A systematic review on smart contracts security design patterns
Sadaf Azimi, Ali Golzari, Naghmeh Ivaki, Nuno Laranjeiro
Abstract
Abstract Smart contracts have accelerated the adoption of blockchain technology across various domains by enabling coded agreements between transaction participants. However, increased software defects and vulnerabilities in smart contracts, driven by developer inexperience with languages like Solidity and a lack of effective detection tools, pose significant risks. Given the high value of assets managed on blockchain (e.g., cryptocurrencies), these vulnerabilities can lead to severe consequences. Researchers and practitioners have proposed numerous smart contract design patterns to mitigate certain faults or vulnerabilities. Despite these efforts, it remains unclear which types of defects these patterns target and how effectively they address the wide range of existing smart contract security vulnerabilities. In this paper, we review the state of the art in smart contract design patterns, categorizing them and analyzing their effectiveness in mitigating known security vulnerabilities. Our findings reveal that only five patterns directly aim to prevent security vulnerabilities, collectively addressing just 6 out of 94 security issues identified by OpenSCV (a state-of-the-art vulnerability taxonomy), highlighting the need for further research on smart contract security design patterns.