Read 2026-10-28
zeusln/zeus: technical due diligence, read from its repository
What Borehole read in zeusln/zeus's code and history at 5da9160: its licence, security advisories, releases, review practice, tests, dependencies and operations. Every finding cites the file and line it rests on. The full report also covers the team and asks the questions the code cannot answer.
| Dimension | Rating |
|---|---|
| Architecture & Codebase — including AI provenance | strong |
| Engineering Process & SDLC Maturity | strong |
| Product & Engineering Maturity | adequate |
| Security & Reliability Posture | adequate |
| Observability & Operations | not assessable |
| Fit with the Acquirer | not assessable |
What the repository says
- Releases are cut from another branch than the one surveyed
CONTRIBUTING.md:282: states a policy on AI-generated contributions
Architecture & Codebase — including AI provenance
strongandroid/app/src/main/java/org/lightningdevkit/ldknode/ldk_node.kt is 17,976 lines, 96× this codebase's median file
adequateThe median source file here is 186 lines. 19 files exceed 1,860 lines, the largest being 17,976. Size is not a defect on its own — some problems genuinely live in one place — but these are where merge conflicts, review fatigue and single-owner knowledge concentrate, and they are the first thing that slows an inheriting engineer down.
android/app/src/main/java/org/lightningdevkit/ldknode/ldk_node.kt:1 — 17,976 lines (96× median) |
ios/LndMobile/lightning.pb.swift:1 — 17,610 lines (94× median) |
ios/LdkNodeMobile/LDKNode.swift:1 — 13,664 lines (73× median) |
stores/CashuStore.ts:1 — 6,598 lines (35× median) |
zeus_modules/@lightninglabs/lnc-core/lib/types/proto/lnd/lightning.ts:1 — 5,153 lines (27× median) |
Engineering Process & SDLC Maturity
strongNo finding.
Product & Engineering Maturity
adequate109 direct dependencies in a single manifest
adequatepackage.json declares 109 direct dependencies. Each one is a maintenance obligation, a supply-chain surface and a potential licence question that transfers with the asset. The count says nothing about whether any given dependency was a good choice; it says how many such choices a buyer inherits.
package.json — 109 declared |
zeus_modules/@lightninglabs/lnc-rn/package.json — 1 declared |
17% of bug fixes add or change a test
adequateOf 1296 fixes in the last 24 months, 221 touched a test. A fix without the test that would have caught the bug can quietly come back, and the suite never learns from what went wrong.
| 221 of 1296 |
6 files still carry code deprecated more than two years ago
adequate6 files were marked deprecated over two years ago and still are, the oldest since Jul 2023. A deprecation is a promise to remove. Ask what still depends on these, and whether removing them is scheduled.
ios/LndMobile/lightning.pb.swift — deprecated since Jul 2023 |
zeus_modules/@lightninglabs/lnc-core/lib/types/proto/lnd/lightning.ts — deprecated since Aug 2023 |
zeus_modules/@lightninglabs/lnc-core/lib/types/proto/lnd/walletrpc/walletkit.ts — deprecated since Aug 2023 |
zeus_modules/@lightninglabs/lnc-core/lib/types/proto/lnd/routerrpc/router.ts — deprecated since Aug 2023 |
zeus_modules/@lightninglabs/lnc-core/lib/types/proto/lnd/signrpc/signer.ts — deprecated since Aug 2023 |
Releases are cut from another branch than the one surveyed
adequateThe newest release, v13.2.3, is not on the branch this survey read; the newest release on it is v13.1.2. The shipped product may differ from what this report describes. Survey the release branch too.
| tag v13.2.3 |
Security & Reliability Posture
adequate1 credential-shaped string committed to the tree
adequateMatches for Google API key appear in tracked files outside test and fixture paths. They stay in the history even after they leave the tree, so what matters is whether each was rotated. The code cannot tell whether any of them is live, and that decides whether this matters: none sits in production configuration, and none is in a format its provider keeps for live keys. Is any of these live? Show that each was rotated after it was committed, and when. Only Google API keys matched. Those are often public by design, in a browser app's Firebase or Maps configuration; the question is whether each is restricted to the app's domains and APIs.
| Google API key pattern matched |
1 Dockerfile runs the application as root
adequateNo USER instruction switches away from root, so the process runs with full privileges inside the container. It is a one-line fix and an ordinary expectation, which is why its absence is worth asking about: it usually says more about whether anyone has reviewed the deployment than about this container specifically.
.oss-scanner/Dockerfile — runs as root |
17 locked dependencies have published vulnerabilities, 4 high or critical
adequate17 of 1,875 locked dependencies match 20 published advisories in OSV, 4 of them rated high or critical. A lockfile says which version is installed, not whether the flawed code is reachable from this product, so each needs a look. Most are fixed by an upgrade, and the advisory names the version. This lockfile pins development tools alongside what ships and does not say which is which, so some of these may never reach a user.
zeus_modules/@lightninglabs/lnc-rn/yarn.lock — image-size 1.1.1: GHSA-m5qc-5hw7-8vg7 (high), fixed in 1.2.1 |
zeus_modules/@lightninglabs/lnc-rn/yarn.lock — ip 1.1.9: GHSA-2p57-rm9w-gvfp (high) |
zeus_modules/@lightninglabs/lnc-core/yarn.lock — protobufjs 7.5.8: GHSA-wcpc-wj8m-hjx6 (high), fixed in 7.6.1 |
The app allows plain HTTP to any server
adequateThe app's manifest allows unencrypted HTTP app-wide (NSAllowsArbitraryLoads, or cleartext traffic permitted), rather than for named domains. Anything sent over plain HTTP can be read on the network, and enterprise security reviews ask about it. Some apps need it by nature (a podcast or feed reader fetches whatever URL a feed gives), so ask which case this is.
android/app/src/main/res/xml/network_security_config.xml:2 — cleartext allowed app-wide |
ios/zeus/Info.plist:61 — cleartext allowed app-wide |
Observability & Operations
not assessableNot rated: only 5 of 16 checks could reach a conclusion here; the rest do not apply to this repository or could not read it.
Fit with the Acquirer
not assessableNot rated: structurally not assessable from a repository.
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