Smart Contract Auditing: My Methodology
The systematic approach I use to audit Solidity smart contracts — from static analysis to formal verification.
Static Analysis First
I start every smart contract audit with automated static analysis using Slither, Securify2, and Mythril. These tools catch common vulnerability patterns like reentrancy, integer overflow, and unchecked external calls. But static analysis alone is insufficient — it catches maybe 30% of real vulnerabilities.
Manual Code Review
The bulk of my findings come from manual review. I read every line of the contract, trace the flow of ETH and tokens, and check access controls on every function. I pay special attention to: state changes after external calls (CEI pattern violations), flash loan attack vectors, and oracle manipulation possibilities.
DeFi-Specific Attack Vectors
DeFi protocols have unique attack surfaces: price oracle manipulation, flash loan-enabled attacks, governance takeover via token voting, and composability risks from interacting with other protocols. Each DeFi primitive (AMMs, lending, staking) has its own attack patterns that must be tested.
Formal Verification
For high-value contracts, I use formal verification tools like Certora and Halmos to mathematically prove safety properties. While time-intensive, formal verification provides the highest assurance that critical invariants hold under all conditions.
K4L1 Security
Bug Bounty Hunter & Security Researcher
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