Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-34202

RCE in Zfnd Zebra ≤ 4.3.0

Published
31 March 2026
Modified
24 July 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v4 9.2
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:H/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
EPSS Score 0.0073 51th percentile
Risk Priority 46 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-34202 is a critical-severity Code Injection (CWE-94) vulnerability in Zfnd Zebra. Its CVSS base score is 9.2 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Template Injection (T1221); ranked in the top 49% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2026-34202 is a vulnerability in Zebra, a Zcash node implementation written entirely in Rust, affecting zebrad versions prior to 4.3.0 and zebra-chain versions prior to 6.0.1. The flaw resides in Zebra's transaction processing logic, where a specially crafted V5 transaction can pass initial deserialization but trigger a failure during transaction ID calculation, causing the node to panic and crash. It is associated with CWEs-94 (code injection), CWE-1336, and CWE-502 (deserialization of untrusted data), and carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).

A remote, unauthenticated attacker can exploit this vulnerability by sending the malicious V5 transaction to a vulnerable Zebra node over the network. Successful exploitation results in a denial-of-service condition, as the node crashes due to the panic, disrupting its availability for transaction validation and blockchain synchronization without impacting confidentiality or integrity.

The issue has been patched in zebrad version 4.3.0 and zebra-chain version 6.0.1. Security advisories recommend immediate upgrading to these fixed versions to mitigate the risk. Additional details are available in the GitHub release notes (https://github.com/ZcashFoundation/zebra/releases/tag/v4.3.0), the security advisory (https://github.com/ZcashFoundation/zebra/security/advisories/GHSA-qp6f-w4r3-h8wg), and the Zcash Foundation announcement (https://zfnd.org/zebra-4-3-0-critical-security-fixes-zip-235-support-and-performance-improvements).

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

ZEBRA is a Zcash node written entirely in Rust. Prior to zebrad version 4.3.0 and zebra-chain version 6.0.1, a vulnerability in Zebra's transaction processing logic allows a remote, unauthenticated attacker to cause a Zebra node to panic (crash). This is…

more

triggered by sending a specially crafted V5 transaction that passes initial deserialization but fails during transaction ID calculation. This issue has been patched in zebrad version 4.3.0 and zebra-chain version 6.0.1.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1221 Template Injection Stealth
Adversaries may create or modify references in user document templates to conceal malicious code or force authentication attempts.
T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter Execution
Adversaries may abuse command and script interpreters to execute commands, scripts, or binaries.
T1059.001 PowerShell Execution
Adversaries may abuse PowerShell commands and scripts for execution.
T1059.002 AppleScript Execution
Adversaries may abuse AppleScript for execution.
T1059.004 Unix Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse Unix shell commands and scripts for execution.
T1059.005 Visual Basic Execution
Adversaries may abuse Visual Basic (VB) for execution.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-6386Shared CWE-1336, CWE-94
CVE-2024-45053Shared CWE-1336, CWE-94
CVE-2023-26436Shared CWE-502, CWE-94
CVE-2024-10382Shared CWE-502, CWE-94
CVE-2026-54653Shared CWE-1336, CWE-94
CVE-2023-2259Shared CWE-1336, CWE-94
CVE-2025-51427Shared CWE-502, CWE-94
CVE-2025-57773Shared CWE-502, CWE-94
CVE-2026-11860Shared CWE-502, CWE-94
CVE-2023-47542Shared CWE-1336, CWE-94

Affected Assets

zfnd
zebra
≤ 4.3.0
zfnd
zebra-chain
≤ 6.0.1

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.3.2
  • V1.3.7
  • V1.3.10
  • V1.3.1

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and evaluation finds code paths that accept and execute externally influenced strings.

Input validation directly stops untrusted data from being used to construct executable code without neutralization.

Least privilege limits the damage an injected code fragment can perform once executed.

Requiring documented secure development standards and tools enforces use of safe code-generation APIs and escaping.

Security engineering principles require use of safe templating APIs and proper escaping of external input.

Integrity verification tools can detect malformed or tampered serialized data after the fact.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

PR.PS-06's SDLC practices directly target injection flaws via secure coding and testing (mostly), yet as a single broad outcome it leaves many code-generation specifics unaddressed (partial).

PR.DS-10 none match
prevents

PR.DS-10 protects runtime data confidentiality/integrity but has no bearing on neutralizing externally influenced input during code generation, so neither direction shows any preventive effect.

PR.PS-02 none match
prevents

PR.PS-02 addresses only post-deployment updates/patching and cannot prevent introduction of unsafe deserialization code, yet it can remediate some instances when the flaw exists in outdated libraries or components.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

finds

Security testing can detect template-injection flaws but does not itself implement neutralization controls.

prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates input validation and sanitization that directly prevents template-injection weaknesses.

prevents

Application security requirements explicitly call for neutralizing special elements in template engines.

prevents

Secure architecture principles reduce the likelihood of unsafe template processing but do not prescribe specific neutralization techniques.

prevents

Banning unapproved code samples and unauthenticated web services, combined with secure-coding standards and SAST, prevents the dynamic generation or inclusion of attacker-supplied code.

finds

Regular scanning of third-party libraries and timely patching reduce the likelihood that unsafe deserialization vulnerabilities remain active.

References