Arbitrum Halts New Stylus Activations Over Security Concerns

Arbitrum has temporarily paused new Stylus contract activations on both Arbitrum One and Nova due to potential security vulnerabilities. The move, carried out by the Arbitrum Security Council, targets hand-crafted WebAssembly (WASM) programs that could be used as denial-of-service vectors.

The identified issues affect chain liveness, not user fund safety, according to the research findings. Existing Stylus contracts remain unaffected and can continue to execute until expiration.

A new safety mechanism has also been added to Arbitrum One's dispute system, known as a guard on the BoLD one-step proof. If contradictory proofs are ever accepted, this guard could delay unconfirmed withdrawals.