CVE-2026-41584: Zebra has rk Identity Point Panic in Transaction Verification

Should you act?

Critical and remotely reachable

No known exploitation yet, but it is network-reachable without credentials. This signal is computed from CISA KEV, EPSS and CVSS data; it is not an editorial verdict.

• No confirmed exploitation. It is not in CISA’s KEV catalog and CISA’s SSVC assessment records no known exploitation. That can change quickly after a public write-up; re-check if you are affected.
• EPSS 0.5%, percentile 39: FIRST’s model estimates a 0.5% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 39% of all scored CVEs (low). EPSS is a probability, not a verdict.
• Remotely reachable with no login and no user interaction. If the vulnerable service is exposed to the internet, prioritize it.
• Only applies if your dependency tree includes zebrad (crates.io (Rust)) < 4.3.1, fixed in 4.3.1; zebra-chain (crates.io (Rust)) < 6.0.2, fixed in 6.0.2. Check your lockfile, including transitive dependencies.

What it is

ZEBRA is a Zcash node written entirely in Rust. Prior to zebrad version 4.3.1 and prior to zebra-chain version 6.0.2, Orchard transactions contain a rk field which is a randomized validating key and also an elliptic curve point. The Zcash specification allows the field to be the identity (a "zero" value), however, the orchard crate which is used to verify Orchard proofs would panic when fed a rk with the identity value. Thus an attacker could send a crafted transaction that would make a Zebra node crash. This issue has been patched in zebrad version 4.3.1 and zebra-chain version 6.0.2.

From the GitHub advisory

rk Identity Point Panic in Transaction Verification

Summary

Orchard transactions contain a rk field which is a randomized validating key and also an elliptic curve point. The Zcash specification allows the field to be the identity (a "zero" value), however, the orchard crate which is used to verify Orchard proofs would panic when fed a rk with the identity value. Thus an attacker could send a crafted transaction that would make a Zebra node crash.

Severity

Critical - This is a Denial of Service Vulnerability that could allow an attacker to crash Zebra nodes.

Weakness type: CWE-617.

Product: zebrad (crates.io (Rust)) · Assigned by: GitHub_M · Published: 2026-05-08

Affected and fixed versions

Severity scores

• Attack vector: network (remotely reachable)
• Attack complexity: low
• Attack requirements: none
• Privileges required: none (no login)
• User interaction: none

CVSS measures how bad a flaw is if exploited, not how likely exploitation is. Read it next to the exploitation data below.

Exploitation and urgency

• CISA KEV: not listed (no confirmed in-the-wild exploitation known to CISA).
• CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation none, automatable yes, technical impact partial.
• FIRST EPSS (model of 2026-10-21): 0.46% probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 39.

Timeline

• 2026-04-18 — GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-452v-w3gx-72wg published (critical)
• 2026-05-08 — CVE record last updated
• 2026-05-08 — CVE record published by GitHub_M

Sources and references

Original sources first. Version and fix details should always be confirmed against the vendor or project advisory.

Vulnerability records

1. GitHub Advisory GHSA-452v-w3gx-72wg github.com
2. CVE.org record CVE-2026-41584 cve.org
3. NVD entry CVE-2026-41584 nvd.nist.gov

Other references from the CVE record and advisory

1. github.com github.com

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