Broken Quantum: A Systematic Formal Verification Study of Security Vulnerabilities Across the Open-Source Quantum Computing Simulator Ecosystem

TL;DR

This paper conducts a comprehensive formal security audit of open-source quantum computing simulators, revealing numerous vulnerabilities and establishing a 32-qubit threshold for security risks.

Contribution

It introduces Broken Quantum, the first systematic formal verification of quantum simulators, identifying critical vulnerabilities and a novel quantum-specific attack vector.

Findings

547 security issues identified across 45 frameworks

A 32-qubit boundary as a formal security threshold

First documented vulnerability transfer from commercial to national labs

Abstract

Quantum computing simulators form the classical software foundation on which virtually all quantum algorithm research depends. We present Broken Quantum, the first comprehensive formal security audit of the open-source quantum computing simulator ecosystem. Applying COBALT QAI -- a four-module static analysis engine backed by the Z3 SMT solver -- we analyze 45 open-source quantum simulation frameworks from 22 organizations spanning 12 countries. We identify 547 security findings (40 CRITICAL, 492 HIGH, 15 MEDIUM) across four vulnerability classes: CWE-125/190 (C++ memory corruption), CWE-400 (Python resource exhaustion), CWE-502/94 (unsafe deserialization and code injection), and CWE-77/22 (QASM injection -- a novel, quantum-specific attack vector with no classical analog). All 13 vulnerability patterns are formally verified via Z3 satisfiability proofs (13/13 SAT). The 32-qubit boundary emerges as a consistent formal threshold in both C++ and Python vulnerability chains. Supply chain analysis identifies the first documented case of vulnerability transfer from a commercial quantum framework into US national laboratory infrastructure (IBM Qiskit Aer to XACC/Oak Ridge National Laboratory). Nine frameworks score 100/100 under all four scanners; Qiskit Aer,Cirq, tequila, PennyLane, and 5 others score 0/100.