Circuit breaker on price deviation
A oracle & external dependencies factor in the v1.7.0 rubric. Measured per protocol on a s cadence.
Methodology how we score#
What this measures
This factor checks whether the protocol implements a circuit breaker that halts operations or reverts oracle reads when the reported price deviates more than a configured threshold from a reference price within a defined window. Source inspection of the oracle integration layer is the assessment method.
Why it matters
Circuit breakers are the last line of defence against oracle manipulation that passes the TWAP or medianisation check — particularly for assets with genuine high volatility that may render a simple manipulation-resistance test insufficient. An oracle price deviation signal (RD-F-099) in the real-time layer depends on the same concept, but at the protocol level a circuit breaker provides in-protocol protection that does not require an external monitor to react. The synthesis dataset notes that Inverse Finance's oracle price anomaly was rated High detectability — a circuit breaker would have halted the protocol before the drain completed. Protocols with high-volatility assets as collateral are most exposed when this protection is absent.
Green / Yellow / Red
Green is scored when a circuit breaker is implemented and configured with a documented threshold appropriate for the asset class (typically 5–15% deviation). Yellow is scored when a circuit breaker exists but the threshold is excessively wide (over 30%) or is not documented. Red is scored when no circuit breaker is present and the protocol will accept any price returned by the oracle without sanity checking.
Common gray cases
Gray is applied when the circuit breaker is implemented at the oracle-provider layer (e.g., Chainlink's own deviation threshold) but the protocol has no additional in-protocol check.
Notable historical examples
No cross-hacked incidents are currently linked in the database for this factor.
Measurement what to look for#
Determine whether the protocol halts or reverts if the oracle-reported price deviates by more than X% from a reference within Y blocks.