TotalSol: A Multi-Layer Static Analysis Method for Vulnerability Detection in Ethereum Based Smart Contracts

Abstract

Blockchain was originally developed for digital currency, but the capability of technology extends quite far beyond cryptocurrency. The Smart Contracts, self-executing and unalterable digital agreements, further extended the capability. While smart contracts offer various possibilities, they are also vulnerable to a variety of attacks such as integer overflows, reentrancy attacks and denial-of-service (DoS) attacks. This research paper reviews the currently available tools that are used to detect these vulnerabilities, such as fuzz testing and static code analysis. Limitations of these tools such as scalability issues, high false positives, high false negatives and difficulties in handling large and complex contracts are highlighted. To address all these problems, this paper introduces a tool named ‘TotalSol’, a new tool that combines various analysis methods into a single comprehensive solution with a scalable platform. Using analysers like Slither, Aderyn and SmartCheck, TotalSol solves the accuracy, speed and scalability problems while minimizing false negatives and false positives. It creates a platform for developers and researchers to add new methods and detection tools in their underlying architecture without much alteration. A smart contract downloader tool is proposed to gather real-time contract data for better analysis. This research targets to deliver a more effective and an automated way to analyse the smart contracts. This ensures high security standards and reduces the risks involved with vulnerabilities in the decentralized applications.