<Section name="Introduction" description="Introduction to Slither" hidden="false">

# What is Slither

The aim of this guide is to show how to use Slither to automatically find bugs in smart contracts.

Slither is a Solidity static analysis framework written in Python 3. It runs a suite of vulnerability detectors, prints visual information about contract details, and provides an API to easily write custom analyses. Slither enables developers to find vulnerabilities, enhance their code comprehension, and quickly prototype custom analyses.


# Features

Slither is degined to help with the following:

- Detect vulnerable Solidity code with low false positives
- Identify where the error condition occurs in the source code
- Easily integrate with CI and Truffle builds
- Report crucial contract information Built-in 'printers'
- Detector API to write custom analyses in Python


# Workflow

1. It takes as initial input the Solidity Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) generated by the Solidity compiler. Slither works out of the box with the most common frameworks, including Truffle, Embark, and Dapp. You just point Slither at a contract to analyze.
2. It then generates important information, such as the contract’s inheritance graph, the control flow graph (CFG), and the list of all expressions in the contract.
3. Slither then translates the code of the contract into SlithIR, an internal representation language that makes precise and accurate analyses easier to write.
4. Finally, Slither runs a set of pre-defined analyses that provide enhanced information to other modules (e.g., computing data flow, protected function calls, etc.).


Once you feel you understand the material in this guide, you may also check out a more in-depth lessons on [writing secure smart contracts](https://github.com/crytic/building-secure-contracts/tree/master/program-analysis/slither)


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</Section>

<Section name="Static Analysis" description="">

# Overview

The capabilities and design of the Slither static analysis framework has been described in blog posts ([1](https://blog.trailofbits.com/2018/10/19/slither-a-solidity-static-analysis-framework/), [2](https://blog.trailofbits.com/2019/05/27/slither-the-leading-static-analyzer-for-smart-contracts/)) and an [academic paper](https://github.com/trailofbits/publications/blob/master/papers/wetseb19.pdf).

Static analysis exists in different flavors. You most likely realize that compilers like [clang](https://clang-analyzer.llvm.org/) and [gcc](https://lwn.net/Articles/806099/) depend on these research techniques, but it also underpins ([Infer](https://fbinfer.com/), [CodeClimate](https://codeclimate.com/), [FindBugs](http://findbugs.sourceforge.net/) and tools based on formal methods like [Frama-C](https://frama-c.com/) and [Polyspace](https://www.mathworks.com/products/polyspace.html).

We won't be exhaustively reviewing static analysis techniques and researcher here. Instead, we'll focus on what is needed to understand how Slither works so you can more effectively use it to find bugs and understand code.


# Code representation

In contrast to a dynamic analysis, which reasons about a single execution path, static analysis reasons about all the paths at once. To do so, it relies on a different code representation. The two most common ones are the abstract syntax tree (AST) and the control flow graph (CFG).

# Abstract Syntax Trees (AST)

AST are used every time the compiler parses code. It is probably the most basic structure upon which static analysis can be performed.

In a nutshell, an AST is a structured tree where, usually, each leaf contains a variable or a constant and internal nodes are operands or control flow operations. Consider the following code: 

```solidity
function safeAdd(uint a, uint b) pure internal returns(uint) {
    if(a + b <= a){
        revert();
    }
    return a + b;
}
```

The corresponding AST is shown in:

![AST](https://i.imgur.com/4UfY4jy.png)

Slither uses the AST exported by solc.

While simple to build, the AST is a nested structure. At times, this is not the most straightforward to analyze. For example, to identify the operations used by the expression `a + b <= a`, you must first analyze `<=` and then `+`. A common approach is to use the so-called visitor pattern, which navigates through the tree recursively. Slither contains a generic visitor in [`ExpressionVisitor`](https://github.com/crytic/slither/blob/master/slither/visitors/expression/expression.py).

The following code uses `ExpressionVisitor` to detect if the expression contains an addition:

```python
from slither.visitors.expression.expression import ExpressionVisitor
from slither.core.expressions.binary_operation import BinaryOperationType

class HasAddition(ExpressionVisitor):

    def result(self):
        return self._result

    def _post_binary_operation(self, expression):
        if expression.type == BinaryOperationType.ADDITION:
            self._result = True

visitor = HasAddition(expression) # expression is the expression to be tested
print(f'The expression {expression} has a addition: {visitor.result()}')
```

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</Section>

<Section name="Control Flow Graph" description="">

# Control Flow Graph (CFG)

The second most common code representation is the control flow graph (CFG). As its name suggests, it is a graph-based representation which exposes all the execution paths. Each node contains one or multiple instructions. Edges in the graph represent the control flow operations (if/then/else, loop, etc). The CFG of our previous example is:

![CFG](https://i.imgur.com/qWuzhPK.png)

The CFG is the representation on top of which most of the analyses are built.

Many other code representations exist. Each representation has advantages and drawbacks according to the analysis you want to perform.

# Analysis

The simplest type of analyses you can perform with Slither are syntactic analyses. 

# Syntax analysis

Slither can navigate through the different components of the code and their representation to find inconsistencies and flaws using a pattern matching-like approach.

For example the following detectors look for syntax-related issues:

- [State variable shadowing](https://github.com/crytic/slither/wiki/Detector-Documentation#state-variable-shadowing): iterates over all the state variables and check if any shadow a variable from an inherited contract ([state.py#L51-L62](https://github.com/crytic/slither/blob/0441338e055ab7151b30ca69258561a5a793f8ba/slither/detectors/shadowing/state.py#L51-L62))

- [Incorrect ERC20 interface](https://github.com/crytic/slither/wiki/Detector-Documentation#incorrect-erc20-interface): look for incorrect ERC20 function signatures ([incorrect_erc20_interface.py#L34-L55](https://github.com/crytic/slither/blob/0441338e055ab7151b30ca69258561a5a793f8ba/slither/detectors/erc/incorrect_erc20_interface.py#L34-L55))

# Semantic analysis

In contrast to syntax analysis, a semantic analysis will go deeper and analyze the “meaning” of the code. This family includes some broad types of analyses. They lead to more powerful and useful results, but are also more complex to write.

Semantic analyses are used for the most advanced vulnerability detections.

# Data dependency analysis

A variable `variable_a` is said to be data-dependent of `variable_b` if there is a path for which the value of `variable_a` is influenced by `variable_b`.

In the following code, `variable_a` is dependent of `variable_b`:

```solidity
// ...
variable_a = variable_b + 1;
```

Slither comes with built-in [data dependency](https://github.com/crytic/slither/wiki/data-dependency) capabilities, thanks to its intermediate representation (discussed in a later section).

An example of data dependency usage can be found in the [dangerous strict equality detector](https://github.com/crytic/slither/wiki/Detector-Documentation#dangerous-strict-equalities). Here Slither will look for strict equality comparison to a dangerous value ([incorrect_strict_equality.py#L86-L87](https://github.com/crytic/slither/blob/6d86220a53603476f9567c3358524ea4db07fb25/slither/detectors/statements/incorrect_strict_equality.py#L86-L87)), and will inform the user that it should use `>=` or `<=` rather than `==`, to prevent an attacker to trap the contract. Among other, the detector will consider as dangerous the return value of a call to `balanceOf(address)` ([incorrect_strict_equality.py#L63-L64](https://github.com/crytic/slither/blob/6d86220a53603476f9567c3358524ea4db07fb25/slither/detectors/statements/incorrect_strict_equality.py#L63-L64)), and will use the data dependency engine to track its usage.

## Fixed-point computation

If your analysis navigates through the CFG and follows the edges, you are likely to see already visited nodes. For example, if a loop is presented as shown below:

```solidity
for(uint i; i < range; ++) {
    variable_a += 1
}
```

Your analysis will need to know when to stop. There are two main strategies here: (1) iterate on each node a finite number of times, (2) compute a so-called *fixpoint*. A fixpoint basically means that analyzing this node does not provide any meaningful information. 

An example of fixpoint used can be found in the reentrancy detectors: Slither explores the nodes, and look for externals calls, write and read to storage. Once it has reached a fixpoint ([reentrancy.py#L125-L131](https://github.com/crytic/slither/blob/master/slither/detectors/reentrancy/reentrancy.py#L125-L131)), it stops the exploration, and analyze the results to see if a reentrancy is present, through different reentrancy patterns ([reentrancy_benign.py](https://github.com/crytic/slither/blob/b275bcc824b1b932310cf03b6bfb1a1fef0ebae1/slither/detectors/reentrancy/reentrancy_benign.py), [reentrancy_read_before_write.py](https://github.com/crytic/slither/blob/b275bcc824b1b932310cf03b6bfb1a1fef0ebae1/slither/detectors/reentrancy/reentrancy_read_before_write.py), [reentrancy_eth.py](https://github.com/crytic/slither/blob/b275bcc824b1b932310cf03b6bfb1a1fef0ebae1/slither/detectors/reentrancy/reentrancy_eth.py)).

Writing analyses using efficient fixed point computation requires a good understanding of how the analysis propagates its information.

<Quiz id={"viapz"} />

</Section>

<Section name="Intermediate Representation" description="">

# Introduction

Slither translates Solidity an intermediate representation, SlithIR, to enable high-precision analysis via a simple API. It supports taint and value tracking to enable detection of complex patterns.

# What is IR

In language design, compilers often operate on an “intermediate representation” (IR) of a language that carries extra details about the program as it is parsed. For example, a compiler creates a parse tree of a program that represents a program as written. However, the compiler can continue to enrich this tree with information, such as taint information, source location, and other items that could have impacted an item from control flow. Additionally, languages such as Solidity have inheritance, meaning that functions and methods may be defined outside the scope of a given contract. An IR could linearize these methods, allowing additional transformations and processing of the contract’s source code.

A demonstrative example would be LLVM’s IR vs C or x86 code. While C will clearly demonstrate a function call, it may be missing details about the underlying system, the path to a location, and so on. Likewise, while an analog to the same call would be clear in x86, this would lose all transient details of which variables and which path an application had taken to arrive at a specific call. LLVM’s IR solves this by abstracting away the specific details of a call instruction, while still capturing the variables, environmental state, and other values that lead to this position. In this way, LLVM can perform additional introspection of the resulting code, and use these analyses to drive other optimizations or information to other passes of the compiler.

# Why does Slither translate to an IR?

Solidity is a quirky language with a number of edge cases, both in terms of syntax and semantics. By translating to an IR, Slither normalizes many of these quirks to better analyze the contract. For example, Solidity’s grammar defines an array push as a function call to the array. A straightforward representation of this semantic would be indistinguishable from a normal function call. Slither, in contrast, treats array pushes as a specific operation, allowing further analysis of the accesses to arrays and their impact to the security of a program. Moreover, the operators in SlithIR have a hierarchy, so, for example in a few lines of code you can track all the operators that write to a variable, which makes it trivial to write precise taint analysis.

Additionally, Slither can include non-trivial variable tracking by default by translating to an IR. This can build richer representations of contracts and allow for deeper analysis of potential vulnerabilities. For example, answering the question “can a user control a variable” is central to uncovering more complex vulnerabilities from a static position. Slither will propagate information from function parameters to program state in an iterative fashion, which captures the control flow of information across potentially multiple transactions. In this way, Slither can enrich information and statically provide a large amount of assurance to contracts that standard vulnerabilities exist and are reachable under certain conditions.


# Example

You can pass the following flag to print the IR

```sh
$ slither file.sol --print slithir
```

This will output the IR for every function:


```
$ slither examples/printers/slihtir.sol --printers slithir
Contract UnsafeMath
	Function add(uint256,uint256)
		Expression: a + b
		IRs:
			TMP_0(uint256) = a + b
			RETURN TMP_0
	Function min(uint256,uint256)
		Expression: a - b
		IRs:
			TMP_0(uint256) = a - b
			RETURN TMP_0
Contract MyContract
	Function transfer(address,uint256)
		Expression: balances[msg.sender] = balances[msg.sender].min(val)
		IRs:
			REF_3(uint256) -> balances[msg.sender]
			REF_1(uint256) -> balances[msg.sender]
			TMP_1(uint256) = LIBRARY_CALL, dest:UnsafeMath, function:min, arguments:['REF_1', 'val'] 
			REF_3 := TMP_1
		Expression: balances[to] = balances[to].add(val)
		IRs:
			REF_3(uint256) -> balances[to]
			REF_1(uint256) -> balances[to]
			TMP_1(uint256) = LIBRARY_CALL, dest:UnsafeMath, function:add, arguments:['REF_1', 'val'] 
			REF_3 := TMP_1
```

# Understanding the Output

## Variables

- `StateVariable`
- `LocalVariable`
- `Constant` (`string` or `int`)
- `SolidityVariable`
- `TupleVariable`
- `TemporaryVariable` (variables added by SlithIR)
- `ReferenceVariable` (variables added by SlithIR, for mapping/index accesses)


In the following we use:

- `LVALUE` can be: `StateVariable`, `LocalVariable`, `TemporaryVariable`, `ReferenceVariable` or `TupleVariable`
- `RVALUE` can be: `StateVariable`, `LocalVariable`, `Constant`, `SolidityVariable`, `TemporaryVariable` or `ReferenceVariable`

</Section>


<Section name="Installation" description="">

# Installation

Slither requires Python >= 3.6. It can be installed through pip or using docker.

Slither through pip:

```bash
pip3 install --user slither-analyzer
```

Slither through docker:

```bash
docker pull trailofbits/eth-security-toolbox
docker run -it -v "$PWD":/home/trufflecon trailofbits/eth-security-toolbox
```

*The last command runs eth-security-toolbox in a docker that has access to your current directory. You can change the files from your host, and run the tools on the files from the docker*

Inside docker, run:

```bash
solc-select 0.5.11
cd /home/trufflecon/
```

# Running a script

To run a python script with python 3:

```bash
python3 script.py
```

# Command line

**Command line versus user-defined scripts.** Slither comes with a set of predefined detectors that find many common bugs. Calling Slither from the command line will run all the detectors, no detailed knowledge of static analysis needed:

```bash 
slither project_paths
```

In addition to detectors, Slither has code review capabilities through its [printers](https://github.com/crytic/slither#printers) and [tools](https://github.com/crytic/slither#tools).

Use [crytic.io](https://crytic.io) to get access to private detectors and GitHub integration.

</Section>


The aim of this tutorial is to show how to use Slither to automatically find bugs in smart contracts

Ready to begin?