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.