BNB Chain Pasteur Hardfork Activates August 25 With Security Upgrades

BNB Chain will activate its Pasteur hardfork on the BNB Smart Chain mainnet at 0230 UTC on August 25, 2026, introducing a bundle of security and performance upgrades aimed at strengthening crosschain transfers and increasing transaction capacity. The upgrade, organized under the umbrella proposal BEP673, requires all node operators to install client version v1.7.7 before the activation window opens.

The hardfork bundles three distinct proposals: BEP682, BEP695, and BEP675. The first two focus on security, while the third targets a significant increase in throughput. BEP682 addresses a vulnerability in the crosschain bridge's signature verification process. Previously, a crafted validator set could list the same signer multiple times to meet approval thresholds with fewer genuine signatures. The upgrade closes this loophole by rejecting duplicate validator entries, ensuring crosschain transfers require approval from the proper number of separate validators.

BEP695 tightens controls around validator key rotation and governance. It ensures that a rotated key immediately loses its administrative privileges, preventing validators from avoiding pending penalties by changing keys. The...