coins: introduce CoinsViewOverlay

diff --git a/src/coins.cpp b/src/coins.cpp
index 8d51737d..3385922f 100644
--- a/src/coins.cpp
+++ b/src/coins.cpp
@@ -60,10 +60,15 @@ size_t CCoinsViewCache::DynamicMemoryUsage() const {
     return memusage::DynamicUsage(cacheCoins) + cachedCoinsUsage;
 }
 
+std::optional<Coin> CCoinsViewCache::FetchCoinFromBase(const COutPoint& outpoint) const
+{
+    return base->GetCoin(outpoint);
+}
+
 CCoinsMap::iterator CCoinsViewCache::FetchCoin(const COutPoint &outpoint) const {
     const auto [ret, inserted] = cacheCoins.try_emplace(outpoint);
     if (inserted) {
-        if (auto coin{base->GetCoin(outpoint)}) {
+        if (auto coin{FetchCoinFromBase(outpoint)}) {
             ret->second.coin = std::move(*coin);
             cachedCoinsUsage += ret->second.coin.DynamicMemoryUsage();
             Assert(!ret->second.coin.IsSpent());
diff --git a/src/coins.h b/src/coins.h
index 36516ef7..a2768298 100644
--- a/src/coins.h
+++ b/src/coins.h
@@ -383,6 +383,9 @@ protected:
      */
     void Reset() noexcept;
 
+    /* Fetch the coin from base. Used for cache misses in FetchCoin. */
+    virtual std::optional<Coin> FetchCoinFromBase(const COutPoint& outpoint) const;
+
 public:
     CCoinsViewCache(CCoinsView *baseIn, bool deterministic = false);
 
@@ -512,6 +515,27 @@ private:
     CCoinsMap::iterator FetchCoin(const COutPoint &outpoint) const;
 };
 
+/**
+ * CCoinsViewCache overlay that avoids populating/mutating parent cache layers on cache misses.
+ *
+ * This is achieved by fetching coins from the base view using PeekCoin() instead of GetCoin(),
+ * so intermediate CCoinsViewCache layers are not filled.
+ *
+ * Used during ConnectBlock() as an ephemeral, resettable top-level view that is flushed only
+ * on success, so invalid blocks don't pollute the underlying cache.
+ */
+class CoinsViewOverlay : public CCoinsViewCache
+{
+private:
+    std::optional<Coin> FetchCoinFromBase(const COutPoint& outpoint) const override
+    {
+        return base->PeekCoin(outpoint);
+    }
+
+public:
+    using CCoinsViewCache::CCoinsViewCache;
+};
+
 //! Utility function to add all of a transaction's outputs to a cache.
 //! When check is false, this assumes that overwrites are only possible for coinbase transactions.
 //! When check is true, the underlying view may be queried to determine whether an addition is
diff --git a/src/test/CMakeLists.txt b/src/test/CMakeLists.txt
index 2466a483..61c3a71b 100644
--- a/src/test/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/test/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ add_executable(test_bitcoin
   coins_tests.cpp
   coinscachepair_tests.cpp
   coinstatsindex_tests.cpp
+  coinsviewoverlay_tests.cpp
   common_url_tests.cpp
   compress_tests.cpp
   crypto_tests.cpp
diff --git a/src/test/coinsviewoverlay_tests.cpp b/src/test/coinsviewoverlay_tests.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6b20b312
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/coinsviewoverlay_tests.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,165 @@
+// Copyright (c) The Bitcoin Core developers
+// Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
+// file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
+
+#include <coins.h>
+#include <primitives/block.h>
+#include <primitives/transaction.h>
+#include <primitives/transaction_identifier.h>
+#include <txdb.h>
+#include <uint256.h>
+#include <util/byte_units.h>
+#include <util/hasher.h>
+
+#include <boost/test/unit_test.hpp>
+
+#include <cstdint>
+#include <cstring>
+#include <ranges>
+
+BOOST_AUTO_TEST_SUITE(coinsviewoverlay_tests)
+
+namespace {
+
+CBlock CreateBlock() noexcept
+{
+    static constexpr auto NUM_TXS{100};
+    CBlock block;
+    CMutableTransaction coinbase;
+    coinbase.vin.emplace_back();
+    block.vtx.push_back(MakeTransactionRef(coinbase));
+
+    for (const auto i : std::views::iota(1, NUM_TXS)) {
+        CMutableTransaction tx;
+        Txid txid{Txid::FromUint256(uint256(i))};
+        tx.vin.emplace_back(txid, 0);
+        block.vtx.push_back(MakeTransactionRef(tx));
+    }
+
+    return block;
+}
+
+void PopulateView(const CBlock& block, CCoinsView& view, bool spent = false)
+{
+    CCoinsViewCache cache{&view};
+    cache.SetBestBlock(uint256::ONE);
+
+    for (const auto& tx : block.vtx | std::views::drop(1)) {
+        for (const auto& in : tx->vin) {
+            Coin coin{};
+            if (!spent) coin.out.nValue = 1;
+            cache.EmplaceCoinInternalDANGER(COutPoint{in.prevout}, std::move(coin));
+        }
+    }
+
+    cache.Flush();
+}
+
+void CheckCache(const CBlock& block, const CCoinsViewCache& cache)
+{
+    uint32_t counter{0};
+
+    for (const auto& tx : block.vtx) {
+        if (tx->IsCoinBase()) {
+            BOOST_CHECK(!cache.HaveCoinInCache(tx->vin[0].prevout));
+        } else {
+            for (const auto& in : tx->vin) {
+                const auto& outpoint{in.prevout};
+                const auto& first{cache.AccessCoin(outpoint)};
+                const auto& second{cache.AccessCoin(outpoint)};
+                BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(&first, &second);
+                ++counter;
+                BOOST_CHECK(cache.HaveCoinInCache(outpoint));
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(cache.GetCacheSize(), counter);
+}
+
+} // namespace
+
+BOOST_AUTO_TEST_CASE(fetch_inputs_from_db)
+{
+    const auto block{CreateBlock()};
+    CCoinsViewDB db{{.path = "", .cache_bytes = 1_MiB, .memory_only = true}, {}};
+    PopulateView(block, db);
+    CCoinsViewCache main_cache{&db};
+    CoinsViewOverlay view{&main_cache};
+    const auto& outpoint{block.vtx[1]->vin[0].prevout};
+
+    BOOST_CHECK(view.HaveCoin(outpoint));
+    BOOST_CHECK(view.GetCoin(outpoint).has_value());
+    BOOST_CHECK(!main_cache.HaveCoinInCache(outpoint));
+
+    CheckCache(block, view);
+    // Check that no coins have been moved up to main cache from db
+    for (const auto& tx : block.vtx) {
+        for (const auto& in : tx->vin) {
+            BOOST_CHECK(!main_cache.HaveCoinInCache(in.prevout));
+        }
+    }
+
+    view.SetBestBlock(uint256::ONE);
+    BOOST_CHECK(view.SpendCoin(outpoint));
+    view.Flush();
+    BOOST_CHECK(!main_cache.PeekCoin(outpoint).has_value());
+}
+
+BOOST_AUTO_TEST_CASE(fetch_inputs_from_cache)
+{
+    const auto block{CreateBlock()};
+    CCoinsViewDB db{{.path = "", .cache_bytes = 1_MiB, .memory_only = true}, {}};
+    CCoinsViewCache main_cache{&db};
+    PopulateView(block, main_cache);
+    CoinsViewOverlay view{&main_cache};
+    CheckCache(block, view);
+
+    const auto& outpoint{block.vtx[1]->vin[0].prevout};
+    view.SetBestBlock(uint256::ONE);
+    BOOST_CHECK(view.SpendCoin(outpoint));
+    view.Flush();
+    BOOST_CHECK(!main_cache.PeekCoin(outpoint).has_value());
+}
+
+// Test for the case where a block spends coins that are spent in the cache, but
+// the spentness has not been flushed to the db.
+BOOST_AUTO_TEST_CASE(fetch_no_double_spend)
+{
+    const auto block{CreateBlock()};
+    CCoinsViewDB db{{.path = "", .cache_bytes = 1_MiB, .memory_only = true}, {}};
+    PopulateView(block, db);
+    CCoinsViewCache main_cache{&db};
+    // Add all inputs as spent already in cache
+    PopulateView(block, main_cache, /*spent=*/true);
+    CoinsViewOverlay view{&main_cache};
+    for (const auto& tx : block.vtx) {
+        for (const auto& in : tx->vin) {
+            const auto& c{view.AccessCoin(in.prevout)};
+            BOOST_CHECK(c.IsSpent());
+            BOOST_CHECK(!view.HaveCoin(in.prevout));
+            BOOST_CHECK(!view.GetCoin(in.prevout));
+        }
+    }
+    // Coins are not added to the view, even though they exist unspent in the parent db
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(view.GetCacheSize(), 0);
+}
+
+BOOST_AUTO_TEST_CASE(fetch_no_inputs)
+{
+    const auto block{CreateBlock()};
+    CCoinsViewDB db{{.path = "", .cache_bytes = 1_MiB, .memory_only = true}, {}};
+    CCoinsViewCache main_cache{&db};
+    CoinsViewOverlay view{&main_cache};
+    for (const auto& tx : block.vtx) {
+        for (const auto& in : tx->vin) {
+            const auto& c{view.AccessCoin(in.prevout)};
+            BOOST_CHECK(c.IsSpent());
+            BOOST_CHECK(!view.HaveCoin(in.prevout));
+            BOOST_CHECK(!view.GetCoin(in.prevout));
+        }
+    }
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(view.GetCacheSize(), 0);
+}
+
+BOOST_AUTO_TEST_SUITE_END()
+
diff --git a/src/test/fuzz/coinscache_sim.cpp b/src/test/fuzz/coinscache_sim.cpp
index b1b28423..c8534e4f 100644
--- a/src/test/fuzz/coinscache_sim.cpp
+++ b/src/test/fuzz/coinscache_sim.cpp
@@ -374,7 +374,11 @@ FUZZ_TARGET(coinscache_sim)
             [&]() { // Add a cache level (if not already at the max).
                 if (caches.size() != MAX_CACHES) {
                     // Apply to real caches.
-                    caches.emplace_back(new CCoinsViewCache(&*caches.back(), /*deterministic=*/true));
+                    if (provider.ConsumeBool()) {
+                        caches.emplace_back(new CCoinsViewCache(&*caches.back(), /*deterministic=*/true));
+                    } else {
+                        caches.emplace_back(new CoinsViewOverlay(&*caches.back(), /*deterministic=*/true));
+                    }
                     // Apply to simulation data.
                     sim_caches[caches.size()].Wipe();
                 }