The Starknet Security Council V1.0 has been established to ensure the security and integrity of the Starknet network.

Composed of 12 members with a focus on geographic and organizational diversity and expertise, the council’s initial mission of safeguarding staking will, in time, expand to Starknet’s core infrastructure. The council will undertake this mission by evaluating and approving proposed upgrades, managing emergency responses, and maintaining transparent reporting.

Here’s a short primer on the Starknet Security Council’s new framework for network security. For the complete details, please visit please visit the community forum post and its supporting SNIP.

Core Duties and Responsibilities

The council’s duties balance security with operational transparency, including:

  • Security Risk Assessment — Evaluate proposed upgrades to Starknet’s core contracts, identifying potential vulnerabilities.
  • Emergency Response — In critical situations, approve immediate actions with a 75% council vote.
  • Approval Process — Authorize upgrades after thorough security vetting, requiring at least 50% council approval.
  • Transparency — Publish reports for approved, rejected, and emergency decisions to maintain trust within the Starknet community.

The Security Council’s role is limited to ensuring the security of the network, and cannot reject upgrades for any reason outside of security.

Operational Flow: Upgrade Processes

The Security Council follows two primary processes for upgrades:

Vetted Time-Delayed Flow

For regular upgrades, a proposal undergoes a seven-day delay after passing security vetting. With a 50% council vote and following time delay, the upgrade proceeds. If the delay ends without vetting, the upgrade is rejected, and a “Vetting Failure Report” is published.

Non-Vetted Emergency Flow

In emergencies, the council can implement an upgrade immediately with a 75% approval. To do this, a report explaining this urgent action is published following its implementation.

Contract Pausing and Unpausing

In cases of severe security incidents, the council can do one of two things:

  • Pause — This temporarily stops contract functionality to address immediate security threats.
  • Unpause — This resumes normal functionality with a 50% vote after the council confirms stability.

Security Concerns and Emergencies

The council is tasked with assessing potential security concerns, which may include:

  • Smart contract vulnerabilities — Bugs, exploits, vulnerabilities that can lead to theft of funds, manipulation of network, or other unintended consequences.
  • Malicious attacks — Sybil, DoS, phishing, social engineering, double spending.
  • Stability or liveness issues
  • Rogue nodes
  • Oracle manipulation

While these examples are illustrative rather than exhaustive, the council’s role is to ensure the ongoing stability and integrity of the network.

In the event of an actual or anticipated security threat — such as bugs, defects, or stability issues — the Starknet Security Council is authorized to take preemptive action without prior governance approval. Following any such measures, the council will provide the community with a timely and thorough retrospective, while respecting confidentiality obligations.

Phased Implementation

The council’s oversight will expand in two phases:

Phase 1

Initial focus on staking-related contracts on Starknet and Ethereum.

Phase 2

Extended oversight across all Starknet core infrastructure contracts.

A Secure and Accountable Starknet

With its new framework for network security, the Starknet Security Council V1.0 will ensure that as Starknet’s infrastructure and ecosystem continue to grow, the network will remain secure and accountable to its community.

The council’s duties will be limited to security risk assessment, emergency response, upgrade approval (after vetting and voting), and full transparency. What the council will not do is reject upgrades for any reason other than network security.

To follow the Starknet Security Council’s phased implementation, and see its transparent work in action, stay tuned to the Starknet Community Forum.