[NEW]: ZK circuits exploits #1279
Description
Date
2026-02-27
Description
The first two known exploits against live ZK circuits just happened, and they weren't subtle underconstrained bugs.
They were Groth16 verifiers deployed without completing the trusted setup ceremony. One was white-hat rescued for ~$1.5M, the other drained for 5 ETH.
When you run groth16 setup, it initializes γ and δ to the G2 generator as a placeholder. You're expected to run zkey contribute to randomize δ. Skip that step, and your verifier accepts any proof.
Links
https://x.com/zksecurityXYZ/status/2027417243059896544
https://xcancel.com/zksecurityXYZ/status/2027417243059896544
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- I irrevocably agree to release my contribution under the CC-BY 3.0 License
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