{
  "type": "failure-mode",
  "name": "A correctly run ceremony for an unsound setup protocol",
  "slug": "a-correctly-run-ceremony-for-an-unsound-setup-protocol",
  "section": {
    "id": "ceremony",
    "number": "04",
    "title": "Running or reusing a trusted setup",
    "url": "https://zkpick.com/ceremony/"
  },
  "url": "https://zkpick.com/ceremony/failure-modes/a-correctly-run-ceremony-for-an-unsound-setup-protocol/",
  "markdown": "https://zkpick.com/md/ceremony/failure-modes/a-correctly-run-ceremony-for-an-unsound-setup-protocol.md",
  "detail": "Every operational control works — diverse participants, verified contributions, published transcript, beacon — and the parameters are still unsound, because the setup protocol published an element it should not have. This has happened: a flaw in an early pairing-based construction's parameter generation allowed unlimited undetectable counterfeiting and went unnoticed for years. No amount of ceremony hygiene addresses it.",
  "mitigation": "Have the setup construction itself reviewed as cryptography, separately from the ceremony's operation — see §03. Prefer constructions with multiple independent implementations and published security proofs over bespoke or modified parameter generation.",
  "relatedOptions": [],
  "updated": "2026-09-12",
  "version": "1.3",
  "canonical": "https://zkpick.com/ceremony/failure-modes/a-correctly-run-ceremony-for-an-unsound-setup-protocol/",
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "authors": [
    "MarketComp"
  ]
}