Core Lightning Warns Node Operators to Upgrade or Face Consequences
Core Lightning, the main Bitcoin Lightning Network client maintained by Blockstream, has issued an urgent warning to node operators. The team revealed that it had received multiple AI-generated CVE reports over the past 10 days and was triaging them with outside contributors. Node operators are being advised to either upgrade their nodes or take them offline immediately.
The alert affects a network carrying approximately 3,750 BTC across more than 33,000 channels, creating immediate security and liquidity risks. Operators who do not upgrade face the risk of forced-closure or fund loss if an exploit drops. The team emphasized that they will not support previous releases, including version 26.04.
The patch binaries have not been published yet, and the fixes are under a two-week embargo. The scheduled 26.09 release is still planned for late September but will likely be delayed due to the urgent nature of this warning. This marks the fourth security scare for Bitcoin infrastructure in about four weeks.