# GossipSub: Attack-Resilient Message Propagation in the Filecoin and ETH2.0 Networks

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2007.02754 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2007.02754/

## Key facts

- Cited by 6 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 6 Jul 2020.

## Built on by (most cited first, 6 of 6)

- [Secure Distributed Training at Scale](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2106.11257/) (2021)
- [Backdoor Attacks in Peer-to-Peer Federated Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2301.09732/) (2023)
- [Distributed General-Purpose Agent Networks: Architecture, Key Mechanisms, and Prototypes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.17368/) (2026)
- [DEI: Diversity in Evolutionary Inference for Quality-Diversity Search](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.27130/) (2026)
- [Tikuna: An Ethereum Blockchain Network Security Monitoring System](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2310.09193/) (2023)
- [PANDA: A Decentralized Architecture with Flexible Orchestration for Scalable, Fault-Tolerant Multi-Agent Systems](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.38482/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Permissionless blockchain environments necessitate the use of a fast and attack-resilient message propagation protocol for Block and Transaction messages to keep nodes synchronised and avoid forks. We present GossipSub, a gossip-based pubsub protocol, which, in contrast to past pubsub protocols, incorporates resilience against a wide spectrum of attacks. Firstly, GossipSub's mesh construction implements an eager push model keeps the fan-out of the pubsub delivery low and balances excessive bandwidth consumption and fast message propagation throughout the mesh. Secondly, through gossip dissemination, GossipSub realises a lazy-pull model to reach nodes far-away or outside the mesh. Thirdly, through constant observation, nodes maintain a score profile for the peers they are connected to, allowing them to choose the most well-behaved nodes to include in the mesh. Finally, and most importantly, a number of tailor-made mitigation strategies designed specifically for these three components make GossipSub resilient against the most challenging Sybil-based attacks. We test GossipSub in a testbed environment involving more than 5000 VM nodes deployed on AWS and show that it stays immune to all considered attacks. GossipSub is currently being integrated as the main messaging layer protocol in the Filecoin and the Ethereum 2.0 (ETH2.0) blockchains.