Release Notes for [release-2026-02-20_12-29-base](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/tree/release-2026-02-20_12-29-base) (`007c473c9c7fc820c49eea5c823cdd4b9404119d`)
This release is based on changes since [release-2026-02-12_20-24-base](https://dashboard.internetcomputer.org/release/c016162d2861e5ad6260d4f62c511a3e5cef5a31) (`c016162d2861e5ad6260d4f62c511a3e5cef5a31`).

Please note that some commits may be excluded from this release if they're not relevant, or not modifying the GuestOS image.
Additionally, descriptions of some changes might have been slightly modified to fit the release notes format.

To see a full list of commits added since last release, compare the revisions on [GitHub](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/compare/release-2026-02-12_20-24-base...release-2026-02-20_12-29-base).
## Features:
* [`2e94a704d`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/2e94a704d) Consensus: Move `IDkgTranscript` creation into the client thread ([#8880](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8880))
* [`3419a4020`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/3419a4020) Consensus(recovery): support early recoveries ([#8846](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8846))
* [`b55f92fc3`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/b55f92fc3) Consensus: Allow IDKG transcripts to be stored in artifact pool ([#8878](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8878))
* [`c5256b7d0`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/c5256b7d0) Consensus: Introduce payload field for early remote NiDKG transcripts ([#8644](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8644))
* [`19b698314`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/19b698314) Consensus: [,,] add some load metrics to `CanisterMetrics` in the replicated states + tools which use them ([#8082](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8082))
* [`dae366b0f`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/dae366b0f) Consensus,Interface,DSM: Add list of subnet admin principals in SubnetRecord ([#8731](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8731))
* [`6b50b021f`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/6b50b021f) Consensus,DSM(outcalls): prepare support for PUT/DELETE in http_request ([#8715](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8715))
* [`dfad674f7`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/dfad674f7) Interface: add node reward type4 for cloud engines ([#8614](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8614))
* [`ed426754c`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/ed426754c) Node: update-config component for NO private key ([#8834](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8834))
* [`96fb0f83d`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/96fb0f83d) DSM: Add subnet type to state tree ([#8924](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8924))
* [`35e6579ef`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/35e6579ef) DSM(canister_logging): add log_memory_store to system_state ([#8336](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8336))
* [`1cef32f27`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/1cef32f27) DSM: Wrap `CanisterStates` in `Arcs` ([#8839](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8839))
## Bugfixes:
* [`c2ab23fa0`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/c2ab23fa0) Consensus: don't handle duplicate IDKG artifacts as invalid ([#8928](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8928))
* [`690ea2ba9`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/690ea2ba9) Consensus(node): registration error truncation ([#8907](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8907))
* [`2e1979ac5`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/2e1979ac5) Consensus,Node,DSM: revert "chore: update repo to use ic-agent 0.45 and resolve conflicts from cargo update ([#8816](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8816))" ([#8908](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8908))
* [`1516ac4d6`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/1516ac4d6) Node: Populate NNS key early on ([#8936](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8936))
* [`833f7fafa`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/833f7fafa) Node: revert "chore: Misc podman cleanup ([#8629](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8629))" ([#8940](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8940))
* [`f5747a704`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/f5747a704) Node: create recovery user homedir and update selinux policies ([#8817](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8817))
* [`d6d8880c9`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/d6d8880c9) Node: Regenerate missed fixtures after config change ([#8851](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8851))
* [`9099eb51e`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/9099eb51e) DSM: force None page_map in log_memory_store when feature is disabled ([#8959](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8959))
* [`1aa3f721a`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/1aa3f721a) DSM: Fix flaky sandbox eviction tests ([#8903](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8903))
## Performance improvements:
* [`e9538da86`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/e9538da86) Consensus(crypto): Small optimizations for Lagrange interpolation ([#8822](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8822))
* [`a1a367e9f`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/a1a367e9f) Consensus(crypto): Allow passing points as references to BLS12-381 multi-scalar mul ([#8818](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8818))
* [`3edb5a5d1`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/3edb5a5d1) Consensus(crypto): Add TODO comments to NIDKG signposting parallelization ([#8831](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8831))
## Chores:
* [`785dc297c`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/785dc297c) Consensus: Fix flaky vetKD unit test ([#8914](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8914))
* [`c0cf56e4e`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/c0cf56e4e) Consensus: Add a metric counting the number of `IDkgTranscript`s in the pool ([#8909](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8909))
* [`73df3e5ba`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/73df3e5ba) Consensus(crypto): Adapt CSPRNG to use Seed derivation ([#8510](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8510))
* [`902c26838`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/902c26838) Consensus: Avoid cloning `IDkgPayload` fields when converting from protobuf ([#8836](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8836))
* [`231e51512`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/231e51512) Consensus: Avoid cloning `ConsensusMessage`s when converting to protobuf ([#8844](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8844))
* [`68703a7a1`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/68703a7a1) Consensus: Avoid cloning hashes when converting message IDs from protobuf ([#8837](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8837))
* [`bd62b477c`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/bd62b477c) Consensus: Stop accessing matched pre-signature ID ([#8732](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8732))
* [`dcfb0d577`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/dcfb0d577) Consensus: Avoid cloning IDKG artifacts when converting from/to protobuf ([#8827](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8827))
* [`0b9264f67`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/0b9264f67) Consensus,Node,DSM: roll forward 8816 with tests fixing ([#8923](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8923))
* [`c4c82594d`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/c4c82594d) Consensus,Node,DSM: update repo to use ic-agent 0.45 and resolve conflicts from cargo update ([#8816](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8816))
* [`8c7ae33fc`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/8c7ae33fc) Consensus,DSM: collect replica logs in ExecutionTest framework ([#8860](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8860))
* [`cbb9c35a3`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/cbb9c35a3) Owners: bump some py & rs libs ([#8857](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8857))
* [`87c014d66`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/87c014d66) Node: Migrate away from custom ic_metrics_tool crate ([#8927](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8927))
* [`5baabdce4`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/5baabdce4) Node: Misc podman cleanup ([#8629](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8629))
* [`f9048ef26`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/f9048ef26) DSM: remove rules_rust test env patch ([#8963](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8963))
* [`6140e1df3`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/6140e1df3) DSM: Rename `canister_state_mut()` -> `canister_state_make_mut()` ([#8915](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8915))
* [`16983e826`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/16983e826) DSM: Remove unnecessary argument from `commit_and_certify` ([#8765](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8765))
## Refactoring:
* [`39ccb85fa`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/39ccb85fa) Interface: Const getters ([#8866](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8866))
* [`d4d0ea7ac`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/d4d0ea7ac) DSM: `RoundSchedule` cleanup ([#8901](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8901))
* [`cd3825f97`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/cd3825f97) DSM: Split off `ReplicatedState` metrics from `SchedulerMetrics` ([#8913](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8913))
* [`1b5f2ce7e`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/1b5f2ce7e) DSM: Encapsulate NetworkTopology ([#8828](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8828))
* [`c5cc1a38b`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/c5cc1a38b) DSM: Misc cleanup preparing scheduler refactor ([#8868](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8868))
* [`6ffb08c8d`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/6ffb08c8d) DSM: charge for compilation instructions in a separate InstallCodeHelper step ([#8861](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8861))
* [`b76fc592a`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/b76fc592a) DSM: Nicer scheduler metrics ([#8838](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8838))
## Tests:
* [`f06c54707`](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/commit/f06c54707) Consensus(crypto): make threshold_keygen_for_test a pure test utility ([#8695](https://github.com/dfinity/ic/pull/8695))
## Other changes:
Full list of changes (including the ones that are not relevant to GuestOS) can be found on [GitHub](https://github.com/dfinity/dre/blob/ccc24eb097dd50846d855e3655193a502f0b5534/replica-releases/007c473c9c7fc820c49eea5c823cdd4b9404119d.md).

# IC-OS Verification

To build and verify the IC-OS GuestOS disk image, after installing curl if necessary (`sudo apt install curl`), run:

```
# From https://github.com/dfinity/ic#verifying-releases
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dfinity/ic/007c473c9c7fc820c49eea5c823cdd4b9404119d/ci/scripts/repro-check | python3 - -c 007c473c9c7fc820c49eea5c823cdd4b9404119d --guestos
```

The two SHA256 sums printed above from a) the downloaded CDN image and b) the locally built image, must be identical, and must match the SHA256 from the payload of the NNS proposal.

While not required for this NNS proposal, as we are only electing a new GuestOS version here, you have the option to verify the build reproducibility of the HostOS by passing `--hostos` to the script above instead of `--guestos`, or the SetupOS by passing `--setupos`.
