Audit Methodology by Dedaub

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Web3 Audit Methodology

Dedaub’s Security Audit teams comprise at least two senior security researchers, as well as any support they may need (e.g., cryptography expertise, financial modeling, testing) from the rest of our team. We carefully match the team’s expertise to your project’s specific nature and requirements. Our auditors conduct a meticulous, line-by-line review of every contract within the audit scope, ensuring that each researcher examines 100% of the code. There is no substitute for deep understanding of the code and forming a thorough mental model of its interactions and correctness assumptions.

Web3 Audit Methodology | 4 Main Strategies

Reaching this level of understanding is the goal of a Dedaub audit. To achieve this, we employ strategies such as:

  • Two-phase review: during phase A, the auditors understand the code in terms of functionality, i.e., in terms of legitimate use. During phase B, the auditors assume the role of attackers and attempt to subvert the system’s assumptions by abusing its flexibility.
  • Constant challenging between the two senior auditors: the two auditors will continuously challenge each other, trying to identify dark spots. An auditor who claims to have covered and to understand part of the code is often challenged to explain difficult elements to the other auditor.
  • Thinking at multiple levels: beyond thinking of adversarial scenarios in self-contained parts of the protocol, the auditors explicitly attempt to devise complex combinations of different parts that may result in unexpected behavior.
  • Use of advanced tools: every project is uploaded to the Dedaub Security Suite for analysis by over 70 static analysis algorithms, AI, and automated fuzzing. The auditors often also write and run manual tests on possible leads for issues. Before the conclusion of the audit, the development team gets access to the online system with our automated analyses, so they can see all the machine-generated warnings that the auditors also reviewed.

Dedaub’s auditors also identify gas inefficiencies in your smart contracts and offer cost optimization recommendations. We thoroughly audit integrations with external protocols and dependencies, such as AMMs, lending platforms, and Oracle services, to ensure they align with their specifications.