ZcashFoundation Zebra up to 4.4.x Finalized State Writer transparent.rs input validation

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in ZcashFoundation Zebra up to 4.4.x. It has been rated as problematic. The impacted element is an unknown function of the file zebra-state/src/service/finalized_state/zebra_db/transparent.rs of the component Finalized State Writer. The manipulation leads to input validation. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-52738. The attack is possible to be carried out remotely. No exploit exists.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in ZcashFoundation Zebra up to 4.4.x and classified as problematic. This issue affects an unknown function of the file zebra-state/src/service/finalized_state/zebra_db/transparent.rs of the component Finalized State Writer. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a input validation vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-20. The product receives input or data, but it does not validate or incorrectly validates that the input has the properties that are required to process the data safely and correctly. Impacted is availability. The summary by CVE is:

ZEBRA is a Zcash node written entirely in Rust. Prior to 4.5.0, a consensus-valid block containing a long chain of transparent self-spends to one address can permanently halt Zebra nodes. In zebra-state/src/service/finalized_state/zebra_db/transparent.rs, the finalized-state writer originally applied every newly created output as a credit before applying any spent-output debit from the same block. That credit-first ordering can make the intermediate per-address balance exceed MAX_MONEY even though the final net balance is valid, causing an expect-based panic under the panic equals abort release profile. Because zcashd accepts the triggering block and Zebra encounters it again after every restart, the halt persists until patched software is deployed; exploitation requires mining the specially constructed block and temporarily committing sufficient ZEC to the self-spend chain. This issue is fixed in version 4.5.0.

The advisory is shared at github.com. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2026-52738 since 06/08/2026. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be initiated remotely. No form of authentication is needed for a successful exploitation. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available.

Upgrading to version 4.5.0 eliminates this vulnerability.

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Productinfo

Vendor

• ZcashFoundation

Name

• Zebra

Version

• 4.0
• 4.1
• 4.2
• 4.3
• 4.4

Website

• Product: https://github.com/ZcashFoundation/zebra/

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Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

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