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Main Authors: Yang, Qizhe, Liang, Boxuan, Chen, Hao, Li, Guoqiang
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.15676
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author Yang, Qizhe
Liang, Boxuan
Chen, Hao
Li, Guoqiang
author_facet Yang, Qizhe
Liang, Boxuan
Chen, Hao
Li, Guoqiang
contents Zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) systems have surged attention and held a fundamental role in contemporary cryptography. Zero-knowledge succinct non-interactive argument of knowledge (zk-SNARK) protocols dominate the ZKP usage, implemented through arithmetic circuit programming paradigm. However, underconstrained or overconstrained circuits may lead to bugs. The former refers to circuits that lack the necessary constraints, resulting in unexpected solutions and causing the verifier to accept a bogus witness, and the latter refers to circuits that are constrained excessively, resulting in lacking necessary solutions and causing the verifier to accept no witness. This paper introduces a novel approach for pinpointing two distinct types of bugs in ZKP circuits. The method involves encoding the arithmetic circuit constraints to polynomial equation systems and solving them over finite fields by the computer algebra system. The classification of verification results is refined, greatly enhancing the expressive power of the system. A tool, AC4, is proposed to represent the implementation of the method. Experiments show that AC4 demonstrates a increase in the solved rate, showing a 29% improvement over Picus and CIVER, and a slight improvement over halo2-analyzer, a checker for halo2 circuits. Within a solvable range, the checking time has also exhibited noticeable improvement, demonstrating a magnitude increase compared to previous efforts.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2403_15676
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle AC4: Algebraic Computation Checker for Circuit Constraints in ZKPs
Yang, Qizhe
Liang, Boxuan
Chen, Hao
Li, Guoqiang
Software Engineering
Computation and Language
Cryptography and Security
Zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) systems have surged attention and held a fundamental role in contemporary cryptography. Zero-knowledge succinct non-interactive argument of knowledge (zk-SNARK) protocols dominate the ZKP usage, implemented through arithmetic circuit programming paradigm. However, underconstrained or overconstrained circuits may lead to bugs. The former refers to circuits that lack the necessary constraints, resulting in unexpected solutions and causing the verifier to accept a bogus witness, and the latter refers to circuits that are constrained excessively, resulting in lacking necessary solutions and causing the verifier to accept no witness. This paper introduces a novel approach for pinpointing two distinct types of bugs in ZKP circuits. The method involves encoding the arithmetic circuit constraints to polynomial equation systems and solving them over finite fields by the computer algebra system. The classification of verification results is refined, greatly enhancing the expressive power of the system. A tool, AC4, is proposed to represent the implementation of the method. Experiments show that AC4 demonstrates a increase in the solved rate, showing a 29% improvement over Picus and CIVER, and a slight improvement over halo2-analyzer, a checker for halo2 circuits. Within a solvable range, the checking time has also exhibited noticeable improvement, demonstrating a magnitude increase compared to previous efforts.
title AC4: Algebraic Computation Checker for Circuit Constraints in ZKPs
topic Software Engineering
Computation and Language
Cryptography and Security
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.15676