Disable Bpf loader V2 program deployment
- Idea
- Draft
- Review
- Accept
- Implement
- Active
Decision brief
Why this proposal matters
Disable BPF Loader V2 for program deployment.
Proposal at a glance
What changes
- Disable BPF Loader V2 for program deployment.
Stakeholder map
Who is affected
Builders & client teams Medium impact
New programs will no longer be deployable with Bpf loader V2. People will have to migrate their program deployment to a new Bpf loader, i.e. V3 or V4.
Action may be requiredValidators & operators Medium impact
New programs will no longer be deployable with Bpf loader V2. People will have to migrate their program deployment to a new Bpf loader, i.e. V3 or V4.
Action may be requiredUsers & stakers Impact unknown
No proposal-specific evidence was found for this group.
Action requirement unknownGovernance & ecosystem Impact unknown
No proposal-specific evidence was found for this group.
Action requirement unknownExact source revision
Full proposal document
f1f6c8b05dc2Summary
Disable BPF Loader V2 for program deployment.
Motivation
An account on solana network is defined by the following struct. In the
struct, the bool metadata field executable was used to indicate whether the
account is executable by program runtime.
pub struct Account {
pub lamports: u64,
pub data: Vec<u8>,
pub owner: Pubkey,
pub executable: bool,
pub rent_epoch: Epoch,
}
We want to deprecate the usage of executable metadata on accounts for program runtime. The new variant of Bpf loader (i.e. V3/V4 etc.) no longer requires executable metadata. However, the old Bpf loader (v2) still uses executable metadata during its program deployment. And this is a blocker for deprecating the usage of executable metadata for program runtime. Therefore, as we are migrating from the old Bpf loader V2 to the new Bpf loader (V3/V4), we are going to add a feature to disable old V2 Bpf program deployment so that we can activate the feature and deprecate executable metadata in program runtime for the new kinds of Bpf loaders.
Alternatives Considered
None
New Terminology
None
Detailed Design
When the feature - "disable bpf loader instructions" is activated, no program of bpf loader V2 can be deployed. Any such deployment attempt will result in a "UnsupportedProgramId" error.
The PR for this work is at https://github.com/solana-labs/solana/pull/34194
Impact
- New programs will no longer be deployable with Bpf loader V2. People will have to migrate their program deployment to a new Bpf loader, i.e. V3 or V4.
Security Considerations
Because when the feature is activated, people should have already migrated their new programs to Bpf loader V3/V4. And existing already-deployed Bpf loader V2 programs will still run correctly. Hence, there should be no security concerns.
Backwards Compatibility
Incompatible.
Evidence graph
Related proposals and rollout
One or more sources are unavailable.
Upstream review record
Upstream discussion & review
GitHub review is editorial context, not evidence of on-chain support, voting, or outcome.
PR #93 · merged SIMD-0093: Disable bpf loader (V2) instructions 11 comments and reviews · Jan 19, 2026useS suggestion executable metadata. However, the old Bpf loader (v2) still uses executable
GitHub ↗suggestion 1. New programs will no longer be deployable with Bpf loader V2. People will have
GitHub ↗suggestion to migrate their program deployment to a new Bpf loader, i.e. V3 or V4.
GitHub ↗We use the same terminology and feature gating structure on FD
GitHub ↗I will merge this SIMD, barring core contributor objections, on 11/01/2024, or as soon as labs signs off.
GitHub ↗I don't have write access to this repo. Can someone with write access to merge the PR?
GitHub ↗Looks like we've reached consensus. Thanks @HaoranYi!
GitHub ↗Looks good!
GitHub ↗Provenance
Evidence & technical details
Rollout or chain data, source revisions, freshness and integrity. 2
Provenance
Evidence & technical details
Rollout or chain data, source revisions, freshness and integrity.SIMD
Deployment Status
7WeS1vfPRgeeoXArLh7879YcB9mgE9ktjPDtajXeWfXnExact source revision
Sources & integrity
- Proposal document pinned_commit_blob
f1f6c8b05dc205552d3c290a854a438392701107 - simd-document document · stale · Oct 17, 2026
f1f6c8b05dc205552d3c290a854a438392701107
One or more sources are unavailable.
simd.watch community discussion · SIMD-0093
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