ZK/SEC Research notes from zkSecurity
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announcement · zk

zkBank: you think you have what it takes to work at zkSecurity?

zkbank

We're always on the lookout for passionate people to join us to work on the most exciting projects in the ZK space. If you love finding bugs and are interested in ZK, you might want to take our new challenge: zkBank.

This challenge is for everyone, and you'll have to learn a bit of everything to solve it. If you think you have what it takes, then give it a go: https://github.com/zksecurity/zkBank/tree/main

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Optimizing Cryptography with AI

Many of us are using AI to generate code. Vibe coding cryptography is especially sensitive - you have to uphold strict mathematical correctness. This can lead to wrong security guarantees and soundness bugs. We will discuss what are some patterns to do it well.

Kobi Gurkan · August 11, 2026

Introducing zkvmBlast: Differential Fuzzing for Ethereum's zkVMs

zkVMs are moving to the center of Ethereum's roadmap, which means a bug in a zkVM is turning into a bug in Ethereum itself. We built zkvmBlast, a zkVM-agnostic differential fuzzer that runs the same program across SP1, RISC0, OpenVM, Pico, Zisk, and Airbender against a reference simulator and flags any disagreement. It hunts for both soundness and completeness bugs, with a deliberate focus on completeness, an under-explored class that can turn a single valid block into a liveness failure. We share the first batch of findings.

Stefanos Chaliasos, Martín Ochoa, Varun Thakore · August 10, 2026

Circom-Auditor: Open-Source Skills for Finding Vulnerabilities in Circom Code

We are releasing zk-skills, a set of open-source security skills for AI coding agents, starting with circom-auditor: a first line of defense against vulnerabilities in Circom circuits, compatible with both Claude Code and Codex. On the zkbugs benchmark it detects up to 66 of 70 known bugs when pointed at the vulnerable circuits, and up to 40 of 56 when let loose on the full original codebases, far ahead of existing Circom security tools.

Stefanos Chaliasos, Hao Pham, False Witness Team · August 05, 2026
Recommended

New Challenge Alert: Complete Both to Join zkSecurity

Think you have what it takes to join zkSecurity? We're raising the bar with a second challenge! Now candidates must complete both zkBank and our new Curve Machine challenge to prove their skills across the full spectrum of ZK security. Are you ready to take on both challenges?

ZK/SEC · December 01, 2025

Introducing bugs.zksecurity.xyz a knowledge base for ZK bugs

We're thrilled to introduce our new site, [bugs.zksecurity.xyz](https://bugs.zksecurity.xyz/), a hub for exploring past vulnerabilities in ZK circuits. Dive into our growing catalog of documented bugs and learn how we've reproduced some with comprehensive scripts. Discover evaluations of prominent security tools like Circomspect and Picus, and see where they shine or stumble. We're calling on the community to join us in expanding this invaluable resource, whether by adding bugs, reproducing them, or improving our platform. Let's collaborate to elevate ZK security together!

Stefanos Chaliasos · February 17, 2025

Reproducing and Exploiting ZK Circuit Vulnerabilities

Check out our latest blog post where we dive into the world of Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) vulnerabilities, sharing our insights from replicating known ZK circuit weaknesses. We’ve launched a GitHub repo with detailed scripts to help you understand, reproduce, and learn from these vulnerabilities. Discover how this hands-on approach aids in grasping attack vectors, testing fixes, and enriching educational resources. Whether you're a researcher or a developer, this post is packed with info to enhance your knowledge and skills in ZKP security. Plus, find out how you can contribute to expanding this invaluable resource!

Stefanos Chaliasos, Chenyang Yu · August 09, 2024
More to explore

FRIDA: Data-Availability Sampling from FRI

We've just dropped a blog post exploring the cool world of Ethereum's latest EIP-4844 upgrade and how it tackles the data-availability conundrum with Proto-Danksharding. Get ready to dive into the intricacies of making data more accessible (and less pricey) by using nifty concepts like blobs and polynomial evaluations. Plus, we dish on the role of FRI in data-availability sampling and how it can streamline things even more. Curious? Check out the details and see how this all shapes Ethereum's future!

Mathias Hall-Andersen · June 25, 2024

ZPrize Came To An End! Who And How Did They Win $500,000?

In an exciting collaboration with ZPrize, we embarked on a journey to discover the fastest proofs for ECDSA signatures, ultimately crowning two standout approaches as winners. The blog post delves into the innovative solutions that captured the $500,000 prize by pushing the boundaries of zero-knowledge proofs. The story offers a fascinating glimpse into how these cutting-edge techniques might pave the way for privacy-focused applications. Curious to know which teams came out on top and how they did it? Dive in to explore the thrilling results and what's next in the ZK space!

ZK/SEC · May 06, 2024

Archetype x zkSecurity (Whiteboard Session) - Proof is in the Pudding: Arithmetization

Join us for a deep dive into the fascinating world of arithmetization as David from our team breaks down the process of converting logical statements into algebraic forms to create arithmetic circuits, essential for constructing ZK proofs. This unedited recording from our "Proof is in the Pudding" series offers a unique opportunity to grasp these foundational concepts, perfect for anyone keen on unlocking the mechanics behind zero-knowledge proofs. Curious? Check out the session on Archetype's channel!

ZK/SEC · October 03, 2024