Temporal Logic Verification of Smart Contracts using Symbolic Execution with Constraint Solving

Abstract

The increasing prevalence of smart contracts in decentralized applications necessitates robust methods for ensuring their correctness and security. Smart contracts, due to their inherent complexity and potential for subtle errors, pose a significant challenge for traditional verification techniques. This paper proposes a novel approach combining symbolic execution with constraint solving and temporal logic verification for the systematic analysis of smart contracts. The core idea is to systematically explore the execution paths of a smart contract using symbolic execution, identifying potential vulnerabilities and execution scenarios. Subsequently, temporal logic is applied to formally verify that the contract's behavior aligns with its intended specifications over time, capturing temporal constraints such as safety and liveness properties. This integrated framework provides a more comprehensive and reliable method for verifying smart contracts compared to relying solely on symbolic execution or temporal logic alone. The approach offers a structured methodology for detecting and mitigating risks associated with smart contract development.