Besu Client Software on Ethereum Encounters Incident
Early morning on January 7th, Besu, the Execution Client software on Ethereum, faced an incident that was swiftly addressed to mitigate any potential risks.
Besu Client Software on Ethereum Encounters Incident
Besu users may be experiencing downtime right now. Besu team is aware and on it - in the meantime, switch to another client or use @Rescue_Node while a fix is deployed
— EthStaker 🦇🔊 (@ethStaker) January 6, 2024
On January 7th, the Ethereum community on Twitter flagged issues with the Besu software. Promptly thereafter, validators were advised to switch to an alternative software while awaiting a fix.
🚨Attention Mainnet users 🚨
— Hyperledger Besu (@HyperledgerBesu) January 7, 2024
A recent Mainnet block triggered a bug in Besu’s state database. If you are validating with Besu, please review the latest hotfix patch notes. They have details on how to get your node up and running:https://t.co/WZkLV3GqeY
The Besu team confirmed a mainnet issue specifically related to data storage of the States. They promptly released a temporary bug fix and recommended all validators using previous versions to update promptly.
Twitter's Ethereum community also noted that the incident, affecting Besu, was fortuitous. Had such an issue occurred with Geth (the client currently holding over 84% market share in Execution software), the network could have suffered more severe consequences.
Earlier today, Besu, an execution client, has encountered a bug, causing validators running Besu to miss their duties.
— SSV Network (@ssv_network) January 6, 2024
This highlights the importance of client diversity, which is made possible by diverse operator selection in SSV.
Learn how 👇 pic.twitter.com/5rExViTtBh
Diversifying client software (both in Execution and Consensus phases) has long been advocated within the Ethereum community. However, despite recommendations intensifying in mid-2023, particularly after Geth surpassed an 80% market share threshold, improvements on this front have been limited, widening the disparity.
