OpenVM: MemoryMerkleAir allows below-leaf rows to alter memory roots
- Last modified
- Where the record stands: published, rejected by its publisher, or superseded by another id.What do these mean? →
- published
- Whether CISA lists it in its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog: proof that attackers are using it.What do these mean? →
- Not listed in CISA KEV
- How many real-world setups can hit the bug, from the vendor's advisory and CISA data. It does not know your setup.What do these mean? →
- Unclear
- Fix
- Fixed in 1.7.0, 2.0.0-rc.3, 2.1.0-preview
- Whether working attack code is public (Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei or GitHub). Public code makes attacks easier.What do these mean? →
- None on Exploit-DB, Metasploit or GitHub
Summary
OpenVM, a zero-knowledge virtual machine (zkVM) framework, is affected, including its 1.x releases and 2.0 and 2.1 prereleases. A malicious prover can exploit a flaw in its memory Merkle checks to alter the committed memory root without a matching memory operation, which undermines the soundness of proofs that rely on persistent memory across continuation segments.
Summarized by anthropic/claude-haiku-5.5. Verify details against the original sources.
Read the original description
OpenVM is a performant and modular zkVM framework built for customization and extensibility. Before 1.7.0 in the 1.x line and in affected 2.0 and 2.1 prereleases, `MemoryMerkleAir` does not forbid Merkle expansion rows at `parent_height` = 0 or below while `expand_direction` != 0. A malicious prover can fabricate a subtree below a memory leaf and swap digests inside that subtree to change the committed memory root without a corresponding memory operation. The fraudulent rows still balance against the Merkle and compression buses and require no memory-bus operation for the changed leaf. Because the memory Merkle root binds VM memory state across continuation segment boundaries, this affects the soundness of OpenVM proofs using persistent memory. This issue is fixed in versions 1.7.0, 2.0.0-rc.3 and 2.1.0-preview.
Timeline
- CVE published
- First seen by cve.now
Affected versions
- openvm-org openvm
fixed in 1.7.0; From 2.0.0-alpha · fixed in 2.0.0-rc.3; From 2.1.0-dev.0 · fixed in 2.1.0-preview