Bitcoin Core speeds up security fixes as AI makes old bugs easy to find

Bitcoin Core changed its security policy on October 22, 2026, so fixes for easily rediscovered vulnerabilities ship to older release lines within days instead of after a year-long embargo. KIT data shows 43.6% of sampled Bitcoin Core peers (3,671 of 8,422) run software that no longer receives patches.

• PR #1281 by Antoine Poinsot ends the year-long embargo for easily rediscovered bugs
• 43.6% of 8,422 public peers run end-of-life release lines
• Once 32.0 ships, the share outside the safety net rises to 51.1%
• CVE-2024-52911 was disclosed 388 days after its fix