GHSA-5xgj-pmjj-gw49 — risc0-zkvm
GHSA-5xgj-pmjj-gw49 is a security vulnerability in risc0-zkvm. No vendor fix is recorded yet; mitigation options are listed below.
RISC Zero zkVM notes on zero-knowledge
Real-World Exposure
risc0-zkvmReal-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
RISC Zero zkVM was designed from its inception to provide three main guarantees:
- Computational integrity: that a given software program executed correctly.
- Succinctness: that the proof of execution does not grow in relation to the program being executed.
- Zero Knowledge: that details of the program execution are not visible within the proof of program execution.
Ulrich Habock and Al Kindi have released new research that indicates that several STARK implementations -including our RISC Zero zkVM- do not meet the requirements to assert the specific property of zero knowledge provably.
While a vast majority of real-world applications that leverage RISC Zero zkVM or similar systems depend primarily on computational integrity and succinctness, a subset of applications critically depend on the privacy guarantees provided by zero-knowledge; and for those use cases, users are cautioned to understand the research and make informed decisions based on the risks outlined in using an impacted system.
Although the maintainers are not aware of any attacks that can take advantage of this potential weakness, they are working to proactively address this discovery as quickly as possible.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🦀crates.io | risc0-zkvm | all versions | No fix |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for risc0-zkvm, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Remediation status
No patched version of risc0-zkvm has shipped for GHSA-5xgj-pmjj-gw49 yet. Where your build allows, override or pin the dependency away from the vulnerable range, and apply any maintainer-recommended mitigation.
Mitigate without a patch
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like GHSA-5xgj-pmjj-gw49 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-5xgj-pmjj-gw49. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-5xgj-pmjj-gw49 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-5xgj-pmjj-gw49 across crates.io dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.