Ethereum Researchers Struggle to Close Security Gap in zkEVM Before Deadline

Ethereum researchers are racing against time to close a security gap in zkEVM before December. The challenge, called better.codes, measures the cryptographic proof gap that researchers can attack from both sides.

The current leaderboard shows a 63.99-bit lower certificate and a 116.13-bit upper certificate for koalaIRS12, leaving a 52.14-bit interval unresolved after nine promoted submissions from seven solvers.

For context, Ethereum's December security roadmap calls for 128-bit provable security, which is still out of reach with the current gap.

The researchers have until early December 2026 to close this gap and meet the system's target. If they succeed, it will be a significant milestone in the development of zkEVM.