Context:
A decentralized platform aims to incentivize bug hunters (bounty hunters) to identify and report security vulnerabilities. The platform uses smart contracts to manage bounty payouts and automates the process using off-chain events to trigger on-chain actions.
Key Components:
- Smart Contract: Manages bounty offers, submissions, evaluations, and payouts.
- Off-Chain Event Listener: Monitors external events (e.g., vulnerability reports, approval by maintainers) and triggers on-chain actions.
- Bounty Hunters: Individuals who find and report bugs.
- Maintainers: Trusted individuals or entities who verify the validity of bug reports.
- Multisign Wallet: Requires multiple signatures from trusted maintainers for approval of payouts.
Workflow:
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Bounty Creation:
- A project maintainer creates a bounty on the platform, specifying the reward amount and criteria for bug submissions.
- The smart contract locks the specified bounty amount in escrow.
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Bug Submission:
- A bounty hunter finds a bug and submits a report through an off-chain platform (e.g., a web portal).
- The off-chain platform generates an event indicating a new bug submission.
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Event Listener:
- The off-chain event listener detects the new bug submission event.
- It verifies the authenticity and completeness of the submission.
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Bug Verification:
- The submission is forwarded to a group of maintainers for verification.
- Each maintainer reviews the report and submits their approval or rejection off-chain.
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Multisign Contract Execution:
- Once a predefined number of maintainers approve the bug report, an off-chain event is generated indicating the report’s approval.
- The off-chain event listener picks up the approval event and triggers an on-chain transaction.
- The multisign smart contract receives the transaction and verifies the signatures of the maintainers.
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Payout Execution:
- Upon successful verification of the required signatures, the smart contract releases the bounty amount to the bounty hunter’s address.
- An on-chain event is emitted indicating the successful payout.
Security Measures:
- Threshold Signatures: Ensure that no single maintainer can unilaterally approve a payout.
- Event Auditing: Maintain logs of all off-chain and on-chain events for transparency and auditing.
- Time-Locked Contracts: Implement time locks to allow maintainers to dispute approvals if needed.
Benefits:
- Automation: Reduces manual intervention and speeds up the bounty payout process.
- Trustless: Leverages multisignature wallets to ensure that funds are only released with consensus.
- Transparency: Provides clear and auditable trails of all actions taken during the process.
This scenario outlines an efficient and secure method for managing bug bounty programs using smart contracts and off-chain event triggers, enhancing trust and automation in the process.
Examples of Off-Chain Events for Smart Contract Execution
1. Google News Alerts:
- Event Type: News about a specific company or topic.
- Usage: Trigger actions based on news reports. For example, if a security vulnerability is reported in the news, an alert can trigger a review and potential bug bounty payout process.
2. GitHub Activity:
- Event Type: Pull request, issue creation, or comment.
- Usage: Automatically trigger reviews or bounty payouts when a bug is reported or a fix is proposed. If an issue tagged as “security” is opened, the event listener can notify maintainers and initiate the verification process.
3. Social Media Mentions:
- Event Type: Tweets, posts, or comments mentioning specific keywords or handles.
- Usage: Monitor mentions of security vulnerabilities or exploits. For example, if a vulnerability is tweeted by a reputable security researcher, it can trigger a review process.
4. Email Notifications:
- Event Type: Specific emails received in a monitored inbox.
- Usage: Trigger actions based on emails from specific sources. For example, if a bug report email is received from a trusted address, the event listener can initiate the verification process.
5. API Webhooks:
- Event Type: Data updates from external services.
- Usage: Use webhooks to monitor real-time data changes. For instance, if an external security service reports a new vulnerability via webhook, it can trigger the smart contract process.
6. IoT Sensor Alerts:
- Event Type: Alerts from connected devices.
- Usage: Trigger actions based on sensor data. For example, if a security camera detects unauthorized access, an alert can trigger a review for potential security breaches.
7. Blockchain Oracles:
- Event Type: Data feeds from oracles (e.g., Chainlink).
- Usage: Use oracles to bring off-chain data onto the blockchain. For instance, a weather oracle can trigger insurance payouts based on weather conditions.
Example Scenario Using Google News Alerts:
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Setup:
- The platform sets up a Google News alert for keywords like “XYZ vulnerability” or “XYZ bug report” where “XYZ” is the name of the project or company.
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Event Detection:
- Google News alerts the system via email or a webhook when relevant news is published.
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Event Listener:
- The off-chain event listener detects the alert and verifies the news source’s credibility.
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Verification Process:
- If the news report is credible, the event listener forwards the information to the maintainers for further investigation.
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Smart Contract Trigger:
- Upon maintainers’ verification, an off-chain event is created, and the listener triggers the smart contract to release the bounty.
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Payout:
- The multisign contract ensures multiple maintainers approve the payout, and once approved, the smart contract executes the payout to the bounty hunter.
This method ensures timely and accurate responses to real-world events, leveraging off-chain data to automate and secure on-chain transactions.
Scenario: Competitive Bounty Program with Automatic Execution
Context:
A decentralized platform hosts a competitive bounty program where multiple bounty hunters compete to find and report a specific bug. The bounty program uses smart contracts to manage registrations, track submissions, and automatically execute payouts based on off-chain event triggers.
Key Components:
- Smart Contract: Manages registrations, submissions, tracking, and payouts.
- Off-Chain Event Listener: Monitors external events and triggers on-chain actions.
- Bounty Hunters: Individuals competing to find and report the same bug.
- Maintainers: Trusted entities who verify the validity of bug reports.
- Unique Indicators: Each bounty hunter is assigned a unique identifier upon registration.
Workflow:
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Bounty Creation:
- A project maintainer creates a bounty on the platform, specifying the reward amount and criteria for bug submissions.
- The smart contract locks the specified bounty amount in escrow.
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Bounty Hunter Registration:
- Bounty hunters pre-register for the competition through an off-chain portal.
- Each registered bounty hunter receives a unique indicator (e.g., a unique ID).
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Bug Discovery and Submission:
- Bounty hunters search for the bug and submit their reports through the off-chain portal.
- Each submission includes the unique indicator of the submitting bounty hunter.
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Event Listener:
- The off-chain event listener monitors the submission portal for new bug reports.
- When a new bug report is detected, the event listener verifies the authenticity and completeness of the submission.
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Bug Verification:
- The submission is forwarded to the maintainers for verification.
- Each maintainer reviews the report and submits their approval or rejection off-chain.
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Multisign Contract Execution:
- Once the required number of maintainers approve a bug report, an off-chain event is generated indicating the report’s approval.
- The off-chain event listener picks up the approval event and triggers an on-chain transaction.
- The smart contract verifies the approval and the unique indicator of the bounty hunter who submitted the report.
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Payout Execution:
- The smart contract releases the bounty amount to the bounty hunter’s address associated with the unique indicator.
- An on-chain event is emitted indicating the successful payout to the winning bounty hunter.
Example Off-Chain Events:
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Submission Event:
- A new bug report is submitted by a bounty hunter with their unique indicator.
- Example: “BountyHunter123 submitted a bug report at 2024-06-27 10:00 AM.”
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Verification Event:
- Maintainers approve the bug report.
- Example: “Maintainer1 approved BountyHunter123’s report at 2024-06-27 12:00 PM.”
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Approval Event:
- Required number of approvals is met.
- Example: “Bug report by BountyHunter123 approved by 3 maintainers at 2024-06-27 02:00 PM.”
Detailed Scenario Using Competitive Bounty Program:
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Setup:
- The platform sets up a bounty competition for a known vulnerability type with a reward of $10,000.
- Bounty hunters pre-register and receive unique indicators like “Hunter001”, “Hunter002”, etc.
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Bug Hunt:
- Bounty hunters actively look for the specified bug. Hunter001 finds the bug and submits a report through the off-chain portal with their unique indicator.
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Event Detection:
- The off-chain event listener detects Hunter001’s submission and forwards it to the maintainers for review.
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Verification Process:
- Maintainers verify the report and approve it off-chain. The event listener records the approval event.
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Smart Contract Trigger:
- Once the required number of maintainers (e.g., 3 out of 5) approve the report, an off-chain event is generated.
- The event listener triggers the smart contract to release the bounty.
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Payout:
- The smart contract verifies the unique indicator (Hunter001) and releases the $10,000 bounty to Hunter001’s address.
- An on-chain event is emitted indicating the successful payout to Hunter001.
Security Measures:
- Unique Indicators: Ensure correct attribution and prevent fraudulent claims.
- Threshold Signatures: Require multiple maintainer approvals to prevent unilateral decisions.
- Event Logging: Maintain a transparent log of all actions and events for auditing purposes.
This competitive scenario ensures fair play and timely payouts to deserving bounty hunters, leveraging off-chain event monitoring and smart contract automation for efficiency and security.