Evaluation of Smart Contract Vulnerability Analysis Tools: A Domain-Specific Perspective
With the widespread adoption of blockchain platforms across various decentralized applications, the smart contract’s vulnerabilities are continuously growing and evolving. Consequently, a failure to optimize conventional vulnerability analysis methods results in unforeseen effects caused by overlook...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-09-01
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| Series: | Information |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2078-2489/14/10/533 |
| _version_ | 1797573575213842432 |
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| author | Bahareh Lashkari Petr Musilek |
| author_facet | Bahareh Lashkari Petr Musilek |
| author_sort | Bahareh Lashkari |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | With the widespread adoption of blockchain platforms across various decentralized applications, the smart contract’s vulnerabilities are continuously growing and evolving. Consequently, a failure to optimize conventional vulnerability analysis methods results in unforeseen effects caused by overlooked classes of vulnerabilities. Current methods have difficulty dealing with multifaceted intrusions, which calls for more robust approaches. Therefore, overdependence on environment-defined parameters in the contract execution logic binds the contract to the manipulation of such parameters and is perceived as a security vulnerability. Several vulnerability analysis tools have been identified as insufficient to effectively identify certain types of vulnerability. In this paper, we perform a domain-specific evaluation of state-of-the-art vulnerability detection tools on smart contracts. A domain can be defined as a particular area of knowledge, expertise, or industry. We use a perspective specific to the area of energy contracts to draw logical and language-dependent features to advance the structural and procedural comprehension of these contracts. The goal is to reach a greater degree of abstraction and navigate the complexities of decentralized applications by determining their domains. In particular, we analyze code embedding of energy smart contracts and characterize their vulnerabilities in transactive energy systems. We conclude that energy contracts can be affected by a relatively large number of defects. It also appears that the detection accuracy of the tools varies depending on the domain. This suggests that security flaws may be domain-specific. As a result, in some domains, many vulnerabilities can be overlooked by existing analytical tools. Additionally, the overall impact of a specific vulnerability can differ significantly between domains, making its mitigation a priority subject to business logic. As a result, more effort should be directed towards the reliable and accurate detection of existing and new types of vulnerability from a domain-specific point of view. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T21:11:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a436c161efd54a3e948a344f0b4d7015 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2078-2489 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T21:11:02Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Information |
| spelling | doaj.art-a436c161efd54a3e948a344f0b4d70152023-11-19T16:47:49ZengMDPI AGInformation2078-24892023-09-01141053310.3390/info14100533Evaluation of Smart Contract Vulnerability Analysis Tools: A Domain-Specific PerspectiveBahareh Lashkari0Petr Musilek1Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 1H9, CanadaElectrical and Computer Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 1H9, CanadaWith the widespread adoption of blockchain platforms across various decentralized applications, the smart contract’s vulnerabilities are continuously growing and evolving. Consequently, a failure to optimize conventional vulnerability analysis methods results in unforeseen effects caused by overlooked classes of vulnerabilities. Current methods have difficulty dealing with multifaceted intrusions, which calls for more robust approaches. Therefore, overdependence on environment-defined parameters in the contract execution logic binds the contract to the manipulation of such parameters and is perceived as a security vulnerability. Several vulnerability analysis tools have been identified as insufficient to effectively identify certain types of vulnerability. In this paper, we perform a domain-specific evaluation of state-of-the-art vulnerability detection tools on smart contracts. A domain can be defined as a particular area of knowledge, expertise, or industry. We use a perspective specific to the area of energy contracts to draw logical and language-dependent features to advance the structural and procedural comprehension of these contracts. The goal is to reach a greater degree of abstraction and navigate the complexities of decentralized applications by determining their domains. In particular, we analyze code embedding of energy smart contracts and characterize their vulnerabilities in transactive energy systems. We conclude that energy contracts can be affected by a relatively large number of defects. It also appears that the detection accuracy of the tools varies depending on the domain. This suggests that security flaws may be domain-specific. As a result, in some domains, many vulnerabilities can be overlooked by existing analytical tools. Additionally, the overall impact of a specific vulnerability can differ significantly between domains, making its mitigation a priority subject to business logic. As a result, more effort should be directed towards the reliable and accurate detection of existing and new types of vulnerability from a domain-specific point of view.https://www.mdpi.com/2078-2489/14/10/533blockchaindistributed ledger technologysecurity analysisvulnerability detection |
| spellingShingle | Bahareh Lashkari Petr Musilek Evaluation of Smart Contract Vulnerability Analysis Tools: A Domain-Specific Perspective Information blockchain distributed ledger technology security analysis vulnerability detection |
| title | Evaluation of Smart Contract Vulnerability Analysis Tools: A Domain-Specific Perspective |
| title_full | Evaluation of Smart Contract Vulnerability Analysis Tools: A Domain-Specific Perspective |
| title_fullStr | Evaluation of Smart Contract Vulnerability Analysis Tools: A Domain-Specific Perspective |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evaluation of Smart Contract Vulnerability Analysis Tools: A Domain-Specific Perspective |
| title_short | Evaluation of Smart Contract Vulnerability Analysis Tools: A Domain-Specific Perspective |
| title_sort | evaluation of smart contract vulnerability analysis tools a domain specific perspective |
| topic | blockchain distributed ledger technology security analysis vulnerability detection |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2078-2489/14/10/533 |
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