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Informational 15 Bitcoin

assumevalid: log every script validation state change

Public commit record

What the developer wrote

Authored by Lőrinc

100/100 · Strong
assumevalid: log every script validation state change

The `-assumevalid` option skips script verification for a specified block and all its ancestors during Initial Block Download.
Many new users are surprised when this suddenly slows their node to a halt.
This commit adds a log message to clearly indicate when this optimization ends and full validation begins (and vice versa).

When using `-assumeutxo`, logging is suppressed for the active assumed-valid chainstate and for the background validation chainstate to avoid the confusing toggles.

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> cmake -B build && cmake --build build && mkdir -p demo && build/bin/bitcoind -datadir=demo -stopatheight=500 | grep 'signature validation'

```
2025-08-08T20:59:21Z Disabling signature validations at block #1 (00000000839a8e6886ab5951d76f411475428afc90947ee320161bbf18eb6048).
2025-08-08T20:59:21Z Enabling signature validations at block #100 (000000007bc154e0fa7ea32218a72fe2c1bb9f86cf8c9ebf9a715ed27fdb229a).
2025-08-08T20:59:21Z Disabling signature validations at block #200 (000000008f1a7008320c16b8402b7f11e82951f44ca2663caf6860ab2eeef320).
2025-08-08T20:59:21Z Enabling signature validations at block #300 (0000000062b69e4a2c3312a5782d7798b0711e9ebac065cd5d19f946439f8609).
```
✓ Specific, descriptive subject✓ Names a concrete action or component✓ Provides detailed explanatory context✓ Explains rationale or failure mode✓ Mentions testing or verification✓ Links an issue, advisory, or supporting reference✓ Names security-relevant behavior explicitly
The short version

What changed, and why it matters

This commit only adds user-facing log messages that announce when Bitcoin Core turns signature checking on or off during initial block download. It does not change whether signatures are checked, only how clearly the node tells the user about it. There is no security vulnerability here.

Recommended action

No action needed; this is a logging-only usability improvement.

Security signals we found

No strong security signals were identified.

Risk score

Why this scored 15/100

Our methodology →
Potential impact 0/30
Exploitability 0/25
Stealth signal 0/15
Affected reach 0/15
Confidence 10/10
Evidence quality 5/5
Human-validated context

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