Ethereum Halts Glamsterdam Test After Gas Rule Changes Raise Contract Risks

Ethereum developers have postponed the Glamsterdam upgrade’s scheduled activation on the Hoodi testnet after researchers warned that proposed gas-accounting changes could affect how existing smart contracts process failed operations.

The testnet rollout was set for October 26 at 17:42:48 UTC. Developers canceled the activation during Thursday’s All Core Devs Execution meeting to examine the potential effects of the changes on contracts already deployed across the network.

A new testing date has not been announced.

EIP-8037 Could Disrupt Existing Contract Logic

The issue centers on EIP-8037, a proposal that changes the gas charges associated with creating new records in Ethereum’s database. The adjustment is intended to help limit blockchain state growth as the network increases its transaction-processing capacity.

In a report published October 13, security firm ChainSecurity explained how EIP-8037, together with EIP-8038, could alter contract behavior when an external call fails because it runs out of gas.

Some smart contracts are designed to recover from unsuccessful calls by recording the failure, stopping additional attempts or moving to another step. In certain implementations, developers expect the remaining gas to be insufficient for these follow-up actions, forcing the entire transaction to revert.

The proposed changes could alter that outcome.

Gas Refunds May Allow Failed Operations to Persist

Under the new rules, gas spent creating certain database records can be restored when the associated changes are undone. This may leave a contract with enough gas to finish its failure-handling logic instead of triggering a full rollback.

Consequently, a contract could retain a record of a failed operation that would previously have been erased when the transaction reverted.

ChainSecurity also identified a separate concern involving increased storage costs. According to its calculations, creating a new storage slot could require 110,020 gas after a separate allowance is exhausted, compared with 22,100 gas under the current rules.

Contracts working within fixed gas budgets could therefore fail while attempting operations that previously completed successfully.

The research demonstrates potential risks to compatibility and execution, but ChainSecurity has not publicly established that a major production protocol is exploitable through these scenarios.

Hoodi Activation and Gas Limit Expansion Delayed

Glamsterdam includes multiple changes to Ethereum’s infrastructure, including a revised system for selecting block builders and features intended to accommodate larger blocks.

The upgrade activated on the Sepolia testnet on October 6. Hoodi was expected to host the next public test, alongside a planned increase in its gas limit to 200 million. Both initiatives have been postponed.

Developers must investigate the findings and determine whether the proposed changes require adjustments before testing can resume.

Mainnet Schedule Remains Uncertain

Ethereum has not announced an official mainnet launch date for Glamsterdam. The delay reflects the need to assess how the proposed gas rules could affect existing contracts, rather than evidence of an active exploit involving the changes.

The next steps are to resolve the outstanding concerns, conduct additional testing and establish a revised activation schedule.