CVE-2026-72844Public exploit

Proof forgery via mismatched structure projections

Published Aug 20, 2026 · Updated Aug 20, 2026

Type confusion in Lean FRO Lean 4 before 4.32.2 and in 4.33.0-rc1 allows attackers to forge proofs via in-process metaprograms. The kernel accepts projection expressions whose named structure does not match the projected value's type, and environment::add_inductive in src/kernel/inductive.cpp fails to type-check nested inductive applications replaced by auxiliary types, letting parametric arguments escape checking. Reachability requires running a metaprogram in the Lean process, such as during a build or through a malicious Lake dependency, after which ordinary checked addDecl can register ill-typed declarations and derive False without axioms.

CVSS severity6.3
Medium
EPSS probability0.18%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Type confusion in Lean FRO Lean 4 before 4.32.2 and in 4.33.0-rc1 allows attackers to forge proofs via in-process metaprograms. The kernel accepts projection expressions whose named structure does not match the projected value's type, and environment::add_inductive in src/kernel/inductive.cpp fails to type-check nested inductive applications replaced by auxiliary types, letting parametric arguments escape checking. Reachability requires running a metaprogram in the Lean process, such as during a build or through a malicious Lake dependency, after which ordinary checked addDecl can register ill-typed declarations and derive False without axioms.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-72844
Published
Aug 20, 2026
Updated
Aug 20, 2026
Vendor
Lean FRO
Product
Lean 4
Classifications
CWE-843
Attack vector
local
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Aug 20, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 20, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=0 <4.32.2
  2. Affected versionversion=4.33.0-rc1

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Lean FRO · Lean 4version=0 <4.32.2; version=4.33.0-rc1

Published CVSS scores

6.3VulnCheckCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:N
6.8VulnCheckCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

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No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-843Access of Resource Using Incompatible Type ('Type Confusion')

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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