TLDR
- XRP Ledger developers have proposed four fixes to close gaps in issuer approval requirements for restricted tokens.
- The changes would strengthen checks on trading pool shares and token transfers, preventing unapproved accounts from acquiring restricted assets through exceptions.
- Holders without approval would generally only be able to return affected tokens to the issuer, unless the issuer authorizes their account.
- The proposals are not live on mainnet. The XRP Ledger Foundation described the work as routine protocol hardening and reported no known outsider exploitation of the remaining exceptions.
XRP Ledger Developers Target Token Approval Gaps
XRP Ledger developers are proposing tighter controls over who can receive and hold tokens that require issuer authorization.
The four proposed fixes are grouped under an amendment called fixCleanup3_5_0. They aim to make existing approval requirements apply consistently across different ways tokens move through the network.
Issuers of assets such as regulated stablecoins or tokenized funds can require approval before an account holds their tokens. This allows an issuer to conduct identity checks or apply other eligibility requirements.
That authorization is recorded on a trust line, the connection an account establishes to hold another party’s issued token.
The proposed changes address exceptions in how those requirements are enforced. They concern restricted issued tokens, rather than introducing an issuer-approval requirement for holding native XRP.
Trading Pool Shares Face Stronger Checks
One proposed fix would require an account to have the necessary authorization for both assets in an automated market maker pool before acquiring its liquidity provider token.
These pool shares, often called LP tokens, represent a claim on the assets held inside the pool.
Developers identified a gap between depositing directly into a pool and receiving its LP tokens through another route. Although deposits already required the relevant authorizations, transfers of pool shares could allow an unapproved account to gain exposure to restricted assets.
The proposal extends checks across those acquisition routes, including payments, trading offers and NFT offers involving LP tokens.
The aim is to ensure that receiving a pool share cannot bypass the approval requirements attached to its underlying assets.
Existing Balances Would No Longer Bypass Authorization
A second proposal addresses an exception involving trust lines that already carry a token balance.
Under the behavior developers identified, an authorization check in the payment engine applied when a trust line’s balance was zero. A line that already held tokens could continue receiving more despite lacking approval.
The fix would prevent unauthorized trust lines from receiving additional restricted tokens through that route.
The broader package also seeks to keep authorization rules consistent across existing and future XRP Ledger features.
For an account already holding restricted tokens without approval, the proposed rules would generally allow those tokens to be returned to their issuer. The issuer could subsequently approve the holder’s trust line and restore normal use.
Foundation Says Work Is Unrelated to a Security Incident
The XRP Ledger Foundation described the proposals as routine improvements to protocol safeguards.
Speaking to CoinDesk, Hussein “Vet” Zangana, the foundation’s director of community and product, said the discussion concerned the guarantees the protocol should provide, rather than a report of affected users.
According to Zangana, known unauthorized balances originated from payments by issuers themselves or accounts those issuers had previously approved. The foundation said it knew of no balance created by an outside party exploiting the remaining exceptions.
Developers have also examined earlier routes involving NFT trades, including an issue addressed in August 2025.
XRP Ledger Changes Still Require Validator Support
As of the October 30 report, the four fixes had not been merged into the network’s main software or activated on mainnet.
Software inclusion would be only one step toward implementation. The amendment would also need sustained support from the network’s trusted validators for two consecutive weeks before activation.
Validator approval is also central to other network changes, including the separately proposed XRP Ledger Batch upgrade.
If adopted, the restricted-token fixes would give issuers more consistent enforcement of their existing approval requirements. For holders, the practical distinction would be whether their account has the issuer’s authorization.
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