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The Dogecoin team has issued a critical reminder to the community to upgrade their nodes to the most recent version, 1.14.9, highlighting the importance of staying updated for the network’s health and security.

In a tweet, the official Dogecoin X account stated: "The best time to upgrade your node to 1.14.9 was almost 2 weeks ago, when it was released. The second best time is now."

The most recent release, Dogecoin Core 1.14.9, includes essential fixes for bugs that could impact the performance and reliability of the network. This update, released on Dec. 1, addresses vulnerabilities Dogecoin inherited from the Bitcoin and Namecoin repositories.

Along these lines, Mishaboar, a prominent Dogecoin community member, urges Dogecoin node operators to upgrade to version 1.14.9, which will improve the network's reliability.

Critical warning goes out

Michi Lumin, a Dogecoin Core developer, echoed the importance of the latest update in a detailed X post.

According to Lumin, the 1.14.9 update released two weeks ago saw a lot of uptake. However, a notable number of node operators have failed to update, believing their current setup suffices. 

While developers can release updates, it is up to the community to implement them. This collective effort guarantees the network remains robust and secure.

This comes amid recent reports that a hacker exploited a DOGE bug, crashing 69% of nodes and exposing a vulnerability that might have brought down the entire network. The total number of nodes reported was 647, which decreased to 247 following the incident.

X users refuted the inaccuracy in X Community Notes, claiming that the Dogecoin network has over 14,000 active nodes and that the flaw in question has been fixed, as of the latest Dogecoin Core release 1.14.9.

Lumin dismissed recent FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt), saying: "The numbers being talked about, while sensational, aren’t wholly accurate. But this should send a message: If you’re running a node full time, you need to keep it updated."

As reported in an earlier X post, Dogecoin developer Inevitable 360 issued an urgent alert to Dogecoin node operators shortly after the 1.14.9 release, citing a vulnerability disclosure that is addressed by the update.