Ethereum's second and final testnet for the Glamsterdam hard fork was cancelled this week following the discovery of critical vulnerabilities in two gas scaling Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIP-8037/8038). ChainSecurity identified flaws that could have caused smart contracts relying on current gas behavior to malfunction when calls run out of gas, potentially exposing them to exploitation.
The vulnerabilities affected at least 13 DeFi contracts. The testnet dress rehearsal on Hoodi will not be rescheduled until all second-order effects of the fork have been thoroughly analyzed. Derek Chiang from Ethereum Labs noted that the vulnerability was discovered just minutes before the deadline, forcing teams to manage the fallout urgently.
In response, two researchers from Ethereum Labs and the Ethereum Foundation independently deployed AI agents to scan contracts for vulnerabilities. Upon realizing they were using the same strategy, they established a shared message board through a GitHub repository to coordinate their work. The collaboration proved effective, leading to the setup of a second message board to examine the effects of EIP-8198 (Quick Slots), proposed for the subsequent Hegota hard fork.
Chiang emphasized that protocol designers should conduct more thorough analysis of potential breakages earlier in the development process to avoid last-minute discoveries.
