XRP Ledger gets important security update on Wednesday

The XRP Ledger is expected to receive an important security update on Wednesday 4 November. An error has been discovered that allows certain parties to create new crypto coins, while they do not have permission to do so.

Especially for companies that issue stablecoins, this poses a risk. The error does not affect XRP itself.

On the XRP Ledger, companies can issue their own crypto coins, such as stablecoins linked to the US dollar. In addition, they may give other parties permission to perform certain actions.

For example, a payment service may be allowed to destroy stablecoins when customers exchange them for dollars. The surrendered coins will then be removed from circulation.

But researchers have discovered an error that allows such a payment service to create new stablecoins under certain circumstances, while no permission has been given at all.

This can have major consequences. If a party can simply create additional stablecoins, more coins can come into circulation than the issuer has allowed. This can affect confidence in the stablecoin.

The new update should resolve this issue. A party that only has permission to destroy coins may no longer be able to create new coins under that authority.

Importantly, the error only relates to crypto coins issued by other parties on the XRP Ledger. XRP itself has not been affected. It is therefore not possible to create additional XRP due to this error.

Until the update is implemented, the XRP Ledger advises developers not to give permission to other parties to destroy tokens for the time being.

The security update, which is calledfixCleanup3_4_0is expected to be implemented on Wednesday 4 November.

This requires sufficient support from the validators on the XRP Ledger. These are independent parties that monitor transactions and help decide on changes to the network.

According to XRPL Dashboard, 33 of the 35 trusted validators currently support the update. This provides ample support, but that alone is not enough.

With the XRP Ledger, a change must be supported by more than eighty percent of the validators for at least fourteen days in a row. In this case, a minimum of 29 votes are required.

The update was originally scheduled for October 23, but was delayed at the last minute. On October 21, the number of supporters temporarily dropped to 26, restarting the mandatory waiting period.

Although the support had already been restored about two hours later, the period of fourteen days had to be completed again.

If support is maintained over the next few days, the update can be activated around 3.46 pm Dutch time on Wednesday. The exact moment depends on the processing by the network.