockchain data on FAT32 file systems remain susceptible to the file-overflow issue under specific conditions.
Its 32.1 release notes also confirm that version 29.x and older branches have reached end of life. Operators on those releases get no future security updates, even if they install 29.5. Bitcoin Core 32.1 requires macOS 14 or newer and Windows 10 version 1903 or newer.
Source: CryptoSlate
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