{
  "slug": "dynamic-merkle-tree",
  "term": "Dynamic Merkle Tree",
  "aliases": [
    "DMT"
  ],
  "definition": "A Dynamic Merkle Tree is a research hash-tree design that adapts its shape to storage access patterns to reduce authentication-path costs.",
  "note": "Burke and colleagues use modified splay operations to promote frequently accessed regions while preserving hash-tree invariants. Their FAST 2025 evaluation uses a BDUS-based prototype on EC2 with synthetic and application workloads. The security model assumes trusted VM memory and a root outside the attacker's control. [dmt2025]",
  "status": "research",
  "advantages": [],
  "limitations": [
    {
      "text": "Reported gains are workload- and prototype-specific; they are not measurements of stock Linux dm-verity or evidence of a deployed confidential-VM guarantee.",
      "citationIds": [
        "dmt2025"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "merkle-tree",
    "dm-verity",
    "rollback-protection"
  ],
  "supersedes": [],
  "supersededBy": [],
  "firstSeen": null,
  "lastSeen": null,
  "citations": [
    {
      "id": "dmt2025",
      "title": "Burke et al. On Scalable Integrity Checking for Secure Cloud Disks. FAST 2025, sections 3, 6 and 7.",
      "url": "https://www.usenix.org/system/files/fast25-burke.pdf",
      "accessed": "2026-10-18"
    },
    {
      "id": "hesela-integrity",
      "title": "Hesela: Why a valid checksum can still return the wrong data",
      "url": "https://hesela.com/analyses/checksums-identity-and-lost-writes/#verity-freshness",
      "accessed": "2026-10-18"
    }
  ],
  "updated": "2026-10-18"
}