Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessConnect as admitted unauthenticated P2P peer
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DeliveryGet selected to serve body near final checkpoint
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ExploitDeliver forged checkpoint block body with expected hash
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ExecutionPoison sent-hash set as rejected-but-present
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ImpactNode stops requesting blocks, sync stalls until restart
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Incomplete cleanup
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| Exploitation Conditions | Exploitable only when the target runs zebrad 6.4.2 or earlier (or 7.0.0-rc.0) with checkpoint_sync=true (the default) AND is performing initial sync or resync within roughly 3,000 blocks below the final compiled checkpoint; nodes already past the final checkpoint or finished syncing are not exposed. The attacker must be an admitted P2P peer that gets selected to serve just one block body in that recording window - no race or authentication is needed (PR:N, AC:L), and per the advisory the delivery needs no timing precision. Limiting factors that reduce real-world risk: the stale markers live only in memory so a restart fully recovers, impact is a single syncing node per delivery, there is no persisted bad state/fork/funds impact, and zebrad 7.0.0 is not affected. |
| Impact | This is a remote, unauthenticated, availability-only denial-of-service against the Zebra Zcash node, and the signals are internally consistent. The input CVSS 4.0 vector (AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N, VC:N/VI:N/VA:H, score 8.7) and the vendor's CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H, 7.5) both confirm no confidentiality or integrity impact - only availability. The higher 4.0 number reflects scoring-model differences, not a worse real-world outcome; the practical impact is identical. SSVC-style signals temper the urgency: vuln.today assigns 'this_week' (not act_now/emergency), and the impact is narrow - one syncing node per delivery, no persisted invalid state, no fork, no funds affected, and a simple restart recovers progress. No EPSS score was provided and the CVE is not on CISA KEV, so there is no evidence of active exploitation; exploitation status is 'no public exploit identified at time of analysis.' The exposure window is also inherently limited: only nodes mid-sync within ~3,000 blocks of the final checkpoint are affected, and already-synced nodes are not exposed. Net assessment: a credible, low-complexity DoS worth patching on a normal cycle, but not a high-urgency widespread threat - the combination of availability-only impact, niche product footprint, and no exploitation evidence keeps real-world priority moderate despite the 8.7 headline number. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | A node operator starts or resyncs zebrad (pre-7.0.0, default checkpoint_sync=true) and reaches within ~3,000 blocks of the final compiled checkpoint. An admitted but malicious P2P peer is selected to serve one block body and returns a body carrying the expected block hash but forged authorizing data; because the hash is recorded in the sent-hash set before the deferred authorizing-data check rejects it, the node believes it already has that block and everything above it and stops requesting them, stalling sync until restart. A production-stack reproducer was described by the reporter, but no public working exploit code is referenced in the available data. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Nov 08, 2026
Initial sync in the Zcash Zebra node (zebrad 6.4.2 and earlier, plus 7.0.0-rc.0) can be stalled indefinitely by a single unauthenticated P2P peer that serves one forged checkpoint block body, causing the node to treat missing blocks as already downloaded and stop requesting them until the process is restarted. Only nodes with checkpoint_sync=true (the default) that are syncing from scratch or resyncing within roughly 3,000 blocks below the final compiled checkpoint are exposed; fully synced nodes and zebrad 7.0.0 are not affected. Impact is availability-only on one syncing node per delivery, with no invalid state written to disk, no chain fork and no funds impact; no public exploit code and no confirmed active exploitation were identified at time of analysis, and the vendor advisory credits multiple independent discoverers who built a working reproducer.
RemediationAI
Vendor-released patch: upgrade to zebrad 7.0.0, which is not affected. In that release the finalized reset now carries the durable tip height; on a reset the state clears its sent-hash set, fails every block still queued above the tip so the syncer downloads them again, and rejects blocks arriving before the next valid height, with both the KnownBlock and AwaitUtxo paths applying pending resets before answering. The companion fix for GHSA-2w9f-9wx8-f5c8, shipped in the same 7.0.0 release, keeps the checkpoint verifier's own reset from being lost so recovery does not depend on sync-restart timing. The advisory states there is no patched 6.4.x release, so affected operators must move to 7.0.0. The only documented workaround is operational: if sync stops advancing during initial sync near the final checkpoint, restart the node - the stale sent-hash markers are held in memory only and a restart rebuilds progress from the valid durable prefix - then upgrade to 7.0.0 to remove the exposure; no invalid state is persisted, so no chain repair is required. See https://github.com/ZcashFoundation/zebra/security/advisories/GHSA-9hq5-pfgc-cx5h for details.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in euvd
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Technical ContextAI · show details
Zebra is the Zcash Foundation's Rust implementation of a Zcash full node, and the flaw is a CWE-459 incomplete cleanup in its checkpoint-verification and state-commit pipeline. Since Zcash NU5/ZIP 244, a block hash does not commit to the authorizing data of its transactions, so a body with forged authorizing data still carries the expected block hash. The checkpoint verifier (zebra-consensus/src/checkpoint.rs, process_height) selects a queued body by hash alone and deliberately defers the authorizing-data commitment check to the state service; near the final compiled checkpoint, zebra-state (queue_and_commit_to_finalized_state via SentHashes::add_finalized) records the block's hash and outputs in its sent-hash set before handing the block to the finalized writer, which then runs the chain-history authorizing-data check in commit_finalized and rejects the forged body. The rejection path only reset the durable tip and silently dropped queued descendants, without removing the rejected hash from the sent-hash set - the cleanup that exists for the non-finalized writer (added for GHSA-4m69-67m6-prqp and GHSA-x93j-mj2f-q338) had no finalized counterpart. Consequently Request::KnownBlock kept answering WriteChannel (present) for those hashes, and the syncer and inbound downloader treated the blocks as already held. The GHSA-3c94-hf7p-g5mf peer-scoring fix in 6.4.0 causes the syncer to re-request from a different peer, but the state still answers present, so 6.4.x remains stalled. Note that the supplied tag set labels this 'Information Disclosure', which does not reflect the actual assessed impact of availability loss.
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Severity by source
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Unauthenticated remote peer (PR:N) delivers one body with no race (AC:L, AV:N); impact is sync stall only, so C:N/I:N/A:H and no scope change.
Primary rating from Vendor (VulnCheck).
CVSS VectorVendor: VulnCheck
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionCVE.org
Zebra before 7.0.0 contains an incomplete cleanup vulnerability that allows unauthenticated peers to stall initial sync by serving a forged checkpoint block body. Attackers can supply a body with forged authorizing data near the final checkpoint, leaving rejected hashes in the sent-hash set so the node stops requesting blocks until restart.
Technical POC Analysis
CWE-459 (Incomplete Cleanup), in the checkpoint-to-finalized-state pipeline of zebrad (Rust, ZcashFoundation/zebra).
Full technical POC analysis - root cause, step-by-step exploitation and patch breakdown - is part of the Pro and Business plans.
Executive ViewAI
A high-severity availability flaw in Zcash Zebra nodes (zebrad ≤6.4.2 and 7.0.0-rc.0) allows a single unauthenticated peer to stall initial sync by serving a forged checkpoint, potentially delaying node readiness and operational visibility. Leadership should prioritize because syncing nodes are core infrastructure for chain monitoring and services; affected nodes may require manual restart, increasing operational cost and risk of service disruption.
No vendor-released patch identified at time of analysis. Interim mitigations include setting checkpoint_sync=false on affected syncing nodes, restricting P2P connectivity to trusted peers, and monitoring for sync stalls requiring process restarts.
Threat Intelligence Overview
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Denial of Service attacks render applications or systems unavailable by overwhelming resources or triggering failure conditions.
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EUVD-2026-119445
GHSA-53c4-wq6g-vxqh
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Exploit-DB