CVE-2026-72711
MediumCVSS 6.3Exploitation Probability (EPSS)
Low risk2th percentile - higher than 2% of all known CVEs
Summary
The Lean 4 kernel does not check that the body of an opaque declaration is closed. environment::add_opaque omits the check_no_metavar_no_fvar call that the definition and theorem paths perform. A metaprogram can exploit this to accept an opaque declaration with a free variable, leading to an opaque constant of type False and proving any proposition. Fixed in 4.32.2.
Risk Assessment
The risk includes the possibility of proving false statements in Lean, which could undermine the integrity of formal proofs.
Recommendation
Upgrade Lean to version 4.32.2 or later.
Other vulnerabilities in Lean 4
Original NVD description (English source)
The Lean 4 kernel does not check that the body of an opaque declaration is closed. environment::add_opaque omits the check_no_metavar_no_fvar call that the definition and theorem paths perform, so a value containing a free variable that is absent from the local context is not rejected outright. A metaprogram can first cause the kernel to create a temporary local of type False and record its type in the type checker's inference cache, then restore the local context while that cache entry persists on the same type checker instance, and finally submit an opaque declaration whose value is the now-unbound variable. The cache lookup answers before the branch that would test membership of the local context, so the kernel infers the cached type and admits an opaque constant of type False, from which any proposition follows. The declaration is accepted through the ordinary checked path at maximum kernel checking, without sorry, unsafeCast, debug.skipKernelTC, addDeclWithoutChecking, foreign code or a modified .olean file, and the result carries no axioms. Fixed in 4.32.2 by adding the missing closure check.

