UPC Sentinel: An Accurate Approach for Detecting Upgradeability Proxy Contracts in Ethereum
Amir M. Ebrahimi, Bram Adams, Gustavo A. Oliva, Ahmed E. Hassan

TL;DR
This paper presents UPC Sentinel, a highly accurate algorithm combining static and dynamic analysis to detect upgradeability proxy contracts in Ethereum DApps, aiding transparency and security in smart contract maintenance.
Contribution
Introduces UPC Sentinel, a novel three-layer analysis method that significantly improves detection accuracy of upgradeability proxies in Ethereum smart contracts.
Findings
Achieved 99% accuracy on first dataset
Attained 100% precision and 99.3% recall on second dataset
Outperformed existing state-of-the-art detection methods
Abstract
Software applications that run on a blockchain platform are known as DApps. DApps are built using smart contracts, which are immutable after deployment. Just like any real-world software system, DApps need to receive new features and bug fixes over time in order to remain useful and secure. However, Ethereum lacks native solutions for post-deployment smart contract maintenance, requiring developers to devise their own methods. A popular method is known as the upgradeability proxy contract (UPC), which involves implementing the proxy design pattern (as defined by the Gang of Four). In this method, client calls first hit a proxy contract, which then delegates calls to a certain implementation contract. Most importantly, the proxy contract can be reconfigured during runtime to delegate calls to another implementation contract, effectively enabling application upgrades. For researchers, the…
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Taxonomy
TopicsRisk and Safety Analysis · Diverse Research and Applications · Reliability and Maintenance Optimization
