diff --git a/pkg/vm/json_test.go b/pkg/vm/json_test.go
index 36fb7660a..d41b6cd96 100644
--- a/pkg/vm/json_test.go
+++ b/pkg/vm/json_test.go
@@ -11,8 +11,6 @@ import (
 	"math/big"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
-	"regexp"
-	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
@@ -330,23 +328,7 @@ func (v *vmUTScript) UnmarshalJSON(data []byte) error {
 		if b, ok := decodeSingle(ops[i]); ok {
 			script = append(script, b...)
 		} else {
-			const regex = `(?P<hex>(?:0x)?[0-9a-zA-Z]+)\*(?P<num>[0-9]+)`
-			re := regexp.MustCompile(regex)
-			ss := re.FindStringSubmatch(ops[i])
-			if len(ss) != 3 {
-				return fmt.Errorf("invalid script part: %s", ops[i])
-			}
-			b, ok := decodeSingle(ss[1])
-			if !ok {
-				return fmt.Errorf("invalid script part: %s", ops[i])
-			}
-			num, err := strconv.Atoi(ss[2])
-			if err != nil {
-				return fmt.Errorf("invalid script part: %s", ops[i])
-			}
-			for i := 0; i < num; i++ {
-				script = append(script, b...)
-			}
+			return fmt.Errorf("invalid script part: %s", ops[i])
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/pkg/vm/stackitem/item.go b/pkg/vm/stackitem/item.go
index c20701b50..d928c1a62 100644
--- a/pkg/vm/stackitem/item.go
+++ b/pkg/vm/stackitem/item.go
@@ -33,7 +33,8 @@ type Item interface {
 	Dup() Item
 	// TryBool converts Item to a boolean value.
 	TryBool() (bool, error)
-	// TryBytes converts Item to a byte slice.
+	// TryBytes converts Item to a byte slice. If the underlying type is a
+	// byte slice, it's returned as is without copying.
 	TryBytes() ([]byte, error)
 	// TryInteger converts Item to an integer.
 	TryInteger() (*big.Int, error)
@@ -151,8 +152,11 @@ func convertPrimitive(item Item, typ Type) (Item, error) {
 			return nil, err
 		}
 		if typ == BufferT {
-			return NewBuffer(b), nil
+			newb := make([]byte, len(b))
+			copy(newb, b)
+			return NewBuffer(newb), nil
 		}
+		// ByteArray can't really be changed, so it's OK to reuse `b`.
 		return NewByteArray(b), nil
 	case BooleanT:
 		b, err := item.TryBool()
@@ -519,9 +523,7 @@ func (i *ByteArray) TryBool() (bool, error) {
 
 // TryBytes implements Item interface.
 func (i *ByteArray) TryBytes() ([]byte, error) {
-	val := make([]byte, len(i.value))
-	copy(val, i.value)
-	return val, nil
+	return i.value, nil
 }
 
 // TryInteger implements Item interface.
@@ -871,6 +873,18 @@ func NewPointer(pos int, script []byte) *Pointer {
 	}
 }
 
+// NewPointerWithHash returns new pointer on the specified position of the
+// specified script. It differs from NewPointer in that the script hash is being
+// passed explicitly to save on hash calculcation. This hash is then being used
+// for pointer comparisons.
+func NewPointerWithHash(pos int, script []byte, h util.Uint160) *Pointer {
+	return &Pointer{
+		pos:    pos,
+		script: script,
+		hash:   h,
+	}
+}
+
 // String implements Item interface.
 func (p *Pointer) String() string {
 	return "Pointer"
@@ -970,9 +984,7 @@ func (i *Buffer) TryBool() (bool, error) {
 
 // TryBytes implements Item interface.
 func (i *Buffer) TryBytes() ([]byte, error) {
-	val := make([]byte, len(i.value))
-	copy(val, i.value)
-	return val, nil
+	return i.value, nil
 }
 
 // TryInteger implements Item interface.
@@ -1079,7 +1091,7 @@ func deepCopy(item Item, seen map[Item]Item) Item {
 	case *Bool:
 		return NewBool(it.value)
 	case *Pointer:
-		return NewPointer(it.pos, it.script)
+		return NewPointerWithHash(it.pos, it.script, it.hash)
 	case *Interop:
 		return NewInterop(it.value)
 	default:
diff --git a/pkg/vm/testdata/neo-vm b/pkg/vm/testdata/neo-vm
index 377464ed4..e3f1584b1 160000
--- a/pkg/vm/testdata/neo-vm
+++ b/pkg/vm/testdata/neo-vm
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit 377464ed475a3de108e1bf9c834bd2279b72624e
+Subproject commit e3f1584b1953dcc13075a57803240858c8a480de
diff --git a/pkg/vm/vm.go b/pkg/vm/vm.go
index af9cfff6e..6b838752f 100644
--- a/pkg/vm/vm.go
+++ b/pkg/vm/vm.go
@@ -45,6 +45,10 @@ const (
 	// MaxInvocationStackSize is the maximum size of an invocation stack.
 	MaxInvocationStackSize = 1024
 
+	// MaxTryNestingDepth is the maximum level of TRY nesting allowed,
+	// that is you can't have more exception handling contexts than this.
+	MaxTryNestingDepth = 16
+
 	// MaxStackSize is the maximum number of items allowed to be
 	// on all stacks at once.
 	MaxStackSize = 2 * 1024
@@ -535,7 +539,7 @@ func (v *VM) execute(ctx *Context, op opcode.Opcode, parameter []byte) (err erro
 
 	case opcode.PUSHA:
 		n := v.getJumpOffset(ctx, parameter)
-		ptr := stackitem.NewPointer(n, ctx.prog)
+		ptr := stackitem.NewPointerWithHash(n, ctx.prog, ctx.ScriptHash())
 		v.estack.PushVal(ptr)
 
 	case opcode.PUSHNULL:
@@ -663,10 +667,13 @@ func (v *VM) execute(ctx *Context, op opcode.Opcode, parameter []byte) (err erro
 	case opcode.CAT:
 		b := v.estack.Pop().Bytes()
 		a := v.estack.Pop().Bytes()
-		if l := len(a) + len(b); l > stackitem.MaxSize {
+		l := len(a) + len(b)
+		if l > stackitem.MaxSize {
 			panic(fmt.Sprintf("too big item: %d", l))
 		}
-		ab := append(a, b...)
+		ab := make([]byte, l)
+		copy(ab, a)
+		copy(ab[len(a):], b)
 		v.estack.PushVal(stackitem.NewBuffer(ab))
 
 	case opcode.SUBSTR:
@@ -683,7 +690,9 @@ func (v *VM) execute(ctx *Context, op opcode.Opcode, parameter []byte) (err erro
 		if last > len(s) {
 			panic("invalid offset")
 		}
-		v.estack.PushVal(stackitem.NewBuffer(s[o:last]))
+		res := make([]byte, l)
+		copy(res, s[o:last])
+		v.estack.PushVal(stackitem.NewBuffer(res))
 
 	case opcode.LEFT:
 		l := int(v.estack.Pop().BigInt().Int64())
@@ -694,7 +703,9 @@ func (v *VM) execute(ctx *Context, op opcode.Opcode, parameter []byte) (err erro
 		if t := len(s); l > t {
 			panic("size is too big")
 		}
-		v.estack.PushVal(stackitem.NewBuffer(s[:l]))
+		res := make([]byte, l)
+		copy(res, s[:l])
+		v.estack.PushVal(stackitem.NewBuffer(res))
 
 	case opcode.RIGHT:
 		l := int(v.estack.Pop().BigInt().Int64())
@@ -702,7 +713,9 @@ func (v *VM) execute(ctx *Context, op opcode.Opcode, parameter []byte) (err erro
 			panic("negative length")
 		}
 		s := v.estack.Pop().Bytes()
-		v.estack.PushVal(stackitem.NewBuffer(s[len(s)-l:]))
+		res := make([]byte, l)
+		copy(res, s[len(s)-l:])
+		v.estack.PushVal(stackitem.NewBuffer(res))
 
 	case opcode.DEPTH:
 		v.estack.PushVal(v.estack.Len())
@@ -1352,9 +1365,12 @@ func (v *VM) execute(ctx *Context, op opcode.Opcode, parameter []byte) (err erro
 
 	case opcode.TRY, opcode.TRYL:
 		catchP, finallyP := getTryParams(op, parameter)
+		if ctx.tryStack.Len() >= MaxTryNestingDepth {
+			panic("maximum TRY depth exceeded")
+		}
 		cOffset := v.getJumpOffset(ctx, catchP)
 		fOffset := v.getJumpOffset(ctx, finallyP)
-		if cOffset == 0 && fOffset == 0 {
+		if cOffset == ctx.ip && fOffset == ctx.ip {
 			panic("invalid offset for TRY*")
 		} else if cOffset == ctx.ip {
 			cOffset = -1
diff --git a/pkg/vm/vm_test.go b/pkg/vm/vm_test.go
index fbf354f05..24e0a3150 100644
--- a/pkg/vm/vm_test.go
+++ b/pkg/vm/vm_test.go
@@ -1296,7 +1296,11 @@ func TestTRY(t *testing.T) {
 	add5 := []byte{byte(opcode.PUSH5), byte(opcode.ADD)}
 	add9 := []byte{byte(opcode.PUSH9), byte(opcode.ADD)}
 	t.Run("NoCatch", func(t *testing.T) {
-		t.Run("NoFinally", getTRYTestFunc(nil, push1, nil, nil))
+		t.Run("NoFinally", func(t *testing.T) {
+			prog := getTRYProgram(push1, nil, nil)
+			vm := load(prog)
+			checkVMFailed(t, vm)
+		})
 		t.Run("WithFinally", getTRYTestFunc(10, push1, nil, add9))
 		t.Run("Throw", getTRYTestFunc(nil, throw, nil, add9))
 	})
@@ -1321,6 +1325,16 @@ func TestTRY(t *testing.T) {
 			inner := getTRYProgram(throw, add5, []byte{byte(opcode.THROW)})
 			getTRYTestFunc(32, inner, add5, add9)(t)
 		})
+		t.Run("TryMaxDepth", func(t *testing.T) {
+			loopTries := []byte{byte(opcode.INITSLOT), 0x01, 0x00,
+				byte(opcode.PUSH16), byte(opcode.INC), byte(opcode.STLOC0),
+				byte(opcode.TRY), 1, 1, // jump target
+				byte(opcode.LDLOC0), byte(opcode.DEC), byte(opcode.DUP),
+				byte(opcode.STLOC0), byte(opcode.PUSH0),
+				byte(opcode.JMPGT), 0xf8, byte(opcode.LDLOC0)}
+			vm := load(loopTries)
+			checkVMFailed(t, vm)
+		})
 	})
 }