CVE-2024-38533
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedZKsync Era is a layer 2 rollup that uses zero-knowledge proofs to scale Ethereum. There is possible invalid stack access due to the addresses used to access the stack not properly being converted to cells. This issue has been patched in version 1.5.0.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceZKsync Era contains a vulnerability where addresses used to access the stack are not properly converted to cells, leading to possible invalid stack access. This is a memory safety issue in the layer 2 rollup's handling of stack operations.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify ZKsync Era deploymentDetermine if your environment includes a ZKsync Era node, prover, or validator component. Check running processes or deployed containers for zksync-era binaries, or review your infrastructure-as-code for zksync-era references.Affected if ZKsync Era software is deployed in your environment
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Locate the ZKsync Era versionQuery the version of the installed ZKsync Era binary or container image. Common methods: run 'zksyncEra --version' if CLI available, check docker image tag, or query the node API endpoint for version information if exposed.Affected if Unable to determine version or version is below 1.5.0
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Compare installed version to affected rangeCompare your identified ZKsync Era version against the affected range. The vulnerability exists in versions prior to 1.5.0. Any version 1.x.y where y < 5 (for example 1.4.0, 1.4.1, 1.3.0) or 1.0.x is potentially affected.Affected if Installed version is 1.4.x or lower, or any 1.x version where x < 5
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Verify the stack operation component is in useThe vulnerability affects stack operations in the ZKsync Era virtual machine. This is a core component active during transaction processing, proof generation, and block execution. If your ZKsync Era node is processing transactions or generating proofs, the affected code path is reachable.Affected if ZKsync Era node is operational and processing L2 transactions or proof generation tasks
Your environment is affected if ZKsync Era version 1.4.x or lower is deployed and actively processing transactions or proofs, since the stack handling vulnerability exists in those versions.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpgrade to ZKsync Era version 1.5.0 or later. As this is a deployed L2 system, ensure thorough testing of the upgrade in a staging environment before production deployment to verify no functional regressions.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA6.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $8,192.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-38533 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2024-38533 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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