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CVE-2025-61588 — risc0-zkvm-platform

Fix: risc0/risc0@3f00e1f

CVE-2025-61588 is a Code Injection vulnerability in risc0-zkvm-platform. A fix is available for risc0-zkvm-platform — see the affected versions and patch details below.

risc0 vulnerable to arbitrary code execution in guest via memory safety failure in `sys_read`

Also known asGHSA-jqq4-c7wq-36h7
Published
Updated
Affected
5 pkgs
Patched
5 / 5
Exploits
None indexed
Exploitation data as of Nov 4, 2026 · OSV.dev, NVD, FIRST.org (EPSS)

Exploitation Status

No confirmed exploitation observed yet

  • CISA assesses this as automatable — exploitation doesn’t require manual, per-target effort, which raises the odds of mass scanning and opportunistic attacks.
  • A successful exploit gives an attacker total control of the affected component, not partial access.
  • CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.

Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2025-61588.

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗
0.5%probability of exploitation in next 30 days
Lower Risk0.00%
Lower risk than most CVEs40th percentile — riskier than 40% of all scored CVEsHighest risk
0.00%0.32%0.64%0.96%0.1%0.5%May 26Sep 26Nov 26

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.

Real-World Exposure

5 pkgs affected
🦀risc0-zkvm-platform🦀risc0-zkos-v1compat🦀risc0-aggregation🦀risc0-zkvm🦀risc0-zkvm

Real-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects crates.io packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.

Description

Arbitrary code execution in guest via memory safety failure in sys_read

In affected versions of risc0-zkvm-platform, when the zkVM guest calls sys_read, the host is able to use a crafted response to write to an arbitrary memory location in the guest. This capability can be leveraged to execute arbitrary code within the guest. As sys_read is the mechanism by which input is requested by the guest, all guest programs built with the affected versions are vulnerable. This critically compromises the soundness guarantees of the guest program.

A fix was applied in #3351. The vulnerable pointer arithmetic was removed, and replaced with a simplified implementation in the v1compat kernel which uses Rust’s slice functions to guarantee memory safety.

The fix has been released as part of risc0-zkvm versions 2.3.2 and 3.0.3. All prior versions are affected.

Remediation

All developers of zkVM applications should update their guests to use risc0-zkvm versions ^2.3.2 or ^3.0.3.

This upgrade can be accomplished by editing all Cargo.toml files in the following way.

  • Any references to risc0-zkvm should use version specifiers ”2.3.2” or ”3.0.3”.
  • Any references to risc0-build should use version specifiers ”2.3.2” or ”3.0.3”, matching risc0-zkvm.
  • Any references to risc0-zkvm-platform should use version specifier ”2.1.0” or later. Most projects will not have direct references to this crate.

Rebuild your application including the guest. You can run the following command to check that the patch is applied:

# Provide the path to your guest Cargo.toml. Should report risc0-zkvm-platform >=v2.1.0
cargo tree --depth 0 -p risc0-zkvm-platform --manifest-path path/to/methods/guest/Cargo.toml

Any applications that use the image ID of this guest need to be updated with the newly built image ID.

Note that there are no changes to the RISC Zero proof system or circuits. Provers are not required to take any action. Users of the Groth16 smart contract verifier and the RISC Zero Verifier Router are not required to take any action beyond updating their guest programs.

Any applications using the risc0-aggregation crate or the RiscZeroSetVerifier smart contract should update to version >=0.9. This application includes a zkVM guest, which is vulnerable in versions prior to 0.9. Instances of the RiscZeroSetVerifier operated by RISC Zero have been disabled via the estop mechanism outlined in the Verifier Management Design.

Affected Packages

5 total 5 fixed
EcosystemPackageVulnerable rangeFix
🦀crates.iorisc0-zkvm-platformall versions2.1.0cargo update -p risc0-zkvm-platform --precise 2.1.0
🦀crates.iorisc0-zkos-v1compatall versions2.1.0cargo update -p risc0-zkos-v1compat --precise 2.1.0
🦀crates.iorisc0-aggregationall versions0.9cargo update -p risc0-aggregation --precise 0.9
🦀crates.iorisc0-zkvmall versions2.3.2cargo update -p risc0-zkvm --precise 2.3.2
🦀crates.iorisc0-zkvm≥ 3.0.0&&< 3.0.33.0.3cargo update -p risc0-zkvm --precise 3.0.3

Detection & mitigation playbook

Open-source dependency

  1. Detect

    Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for risc0-zkvm-platform, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.

  2. Fix

    Update risc0-zkvm-platform to 2.1.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2025-61588 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.

  3. Workarounds

    Stop passing untrusted input into the interpreter or shell: call the affected binary with an argument array rather than a composed command string, reject anything outside a strict allowlist of expected values, and run the component under an account that cannot reach beyond the work it legitimately does.

Frequently Asked Questions

# Arbitrary code execution in guest via memory safety failure in `sys_read` In affected versions of `risc0-zkvm-platform`, when the zkVM guest calls `sys_read`, the host is able to use a crafted response to write to an arbitrary memory location in the guest. This capability can be leveraged to execute arbitrary code within the guest. As `sys_read` is the mechanism by which input is requested by the guest, all guest programs built with the affected versions are vulnerable. This critically compromises the soundness guarantees of the guest program. A fix was applied in [\#3351](https://github.c
O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

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CVE-2025-61588: risc0-zkvm-platform RCE — Fixed in 2.1.0