Execution flaw in the Go client results in a continuous rise in difficulty, unaffected by hashing power.
Impacted configurations: All versions of the Go client v1.0.x, v1.1.x, both release and develop branches. The flaw was introduced in a recent update and deployment via commit https://github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/commit/7324176f702a77fc331bf16a968d2eb4bccce021 which was incorporated into the client versions mentioned. All miners operating the aforementioned versions are impacted and are recommended to upgrade at their earliest convenience.
Probability: High
Intensity: Medium
Consequences: The increase in block time will result in a dramatic rise in difficulty
Information: An issue in the Go client causes a consistent growth in difficulty in the subsequent block, as the timestamp of the new block equals the timestamp + 1 of the prior block, irrespective of the actual time during mining. This results in a rise in difficulty regardless of hashing power
Influence on anticipated chain reorganisation depth: None
Suggested temporary solution: None
Actions taken by Ethereum: Provision of hotfixes as detailed below:
For users of the PPA: sudo apt-get update followed by sudo apt-get upgrade
For users of brew: brew update followed by brew reinstall ethereum
For users with a Windows binary: download the updated binary from the release page
For those building from source: git pull followed by make geth (please ensure you are using the Master branch 587669215b878566c4a7b91fbf88a6fd2ec4f46a)