A FRAMEWORK FOR SECURE SMART CONTRACT DEVELOPMENT: INTEGRATING SOLIDITY STORAGE LAYOUT UNDERSTANDING WITH STATIC ANALYSIS AND CONTRACT TESTING PRACTICES
Keywords:
Smart contracts, Solidity, static analysisAbstract
The rapid adoption of blockchain-based applications has raised critical concerns about the security and correctness of smart contracts. A prominent source of vulnerabilities lies in improper handling of storage variables, their layout, and arithmetic operations within a contract. This paper presents a conceptual research framework that synthesizes insights from storage layout principles in Solidity, static-analysis and fuzzing approaches for both traditional software and smart contracts, and contract testing methodologies derived from distributed systems. By bridging these domains, we propose a structured methodology for detecting and preventing storage- and arithmetic-related vulnerabilities in smart contracts. The methodology combines rigorous design-time discipline (rooted in storage layout awareness), static analysis (leveraging techniques from taint analysis and SAST), and contract testing including consumer-driven and API-level tests. We articulate how this tripartite approach can mitigate common classes of smart contract bugs—such as storage collisions, overflows/underflows, and misuse of state variables—and support robust contract evolution. We conclude by discussing the theoretical implications, limitations, and directions for future empirical evaluations of this framework.
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