Bitcoin Core Speeds Up Fixes for Bugs That AI Can Easily Find

The developers behind Bitcoin Core, the most widely used software for running the Bitcoin network, have changed how they handle security flaws, citing the rise of AI tools that can spot bugs quickly.

What changed

Under the updated policy posted on the project's website, a reported vulnerability can now be labeled "easily discoverable," which the policy describes as a flaw that can be found with minimal effort, "such as through a simple LLM prompt." For those cases, the team will ship a fix to every major version it still maintains as soon as possible, together with a public security advisory, rather than waiting through the usual embargo.

The change was proposed by developer Antoine Poinsot on Oct. 16 and merged on Oct. 22, Bitcoin.com News reported. Poinsot acknowledged that faster releases leave less testing time, CoinDesk reported, and not every developer agreed on how far to go.

What stays the same

Other bugs still follow severity-based timelines. Low-severity issues are disclosed two weeks after a fixed major release, and medium and high-severity issues two weeks after the last affected release reaches end of life. Critical bugs, such as those that could create coins or split the chain, are still handled case by case.

Why it matters

The update does not mean Bitcoin's cryptography has been broken or that a new exploit was found. It reflects a practical shift: if AI can rediscover a flaw in minutes, keeping it secret protects little, so getting patched software to node operators sooner is the safer path.