Current outcome
Arbitrum paused new Stylus activations on Arbitrum One and Nova on October 2 via Security Council emergency action, citing rising risks from AI-assisted attacks via hand-crafted WebAssembly. Existing Stylus programs keep running and can be renewed; ordinary Solidity contracts unaffected. Pause implemented by raising activation gas to prohibitively expensive level, no ArbOS upgrade. No attack enabling theft of user funds discovered. BoLD one-step proof guard can delay unconfirmed withdrawals if conflicting proofs accepted, but pause of settlement depends on condition. No date for restoring activations.
Progress timeline
2 material updates- #01
Arbitrum Pauses New Stylus Activations in Emergency Security Action
Arbitrum paused new Stylus activations as an emergency security measure, while a new BoLD guard could delay unconfirmed withdrawals if contradictory proofs are accepted.
Source evidence: The Defiant
- #02
Arbitrum pauses new Stylus activations over AI-assisted attack risks
New report adds details: pause applies to Arbitrum One and Nova; attributed to AI-assisted attacks via hand-crafted WebAssembly; implemented by raising activation gas to prohibitively expensive level; no ArbOS upgrade; existing Stylus programs can use keepalive renewal; no attack enabling theft of user funds discovered; BoLD guard condition.
State after update: Arbitrum paused new Stylus activations on Arbitrum One and Nova on October 2 via Security Council emergency action, citing rising risks from AI-assisted attacks via hand-crafted WebAssembly. Existing Stylus programs keep running and can be renewed; ordinary Solidity contracts unaffected. Pause implemented by raising activation gas to prohibitively expensive level, no ArbOS upgrade. No attack enabling theft of user funds discovered. BoLD one-step proof guard can delay unconfirmed withdrawals if conflicting proofs accepted, but pause of settlement depends on condition. No date for restoring activations.
Source evidence: CryptoSlate · foresightnews