Solana Checker 1
Today we’re introducing the Missing Owner Check Checker.
This marks our first @solana checker in the Chain-Fox series on smart contract analysis and safety tools.
Let's dive in 🧵
What does this checker do?
It detects when Solana smart contracts use accounts without verifying that they are owned by the expected program.
This simple oversight can lead to dangerous vulnerabilities.
The problem
Solana programs rely on external accounts. If a contract does not check whether an account’s owner field matches the intended program, a malicious actor can supply a forged account owned by another program.
The result can be privilege escalation, logic corruption, or theft.
𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗶𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀
An account might appear valid but be fully controlled by an attacker.
If ownership checks are skipped, the contract may:
• Approve fake token transfers
• Accept malicious config or authority accounts
• Write to unsafe memory regions
These bugs have already led to real exploits in the ecosystem.
𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀
This checker scans Solana programs to analyze account usage within instruction handlers.
It tracks:
• Where accounts are accessed
• Whether 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝.𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚎𝚛==𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍_𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚖_𝚒𝚍 is validated
• Instruction contexts with missing validations
It then flags specific account usage sites where owner checks are missing.
Real-world impact
We’ve observed missing owner checks as a common root cause in @solana contract exploits.
In several high-profile projects, unchecked accounts enabled attackers to bypass logic gates and manipulate program state.
This checker is built to detect and prevent that.
Why it is essential for Solana developers
While Solana offers performance, it comes with complexity.
Security depends on careful account validation.
This checker helps enforce a critical assumption that too often goes unverified.
This is the first Solana checker we’re sharing. In our next post, we’ll highlight another key tool in the Chain-Fox suite for detecting Solana-specific vulnerabilities.
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