ignored-validation-result

Specimen 11 of 96 · Audit-default ordinary rules

Severity: medium
Confidence: high
Maturity: experimental
Selection: Audit default
Policy intent: not required
Release: v0.1.1
Engine facts used: resolved-calls resolved-source-references

Selection and scope#

Selected by the default audit profile, so an ordinary scan runs it.

Shell

./.nightshade/node_modules/.bin/nightshade ./contracts --detectors ignored-validation-result
./.nightshade/node_modules/.bin/nightshade detector show ignored-validation-result

The first command runs only this rule; --detectors takes a comma-separated list. The second prints the rule's metadata from your installed version.

Severity is review priority. It does not express exploitability or impact. Confidence is detector metadata, not a probability. All built-in rules are experimental.

Compiler scope: the engine supports the pinned profiles 0.28.0, 0.29.0, 0.30.0, 0.31.1, 0.33.0-rc.2, 0.34.0, 0.35.0-rc.1 and 0.35.0, with ZKIR2 by default. Support for this rule can be narrower; the rule documentation below states any narrower scope.

Verified example#

Synthetic examplecompact-0.34.0-zkir2compiler-validated

The signature verifier returns a boolean, but the state change proceeds without asserting that it is true. From the proof run of the released CLI; the examples page also has the lookalike and the files.

Compactvulnerable.compactline 23 flagged

// This file is part of midnightntwrk/example-counter.
// Copyright (C) Midnight Foundation
// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
// You may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
// You may obtain a copy of the License at
//
// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
//
// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
// limitations under the License.

// Synthetic regression mutation; no upstream-project finding is claimed.
pragma language_version >= 0.20;
import CompactStandardLibrary;
export ledger round: Counter;

export circuit signedIncrement(msg: Vector<1, Field>, sig: JubjubSchnorrSignature, pk: JubjubPoint): [] {
  assert(pk != default<JubjubPoint>, "nonidentity signer");
  jubjubSchnorrVerify<1>(msg, sig, pk);
  round.increment(1);
}

output.txtexit 1

$ nightshade vulnerable.compact --config config.json --compiler /path/to/compactc

MEDIUM — Signature verification outcome is discarded [ignored-validation-result]
vulnerable.compact:23:3
  23 |   jubjubSchnorrVerify<1>(msg, sig, pk);
     |   ^
The Boolean outcome of the canonical jubjubSchnorrVerify is discarded. The call may impose internal constraints, but its signature-validity result does not constrain this caller through this use.
Remediation: Assert the verification result, or reject the false branch before the transaction can succeed. Preserve intentional Boolean checker APIs; suppress intentional verifier-only tests with a reason.

Semantic profile: compact-0.34.0-zkir2.
Baseline analysis: complete; selected rules: complete.
Rule coverage: 1 selected rule(s); 0 with incomplete entries.
1 finding(s), 0 suppressed, 0 baseline; 1/1 entrypoint(s) completed; analysis complete. Compiler validation passed.

Corrected: Assert the verifier's result. Changed lines are marked.

Compactcorrected.compactrule quiet

// This file is part of midnightntwrk/example-counter.
// Copyright (C) Midnight Foundation
// SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
// You may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
// You may obtain a copy of the License at
//
// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
//
// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
// limitations under the License.

// Synthetic regression mutation; no upstream-project finding is claimed.
pragma language_version >= 0.20;
import CompactStandardLibrary;
export ledger round: Counter;

export circuit signedIncrement(msg: Vector<1, Field>, sig: JubjubSchnorrSignature, pk: JubjubPoint): [] {
  assert(pk != default<JubjubPoint>, "nonidentity signer");
  assert(jubjubSchnorrVerify<1>(msg, sig, pk), "signature");
  round.increment(1);
}

corrected-output.txtexit 0

$ nightshade corrected.compact --config config.json --compiler /path/to/compactc

Semantic profile: compact-0.34.0-zkir2.
Baseline analysis: complete; selected rules: complete.
Rule coverage: 1 selected rule(s); 0 with incomplete entries.
0 finding(s), 0 suppressed, 0 baseline; 1/1 entrypoint(s) completed; analysis complete. Compiler validation passed.

The command line is shortened from the recorded run to what you would type; the output below it is verbatim, with absolute file paths shortened to the example folder. Long lines wrap. A quiet result shows that this rule stopped firing, not that the contract is secure.

Corpus checks#

Synthetic corpus checks for this rule in the 0.1.1 proof run. A check counts only with compiler acceptance and complete analysis.

Positive detected	Corrected quiet	Lookalike quiet	Other negative quiet	Incomplete
3/3	3/3	3/3	0/0	0

No deviations were recorded for this rule.

These are behavior checks on synthetic fixtures, not a precision or recall estimate. See evaluation.

Rule documentation#

From docs/detectors/ignored-validation-result.md at v0.1.1.

Availability: default-on; select only this rule with --detectors ignored-validation-result; severity medium, confidence high. Explicit selection replaces the default detector set.

The rule reports a canonical CompactStandardLibrary.jubjubSchnorrVerify call whose Boolean outcome is directly discarded, or assigned to a local whose identity aliases have no non-alias source use. Unused fan-out and alias chains report at the original verifier expression (unused-alias-chain metadata). Imported callable aliases retain canonical identity; same-named application circuits are quiet. A resolved transparent helper chain whose only statement returns this verifier outcome is also recognized, including imported/generic helpers and explicit disclosure/identity casts of that result. The finding stays at the discarding caller; metadata lists the forwarding circuits. Helpers that enforce the result internally, add setup/statements or compute another Boolean are excluded. Only entry-reachable root-source circuits are linted, excluding source-dead branches, empty static loops and statements after a literal-false rejection or unconditional return.

Example and scenario#

Compact

export circuit signedIncrement(msg: Vector<1, Field>, sig: JubjubSchnorrSignature, pk: JubjubPoint): [] {
  jubjubSchnorrVerify<1>(msg, sig, pk); // outcome is discarded
  round.increment(1);
}

A signed operation may appear to verify its authorization but succeed without requiring the verifier's outcome. Assert the returned Boolean or reject its false branch before the transaction succeeds. Rejection after a write also enforces the check: Compact transaction effects are atomic.

Recommendation and limits#

The finding is a source fact about discarding the outcome, not a proof of absent authentication or feasible unauthorized execution. Internal verifier constraints remain, including the RC nonidentity-key assertion. A reference through a simple local alias, disclosure or identity cast follows the alias's uses. Any other reference conservatively preserves the result, including assignments, captures, checker returns, Boolean control, aggregates and computed expressions. A single used alias preserves the result across fan-out. Complex unused computations, nontransparent application forwarders, imported helper body linting, custom verifiers and general non-assert uses are outside this rule. No general validation-enforcement claim is made.

Evidence and known false positives#

Suppress a match#

If a match is intentional, suppress it on the line before with the exact rule ID and a reason of at least eight characters: