CVE-2025-58157
📋 TL;DR
A denial of service vulnerability exists in gnark versions 0.12.0 where the fake-GLV algorithm for scalar multiplication fails to converge quickly for certain inputs, causing excessive resource consumption. This affects systems using gnark for zero-knowledge proof computations. The vulnerability can be exploited by attackers providing malicious inputs to trigger the slow convergence.
💻 Affected Systems
- gnark
- gnark-crypto
📦 What is this software?
Gnark by Consensys
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete service unavailability due to CPU exhaustion from infinite or extremely long computation loops, potentially affecting all gnark-dependent services.
Likely Case
Degraded performance or temporary service disruption when processing specific malicious inputs, requiring service restarts.
If Mitigated
Minimal impact with proper input validation and resource limits, though some performance degradation may still occur.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires crafting specific mathematical inputs that trigger the slow convergence, which may require understanding of the algorithm's implementation.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 0.13.0
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/Consensys/gnark/security/advisories/GHSA-9fvj-xqr2-xwg8
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Update gnark to version 0.13.0 or later using 'go get github.com/consensys/gnark@v0.13.0'. 2. Update gnark-crypto to latest version. 3. Rebuild and redeploy applications. 4. Restart services using gnark.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Input validation and sanitization
allImplement strict input validation to reject potentially malicious inputs before processing with gnark.
Resource limiting
allSet CPU time limits or computation timeouts for gnark operations to prevent DoS.
// Example Go code: context.WithTimeout(ctx, time.Second*10)
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict input validation and sanitization for all gnark inputs
- Deploy resource limits and timeouts on gnark computation operations
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check if gnark version is exactly 0.12.0. Review code for use of fake-GLV scalar multiplication.Check Version:
go list -m github.com/consensys/gnarkVerify Fix Applied:
Verify gnark version is 0.13.0 or later and gnark-crypto is updated. Test with known problematic inputs.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Excessive CPU usage by gnark processes
- Long-running computation operations
- Process timeouts or crashes
Network Indicators:
- Unusually large or complex mathematical inputs to gnark endpoints
SIEM Query:
process.name:"gnark" AND (cpu.usage > 90% OR duration > 30s)