76454 bc medium range program endofsource guard dead enabling trivial proof finalization halt

Submitted on May 4th 2026 at 14:00:56 UTC by @Blobism for Audit Comp | Base Azul

• Report ID: #76454

• Report Type: Blockchain/DLT

• Report severity: Medium

• Target: https://github.com/base/base/tree/v0.8.0-rc.28

• Impacts:

  • Network not being able to confirm new transactions (total network shutdown)

Description

Brief/Intro

crates/succinct/utils/client/src/client.rs:106 calls cfg.is_isthmus_active(driver.cursor.read().l2_safe_head().block_info.number). is_isthmus_active is a timestamp predicate; live-chain Isthmus timestamps are ~1.7×10⁹, while L2 block numbers are ~10⁷, so the guard is dead on every live chain. The EndOfSource arm therefore silently lowers target to the current safe head and returns Ok((safe_head_at_N, agreed_root, vec![])), which lets the SP1 range program publicly commit a BootInfoStruct with attacker-controlled l2BlockNumber = N+M and l2PreRoot == l2PostRoot. Any unprivileged user can mint such a trivial ZK proof and pair it against a legitimate ZK proposal at the same block number; the soundness-alert mechanism auto-nullifies both, halting finalization.

Vulnerability Details

crates/succinct/utils/client/src/client.rs:90-115:

let mut attributes = match driver.pipeline.produce_payload(tip_cursor.l2_safe_head).await {
    Ok(attrs) => attrs.take_inner(),
    Err(PipelineErrorKind::Critical(PipelineError::EndOfSource)) => {
        if target.is_some() {
            target = Some(tip_cursor.l2_safe_head.block_info.number);
        };
        // Intended hard-fail post-Isthmus — but reads `block_info.number`
        // where `is_isthmus_active` expects a timestamp.
        if cfg.is_isthmus_active(driver.cursor.read().l2_safe_head().block_info.number) {
            return Err(PipelineError::EndOfSource.crit().into());
        }
        continue;
    }
    ...
};

is_isthmus_active (crates/consensus/genesis/src/rollup.rs:217):

pub fn is_isthmus_active(&self, timestamp: u64) -> bool {
    self.hardforks.isthmus_time.is_some_and(|t| timestamp >= t)
        || self.is_jovian_active(timestamp)
}

Live chain Isthmus timestamps (crates/common/chains/src/config.rs): mainnet 1_746_806_401, sepolia 1_744_905_600, alpha 1_744_300_800 — all ≫ any plausible L2 block number. The guard never fires; the loop falls through to continue; and on the next iteration returns Ok((safe_head_at_N, agreed_root, vec![])) with zero blocks executed.

The witness-executor epilogue (crates/succinct/utils/client/src/witness/executor.rs:172) then validates only output_root == boot.claimed_l2_output_root, with no safe_head.block_info.number == boot.claimed_l2_block_number check. With attacker-set claimed = agreed = A, the equality holds. BootInfoStruct::new (crates/succinct/utils/client/src/boot.rs:36-58) copies boot_info.claimed_l2_block_number straight into the public values, so the SP1 proof publicly commits l2PreRoot == l2PostRoot == A, l2PreBlockNumber = N, l2BlockNumber = N+M.

Attack path

1

Pick the target proposal

Choose M > 0 targeting the next legitimate proposal at block N+M.

2

Force EndOfSource immediately

Pick an l1Head too old to contain L2 batch data past block N (any L1 block at or before block N's L1 origin). Derivation hits EndOfSource on the very first produce_payload. The aggregation program's l1_heads_map membership check (crates/succinct/programs/aggregation/src/main.rs:55-75) is satisfied by any ancestor of the latest L1 checkpoint.

3

Build the witness and proof

Build a witness with agreed = claimed = A, claimed_l2_block_number = N+M, and the chosen l1Head. Run SP1 range + aggregation.

4

Submit the competing dispute game

Submit a competing dispute game (rootClaim = A, l2BlockNumber = N+M) with the proof; AggregateVerifier._verifyZkProof (contracts/src/multiproof/AggregateVerifier.sol:917-932) accepts it.

5

Trigger soundness-alert nullification

The legitimate proposer's game (rootClaim = B, l2BlockNumber = N+M) has a real ZK proof. Two valid ZK proofs of the same parent and ending block number with different output roots → soundness-alert nullification. Repeat per legitimate proposal; finalization stalls indefinitely.

The TEE flow is not vulnerable (crates/proof/tee/nitro-enclave/src/server.rs::prove derives ending_l2_block from actually-executed blocks), but the soundness alert treats two valid ZK proofs as conclusively contradictory, which is enough.

Impact Details

Severity: Critical — total network shutdown. Permissionless, indefinitely repeatable, halts L2 finalization and L1 withdrawals. Recovery requires a code patch + operator deployment.

References

base/base commit: e3467a2048881213b56739a54a876efb9c6ea103 (v0.8.0-rc.28)

• Vulnerable guard: crates/succinct/utils/client/src/client.rs:106.

• Timestamp predicate: crates/consensus/genesis/src/rollup.rs:217-220.

• BlockInfo struct (separate number/timestamp): crates/consensus/protocol/src/block.rs:27-36.

• Output-root-only epilogue check: crates/succinct/utils/client/src/witness/executor.rs:172.

• BootInfoStruct::new copies attacker-controlled claimed_l2_block_number: crates/succinct/utils/client/src/boot.rs:36-58.

• On-chain ZK verifier journal layout: contracts/src/multiproof/AggregateVerifier.sol:917-932.

• Per-chain Isthmus timestamps: crates/common/chains/src/config.rs:166, 232, 289.

• Soundness-alert nullification.

Link to Proof of Concept

https://gist.github.com/blobism/35c85ce1cee3fa7c519b6c0bc2d9aff0

Proof of Concept

Note: 142 is an arbitrary bug number that can be ignored.

Get the PoC Gist: https://gist.github.com/blobism/35c85ce1cee3fa7c519b6c0bc2d9aff0

git clone [e-mail]:base/base.git --branch v0.8.0-rc.28
cd base

# apply patch
git apply poc.diff

cargo test -p base-succinct-client-utils --test poc_142_bug1 -- --nocapture

The branch adds one integration-test file (crates/succinct/utils/client/tests/poc_142_bug1.rs) and two dev-deps to crates/succinct/utils/client/Cargo.toml (tokio, base-common-rpc-types-engine). No production source files modified.

Test 1 — type_confusion_makes_isthmus_guard_dead_on_mainnet_shape

Calls RollupConfig::is_isthmus_active directly on a mainnet-shaped config (isthmus_time = Some(1_746_806_401)).

• is_isthmus_active(30_000_000) == false — typical L2 tip block number is treated as pre-Isthmus.

• is_isthmus_active(1_746_806_401) == true — confirms the predicate is a timestamp predicate when fed a timestamp.

Test 2 — advance_to_target_returns_ok_on_end_of_source_with_unmet_target

A FakePipeline whose produce_payload always returns PipelineError::EndOfSource.crit(), paired with a FakeExecutor whose four methods are unreachable!(). Cursor is seeded with safe head at block_info.number = 30_000_000, block_info.timestamp = MAINNET_ISTHMUS_TIMESTAMP + 100_000 (post-Isthmus). Calls advance_to_target(&mut driver, &cfg, Some(N + 1_000), 1).await.

Asserted: result is Ok, returned safe head is N (not the target N + 1_000), output root is the agreed root, intermediate roots is empty, and FakeExecutor's methods were never reached.

proved: advance_to_target returned Ok(safe_head=30000000, root=0xaa..aa,
  intermediate=[]) on EndOfSource with target=30001000
test advance_to_target_returns_ok_on_end_of_source_with_unmet_target ... ok

Test 3 — boot_info_struct_commits_false_claim

Builds a BootInfo with agreed = claimed = A, claimed_l2_block_number = N + 1_000, feeds it to BootInfoStruct::new(boot, N, vec![]). Asserts l2PreRoot == l2PostRoot == A, l2PreBlockNumber = N, l2BlockNumber = N + 1_000 — the public values the SP1 range program would commit, attesting to zero state change across 1000 blocks.

proved: BootInfoStruct{ l2PreRoot=0xaa..aa, l2PostRoot=0xaa..aa,
  l2PreBlockNumber=30000000, l2BlockNumber=30001000 } — false claim committed
test boot_info_struct_commits_false_claim ... ok