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Fuzzing Guide
This document covers how to run fuzz targets, add new targets, minimise failures, and convert findings into regression tests.
The fuzzing infrastructure lives in a separate repository (lez-fuzzing/) which
reads the Logos Execution Zone (LEZ) codebase from ../logos-execution-zone/ (a sibling
directory that must be cloned separately).
Prerequisites
# Rust nightly is required by cargo-fuzz / libFuzzer
rustup install nightly
rustup component add llvm-tools-preview --toolchain nightly
cargo install cargo-fuzz
Repository Setup
lez-fuzzing is a standalone repository — it does not use git submodules.
It expects the LEZ codebase to be cloned at ../logos-execution-zone relative to itself.
# Clone both repositories side-by-side into the same parent directory:
git clone <LEZ_REPO_URL> logos-execution-zone
git clone <LEZ_FUZZING_REPO_URL> lez-fuzzing
# The directory layout must be:
# <parent>/
# ├── logos-execution-zone/
# └── lez-fuzzing/
How to Run
All fuzz targets must be run with RISC0_DEV_MODE=1 to disable expensive ZK
proof generation. The just recipes handle this automatically.
# From lez-fuzzing/
# Run all targets for 30 s each
just fuzz
# Run a specific target for 120 s
RISC0_DEV_MODE=1 cargo fuzz run fuzz_state_transition -- -max_total_time=120
# Run the saved corpus (regression mode, no mutations)
just fuzz-regression
Available Fuzz Targets
| Target | What it fuzzes | Entry point |
|---|---|---|
fuzz_transaction_decoding |
Borsh decoding of NSSATransaction, Block, and HashableBlockData; roundtrip re-encoding of successfully decoded transactions |
fuzz/fuzz_targets/fuzz_transaction_decoding.rs |
fuzz_stateless_verification |
transaction_stateless_check() no-panic on arbitrary bytes; idempotency — a transaction that passes the check must pass it again |
fuzz/fuzz_targets/fuzz_stateless_verification.rs |
fuzz_state_transition |
execute_check_on_state() across up to 8 transactions with fuzz-driven initial state and monotonically-advancing block context; asserts StateIsolationOnFailure (balances unchanged on rejection), BalanceConservation (total balance unchanged on success), and ReplayRejection (nonce consumed on first acceptance) |
fuzz/fuzz_targets/fuzz_state_transition.rs |
fuzz_block_verification |
Three block-hash invariants: HashRoundTrip (HashableBlockData::from(Block) is lossless), HashPreimage (block_id, prev_block_hash, timestamp each individually affect the hash), TxOrderCommitment (reversing the transaction list changes the hash) |
fuzz/fuzz_targets/fuzz_block_verification.rs |
fuzz_encoding_roundtrip |
decode(encode(tx)) == Ok(tx) and encode(decode(encode(tx))) == encode(tx) for PublicTransaction and ProgramDeploymentTransaction; raw bytes that decode successfully must re-encode identically (canonical encoding) |
fuzz/fuzz_targets/fuzz_encoding_roundtrip.rs |
fuzz_signature_verification |
Signature correctness (sign→verify), no-panic on random bytes, cross-key soundness | fuzz/fuzz_targets/fuzz_signature_verification.rs |
fuzz_replay_prevention |
A tx accepted in block N must be rejected when replayed in block N+1 (nonce consumed); fuzz-driven initial state exposes nonce edge cases (nonce 0, u128::MAX, zero-balance sender) |
fuzz/fuzz_targets/fuzz_replay_prevention.rs |
fuzz_state_diff_computation |
Forward containment: ValidatedStateDiff only modifies accounts declared in affected_public_account_ids(); Reverse completeness: every declared account actually modified by execute_check_on_state appears in the diff |
fuzz/fuzz_targets/fuzz_state_diff_computation.rs |
fuzz_validate_execute_consistency |
validate_on_state and execute_check_on_state must agree on success/failure; diff accuracy (forward + reverse); BalanceConservation on success |
fuzz/fuzz_targets/fuzz_validate_execute_consistency.rs |
fuzz_state_serialization |
V03State Borsh no-panic (NoPanic) + StateSerializationRoundtrip (encode(decode(encode(decode(data)))) == encode(decode(data))) + NullifierDeduplication (hand-written NullifierSet deserializer returns Err, not panic, on duplicate nullifiers) |
fuzz/fuzz_targets/fuzz_state_serialization.rs |
fuzz_witness_set_verification |
WitnessSet::is_valid_for no-panic on adversarial input (NoPanic); CorrectVerification (WitnessSet::for_message always passes is_valid_for on the same message); MessageIsolation (witness set built for message A fails is_valid_for on any Borsh-distinct message B) |
fuzz/fuzz_targets/fuzz_witness_set_verification.rs |
fuzz_program_deployment_lifecycle |
V03State::transition_from_program_deployment_transaction no-panic on arbitrary WASM bytecode (NoPanic); BalanceIsolation (successful deployment must not move tokens); StateIsolationOnFailure (failed deployment must not change any genesis account balance or nonce) |
fuzz/fuzz_targets/fuzz_program_deployment_lifecycle.rs |
fuzz_apply_state_diff_split_path |
SplitPathEquivalence: for every known account, validate_on_state + apply_state_diff must produce exactly the same balance, nonce, data, and program_owner as execute_check_on_state; NonceIncrementCorrectness: nonce after the split path equals nonce after the direct path for all signer accounts (catches bugs in the two-step apply_state_diff nonce-increment logic) |
fuzz/fuzz_targets/fuzz_apply_state_diff_split_path.rs |
fuzz_multi_block_state_sequence |
LongRangeBalanceConservation: total genesis-account balance identical before and after all N (≤ 16) blocks; FailedTxNonceStability: every genesis-account nonce unchanged after a rejected transaction; PerBlockReplayRejection: every transaction accepted in block B is rejected in block B+1 (cumulative nonce-interaction coverage) | fuzz/fuzz_targets/fuzz_multi_block_state_sequence.rs |
How to Add a New Fuzz Target
Step 1 — Scaffold with just new-target
just new-target my_feature
This single command does four things automatically:
| What | Where |
|---|---|
| Creates the corpus directory | fuzz/corpus/fuzz_my_feature/ |
| Writes a typed fuzz target template | fuzz/fuzz_targets/fuzz_my_feature.rs |
Appends [[bin]] entry |
fuzz/Cargo.toml |
| Inserts target into every CI matrix + perf loop | .github/workflows/fuzz.yml |
The generated template uses ArbNSSATransaction from fuzz_props::arbitrary_types
so libfuzzer drives every field of NSSATransaction independently — no manual
Unstructured wiring required.
Step 2 — Implement the target
Edit fuzz/fuzz_targets/fuzz_my_feature.rs. Replace the placeholder with the
function under test and any invariant assertions. Use the typed wrappers from
fuzz_props::arbitrary_types for
structured input, or the proptest generators from
fuzz_props::generators for richer strategies.
Step 3 — Register the binary (automated)
just new-target calls scripts/add_fuzz_target.py
which appends the [[bin]] entry to fuzz/Cargo.toml
automatically. Once present, cargo fuzz list (and therefore just fuzz,
just fuzz-regression, just corpus-cmin) pick up the target automatically — no
further Justfile edits required.
Manual fallback: if you create a target without
just new-target, add the entry yourself:[[bin]] name = "fuzz_my_feature" path = "fuzz_targets/fuzz_my_feature.rs" test = false bench = false
Step 4 — Add to CI matrix (automated)
just new-target also inserts fuzz_my_feature into every strategy matrix and the
perf-baseline shell loop in .github/workflows/fuzz.yml
automatically via scripts/add_fuzz_target.py.
Manual fallback: if you created the target without
just new-target, add- fuzz_my_featureto thetarget:list in the three places shown in.github/workflows/fuzz.yml(smoke-fuzz, regression, perf-baseline).
Step 5 — Verify
RISC0_DEV_MODE=1 cargo fuzz build fuzz_my_feature
just fuzz-regression # runs the new target against its (empty) corpus
Quick reference: what to touch
| File | Action | Automated? |
|---|---|---|
fuzz/fuzz_targets/fuzz_<name>.rs |
Create | ✅ just new-target |
fuzz/corpus/fuzz_<name>/ |
Create | ✅ just new-target |
fuzz/Cargo.toml |
Add [[bin]] |
✅ just new-target |
Justfile |
Nothing — auto-discovers | ✅ automatic |
.github/workflows/fuzz.yml |
Add to 3 matrix lists | ✅ just new-target |
Updating the LEZ Dependency
lez-fuzzing reads LEZ source directly from ../logos-execution-zone. To pick up LEZ
changes, simply update that repo:
cd ../logos-execution-zone
git pull --ff-only
cd ../lez-fuzzing
# Rebuild to confirm compatibility:
cargo build -p fuzz_props
RISC0_DEV_MODE=1 cargo fuzz build
The just update-lez recipe automates the pull:
just update-lez
Minimising & Reproducing Failures
When cargo fuzz finds a crash it writes an artifact to
fuzz/artifacts/fuzz_<target>/crash-<hash>.
Minimise
# Produces a smaller input that still triggers the same crash
just fuzz-tmin fuzz_state_transition fuzz/artifacts/fuzz_state_transition/crash-abc123
Convert to a regression test
# Print the bytes as a Rust byte-literal (paste into a #[test])
cargo fuzz fmt fuzz_state_transition fuzz/artifacts/fuzz_state_transition/crash-abc123
Add the minimised file to the corpus so CI always reproduces it:
cp fuzz/artifacts/fuzz_state_transition/crash-abc123-minimised \
fuzz/corpus/fuzz_state_transition/regression_001
Open a PR. The regression CI job will permanently block re-introduction of this bug.
Invariant Framework
Shared invariants live in fuzz_props/src/invariants.rs. Each invariant implements
ProtocolInvariant and is automatically run by assert_invariants().
Concrete invariants currently registered in assert_invariants():
| Invariant | Description | Implementation status |
|---|---|---|
StateIsolationOnFailure |
Per-account balance must not change for any tracked account when a transaction is rejected | ✅ Fully implemented |
BalanceConservation |
Total balance of all known accounts must be conserved when a transaction succeeds | ✅ Fully implemented |
FailedTxNonceStability |
Every account's nonce must remain unchanged when a transaction is rejected | ✅ Fully implemented |
ReplayRejection |
An accepted transaction must be rejected when replayed | ⚠️ Registry stub — always returns None from InvariantCtx; use assert_replay_rejection() directly (see note below) |
NonceIncrementCorrectness |
Every signer account's nonce must be incremented by exactly one after a successful transaction | ⚠️ Registry stub — always returns None from InvariantCtx; use assert_nonce_increment_correctness() directly (see note below) |
Note on stub invariants:
ReplayRejectionandNonceIncrementCorrectnesscannot be fully exercised throughInvariantCtxalone. Each requires information that is consumed beforeInvariantCtxis built:
ReplayRejection:execute_check_on_statereturns theNSSATransactiononOk, consumingself. Replaying it requires re-applying the returned transaction to the post-execution state — not possible via a shared&InvariantCtx. Use the standaloneassert_replay_rejection(applied_tx, state, next_block_id, next_timestamp)helper immediately after each successful execution. The proptest suitereplay_rejection_proptestinfuzz_props/src/invariants.rsprovides reproducible structured coverage of this invariant.
NonceIncrementCorrectness:apply_state_diffconsumes theValidatedStateDiffwhose signer-account list is private to thenssacrate. The caller must derive signer IDs from the transaction's witness set before consuming the diff, then call the standaloneassert_nonce_increment_correctness(signer_ids, nonces_before, state_after)helper.
Additional invariants enforced inline in specific targets (not via ProtocolInvariant):
| Invariant | Targets |
|---|---|
HashRoundTrip / HashPreimage / TxOrderCommitment |
fuzz_block_verification |
| Diff forward containment / reverse completeness | fuzz_state_diff_computation |
To add a new invariant:
- Add a zero-size struct implementing
ProtocolInvariant. - Register it in the
invariantsslice insideassert_invariants(). - Write a
#[test]infuzz_propsthat triggers and detects a synthetic violation.
Input Generators
The fuzz_props crate provides two layers of input generation:
fuzz_props::arbitrary_types (libFuzzer / Arbitrary)
Typed wrappers that implement Arbitrary for LEZ structs. Use them directly as
fuzz target parameters for zero-boilerplate structured fuzzing.
| Wrapper | Wraps |
|---|---|
ArbAccountId |
AccountId (any 32-byte array) |
ArbNonce |
Nonce (any u128) |
ArbPrivateKey |
PrivateKey (valid scalar; known-good fallback for the negligible invalid range) |
ArbPublicKey |
PublicKey (50 % derived from a valid private key; 50 % raw bytes with fallback) |
ArbSignature |
Signature (random 64-byte value; may be cryptographically invalid) |
ArbPubTxMessage |
Message for PublicTransaction (0–7 accounts, arbitrary instruction data) |
ArbWitnessSet |
WitnessSet (0–3 (Signature, PublicKey) pairs; mixes valid and invalid) |
ArbPublicTransaction |
PublicTransaction (composed from ArbPubTxMessage + ArbWitnessSet) |
ArbProgramDeploymentTransaction |
ProgramDeploymentTransaction (arbitrary bytecode) |
ArbHashableBlockData |
HashableBlockData (0–7 ArbNSSATransaction entries, random header fields) |
ArbNSSATransaction |
NSSATransaction (Public or ProgramDeployment variant; PrivacyPreserving excluded) |
fuzz_props::generators (libFuzzer helpers + proptest strategies)
| Generator | Covers |
|---|---|
arbitrary_fuzz_state() |
1–8 fuzz-driven accounts with arbitrary IDs, balances, and private keys; used by fuzz_state_transition, fuzz_replay_prevention, fuzz_validate_execute_consistency, fuzz_state_diff_computation |
arb_fuzz_native_transfer() |
Correctly-signed native-transfer NSSATransaction referencing accounts from an arbitrary_fuzz_state() result; gives the fuzzer a path to successful state transitions |
arbitrary_transaction() |
Structured NSSATransaction (Public or ProgramDeployment) from unstructured bytes via ArbNSSATransaction |
arb_borsh_transaction_bytes() |
Raw Borsh bytes including invalid encodings |
arb_native_transfer_tx() |
Valid native-transfer NSSATransaction between known testnet genesis accounts (proptest strategy) |
test_accounts() |
Returns (AccountId, PrivateKey) pairs from testnet_initial_state |
arb_hashable_block_data() |
HashableBlockData with 0–8 valid native transfers (proptest strategy) |
arb_invalid_account_state_tx() |
Phantom accounts + overflow amounts — expected to be rejected (IS-3) |
arb_duplicate_tx_sequence() |
Duplicated + re-ordered transaction sequences (IS-4) |
arb_pathological_sequence() |
Zero-value, self-transfer, max-nonce inputs (IS-5) |
Performance Baseline
Measured on a 4-core x86_64 Linux runner with RISC0_DEV_MODE=1:
| Target | Throughput |
|---|---|
fuzz_transaction_decoding |
~200 000 exec/sec |
fuzz_stateless_verification |
~30 000 exec/sec |
fuzz_state_transition |
~5 000 exec/sec |
fuzz_block_verification |
~50 000 exec/sec |
fuzz_encoding_roundtrip |
~150 000 exec/sec |
fuzz_signature_verification |
~20 000 exec/sec |
fuzz_replay_prevention |
~5 000 exec/sec |
fuzz_state_diff_computation |
~10 000 exec/sec |
fuzz_validate_execute_consistency |
~3 000 exec/sec |
fuzz_state_serialization |
~100 000 exec/sec (estimate) |
fuzz_witness_set_verification |
~15 000 exec/sec (estimate) |
fuzz_program_deployment_lifecycle |
~4 000 exec/sec (estimate) |
fuzz_apply_state_diff_split_path |
~5 000 exec/sec (estimate) |
fuzz_multi_block_state_sequence |
~1 000 exec/sec (estimate) |
Throughput figures for the five new targets are rough estimates; run
just perf-baselinelocally or check theperf-baselineCI artifact for up-to-date measurements.
Recommended local settings for longer runs:
# Use all available cores
RISC0_DEV_MODE=1 cargo fuzz run fuzz_state_transition \
-- -max_total_time=3600 -jobs=$(nproc) -workers=$(nproc)
ZK-Proof Cost Warning
PrivacyPreservingTransaction uses risc0-zkvm (seconds per proof).
All fuzz targets must set RISC0_DEV_MODE=1 in the environment and the just
recipes handle this automatically via:
export RISC0_DEV_MODE := "1"
Do not invoke full proof generation inside any fuzz target. The RISC0_DEV_MODE=1
flag stubs out ZK proof generation and replaces it with a fast mock implementation.
Known Limitations & Future Work
| Item | Notes |
|---|---|
PrivacyPreservingTransaction coverage |
Excluded from fuzz_encoding_roundtrip because its ZK receipt cannot be reconstructed in a fuzzing loop. A dedicated slow target with RISC0_DEV_MODE=1 and proptest should be added after the current targets are stable |
fuzz_validate_execute_consistency new-account detection |
If execute_check_on_state creates a brand-new account absent from both the genesis set and the diff, that state-widening will not be detected — full detection requires iterating all accounts in V03State, which the API does not currently expose |
| AFL++ integration | A just fuzz-afl recipe can be added later; the same corpus is compatible |
| Differential testing (sequencer vs replayer) | Add a target that feeds the same block to SequencerCore and indexer_core and asserts identical state roots |
| LEZ version tracking | There is no submodule pin — lez-fuzzing reads ../logos-execution-zone as checked out. Update that repo to a release tag or a tested commit, then run just update-lez (which does git pull --ff-only) and open a PR to bump it |