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Smart Contract Audit Checklist
A comprehensive checklist for conducting thorough smart contract security audits
Audit Checklist Purpose
This checklist provides a structured approach to smart contract security auditing, covering common vulnerabilities, best practices, and methodologies. Use it as a guide to ensure comprehensive coverage during security assessments, but remember that each project may require additional specific checks based on its unique requirements and architecture.
Audit Process Overview
1
Preparation
Setting up for an effective audit
- Define the audit scope and objectives
- Gather documentation (whitepaper, specifications, previous audits)
- Set up the development environment
- Compile the contracts and resolve any compilation issues
- Identify external dependencies and integrations
2
Manual Review
Thorough code examination by security experts
- Understand the overall architecture and contract interactions
- Review access control mechanisms and authorization flows
- Examine critical functions and business logic implementation
- Check mathematical operations and financial calculations
- Analyze external interactions and dependency handling
3
Automated Analysis
Using tools to identify common vulnerabilities
- Run static analysis tools (Slither, MythX)
- Perform symbolic execution (Mythril, Manticore)
- Conduct fuzzing tests (Echidna)
- Analyze gas usage and optimization opportunities
- Verify test coverage and quality
4
Dynamic Testing
Testing contract behavior in various scenarios
- Develop test cases for normal and edge case scenarios
- Test access control and authorization boundaries
- Simulate attack vectors and exploitation attempts
- Verify economic incentives and game theory aspects
- Test upgrade mechanisms and emergency procedures
5
Reporting
Documenting and communicating findings
- Classify vulnerabilities by severity and impact
- Document findings with clear reproduction steps
- Provide specific remediation recommendations
- Create an executive summary for stakeholders
- Conduct a review session with the development team
6
Remediation
Addressing identified vulnerabilities
- Prioritize fixes based on severity and impact
- Implement fixes with minimal changes to reduce risk
- Develop comprehensive test cases for fixed issues
- Conduct regression testing to ensure no new vulnerabilities
- Verify fixes through follow-up review
Vulnerability Checklist
Access Control
Ensuring proper authorization and permission management
Best Practices
Code Quality
Security Patterns
Emergency Procedures
Audit Report Template
Report Structure
Executive Summary
- Audit scope and objectives
- Methodology summary
- Key findings overview
- Risk assessment summary
- Recommendations overview
Detailed Findings
- Vulnerability title and ID
- Severity and impact assessment
- Vulnerability description
- Proof of concept / reproduction steps
- Recommended fixes
Severity Classification
Critical
Vulnerabilities that can lead to direct loss of funds, complete system compromise, or severe economic damage.
High
Vulnerabilities that could lead to significant financial loss, compromise of sensitive data, or disruption of core functionality.
Medium
Vulnerabilities that pose moderate risk to the system or users, with limited financial impact or affecting non-critical functionality.
Low
Vulnerabilities with minimal direct impact but could potentially be combined with other issues or represent deviations from best practices.
Remediation Verification
After implementing fixes, a thorough verification process should be conducted:
- Retest each vulnerability to confirm it has been properly addressed
- Verify that fixes don't introduce new vulnerabilities or regressions
- Conduct focused testing around the modified components
- Update the security report with verification results
- Provide a final assessment of the remediated system