Summary
The Solana network outage was caused by a previously known bug that resulted in an infinite loop, preventing the network from confirming transactions. The bug was related to Solana’s Just-in-Time (JIT) compilation cache, which caused a bottleneck in network operations. The Solana team deployed a fix to address the bug and prevent such loops. The issue was first identified in April 2022 and a patch was planned to be deployed. This was the sixth major outage for Solana. The price of SOL, Solana’s native asset, briefly dipped on the news but quickly recovered. Market responses to Solana network outages have become more muted over time.
Key Points
1. A bug in Solana’s network caused an infinite loop, leading to a five-hour outage on Tuesday.
2. The bug specifically affected Solana’s Just-in-Time (JIT) compilation cache, causing older programs to go into an infinite loop of recompilations and monopolizing network resources.
3. The Solana team deployed a fix to address the bug and prevent future loops, eliminating the ability to trigger the bug’s preconditions.