Bitcoin Core adopted a revised vulnerability disclosure policy on October 22, after developer Antoine Poinsot reported an increase in flaws that are easy to discover or rediscover, partly because of AI tools. Developers can now label a flaw “easily discoverable” during their initial assessment, even if it was not found with AI. They will release patches for every actively maintained major version as quickly as possible, with a public advisory alongside the updates rather than after the usual embargo.
Existing disclosure timelines remain in place for other flaws, while critical threats to Bitcoin’s fundamental security still require special handling. Poinsot acknowledged that faster releases could leave less time to test fixes. The policy change does not indicate that Bitcoin’s cryptography has been compromised or that a specific new exploit has been found.
