The BNB Beacon Chain mainnet is scheduled to undergo the “ZhangHeng” hard fork around July 19, bringing forth a series of new upgrades with a focus on enhancing security. As part of this upcoming hard fork, the BNB Beacon Chain mainnet, operated by Binance, will introduce a new functionality that allows the blockchain to temporarily pause the production of new blocks under specific conditions.
In an announcement made on July 12 by BNB Chain, it stated that the “ZhangHeng” upgrade is anticipated to be implemented at block height 328,088,888, which is projected to occur on July 19.
The upcoming hard fork will introduce the Binance Evolution Proposal BEP-255, which aims to implement “on-chain asset reconciliation.” Binance believes that this new feature can help mitigate the impact of potential cross-chain bridge vulnerabilities, like the Binance Smart Chain exploit that occurred on October 7, 2022.
According to the corresponding Github post regarding BEP-255, while certain improvements have been made to enhance cross-chain security, such as BEP171, Binance emphasizes the need to ensure the security of assets specifically on the BNB Beacon Chain itself, especially in light of previous bridge exploits.
Under the BEP, changes in user balances will be meticulously tracked in each block and reconciled to identify any discrepancies or issues.
Binance stated that the measures taken will have an impact on various downstream services, including bridges, exchanges’ deposits, and withdrawals. However, the decision to take this “drastic action” is deemed necessary to safeguard the integrity of the chain and its users. To restore the functionality of the blockchain, a hard fork will be required, accompanied by the resolution of the reconciliation error.
As explained, in the event of an exploitation, appropriate actions such as blacklisting or rectifying related accounts should be taken. Once the blockchain is reinstated, the affected downstream services can also be brought back online.
Bolstering Protection against Rogue Key Attacks on BNB
Additional modifications involve addressing a bug that safeguards against “Rogue Key Attacks.” These attacks involve a security vulnerability where an unauthorized individual generates a legitimate aggregate signature for a transaction instead of the actual private key owner.
“To rectify this bug, all current vote addresses will be reset once the hard fork reaches a certain height,” explained the company. Validators will subsequently need to reconfigure their vote addresses.
Furthermore, the hard fork aims to enhance the blockchain’s capacity to accommodate intricate business rules and logic, enabling it to handle more complex transactions effectively.
Binance has stated that for the successful execution of the hard fork, it is crucial for two-thirds of validators to switch to the v0.10.16 software version before the designated time. Failure to do so may result in complications.
According to BNB Chain, full nodes that do not upgrade will be unable to process subsequent blocks following the block height at which the hard fork takes place.
BNB Chain has provided comprehensive instructions for node operators to follow in order to comply with the hard fork upgrade. However, it is important to note that BNB token holders who utilize Binance.com, other centralized exchanges, or cold wallets are currently not required to take any action.
BNB Chain introduced opBNB on June 19, a novel layer-2 scaling solution compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). This innovative solution is built upon Optimism’s OP Stack framework.