LND v0.18.3-beta: Route Blinding with BOLT11 and Key Bugfixes

13 Sept

The Lightning Network Daemon (LND), a full implementation of a Lightning Network node by Lightning Labs, has released version v0.18.3-beta. This minor release includes essential bug fixes and enhancements, along with a focus on improving security and transaction privacy through route blinding.

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Key Features and Enhancements

Route Blinding with BOLT11: A significant feature in this update is support for route blinding with BOLT11 invoices. This addition enhances privacy by concealing the route taken by Lightning payments, making it harder for intermediaries to track transactions, thus improving overall security for users.
Bug Fixes: LND v0.18.3-beta addresses several key bugs that enhance overall node stability and performance. These include improvements to channel management, wallet initialization, and connection stability, ensuring a smoother experience for node operators and users alike.

Verifying the Release

Users are encouraged to verify the authenticity and integrity of the release using PGP keys. Detailed instructions are provided for verifying both the release signature and the corresponding sha256 hash. The inclusion of time-stamped files, which can be verified using OpenTimestamps, adds an additional layer of security to ensure that the binaries remain trustworthy even after the signing key expires.

For those using Docker, a verification script is included in the Docker images, allowing users to verify that the lnd and lncli binaries inside the image match the signed release binaries.

Reproducible Builds

LND v0.18.3-beta binaries are fully reproducible, meaning third parties can verify that the release binaries were correctly built from the source code. This guarantees that no changes were made to the software after the release manager compiled it.

Users can rebuild the release themselves using the provided vendor.tar.gz and lnd-source-v0.18.3-beta.tar.gz files. Instructions are available for compiling the binaries locally without the need to fetch additional dependencies.

Release Notes and Contributors

Detailed release notes are available on the Lightning Network’s GitHub repository, outlining all the changes and bug fixes included in this version. The update also credits contributors involved in the development, including prominent figures such as Olaoluwa Osuntokun and Oliver Gugger.

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