Web3 and Program Analysis

Dr. Saurabh Joshi

Principal Researcher

Supra Research

What is a blockchain?

Execution trace of a deterministic state machine

What is a blockchain?

s_1

s_2

s_3

s_4

s_5

t_1

t_3

t_5

t_2

t_4

What is a blockchain?

Programs are state transformers

x=x+1

x = 0

x = 1

x=x+1

x = 1

x = 2

x=x+1

x = 255

x = ?

Need for determinism

Without deterministic operational semantics, given the same sequence of transactions, output state may be different when executed on a different hardware, or on the same hardware at a different time

What is a blockchain?

Execution trace of a deterministic state machine agreed upon by a network of distributed, possibly heterogenous and decentralized computers

Determinism

Floating point arithmetic
Signed integer arithmetic
Concurrency
Interaction with external environment
..and many more

Termination

All transactions are executed with a pre-determined upperbound on gas (resources) consumed

gas : Instr \rightarrow \mathbb{N}

Gas Optimization

Reduce the amount of gas used while retaining the same input/output behaviour

minimize \sum gas(Instr_i)

Gas for storage and gas for computation makes gas optimization a bit tricky

Gas Estimation

Provide the number of gas units that would be consumed by the transaction
Undecidability
Input context is not known until execution
Provide an estimate for the number of gas units that would be consumed by the transaction
Accurate estimation needed both for users and for the network

Compilers and Virtual Machines

From high level programming languages to blockchain VMs (e.g., Solidity -> EVM, Move -> Move VM, Rust/C++ -> Solana VM)
Enabling smart contracts written in one language to work on another VM (e.g., Fractal, A transpiler that makes Solidity work on Move VM)
Enabling smart contracts written in one language to work on near native assembly (e.g., Rust/C++ -> Wasm)

Safety and security of smart contracts

Static analysis tools for vulnerability detection (e.g., Slither, Mythrill)
Model-checkers (e.g., ESBMC-Solidity, Zeus)
Provers (e.g., Move Prover)
https://medium.com/immunefi/the-top-10-most-common-vulnerabilities-in-web3-bf7a921d489f

Example Vulnerability

function multiClaim(uint256[] memory _tickets) external {   
	uint256 totalReward = 0;     
    for (uint i = 0; i < _tickets.length; i++) {  
    	require (msg.sender == lotteryNFT.ownerOf(_tickets[i]),    “not from owner”); 
        require (!lotteryNFT.getClaimStatus(_tickets[i]), “claimed”);  
        uint256 reward = getRewardView(_tickets[i]);  
        
        if(reward>0) {
        	totalReward = reward.add(totalReward);   
            }
     }
     
     lotteryNFT.multiClaimReward(_tickets); 
     
     if(totalReward>0) {      
     	cake.safeTransfer(address(msg.sender), totalReward); 
     }    
     
     emit MultiClaim(msg.sender, totalReward);
     
     }

“If we want to be serious about quality, it is time to get tired of finding bugs and start preventing their happening in the first place.”— Alan Page