Rust Smart Contract & Solana Program Audits
Rust-based blockchains introduce a fundamentally different security model from the EVM. As a specialist Rust audit firm, we focus on the account model, CPI patterns, and ownership semantics that make Solana (Anchor and native), NEAR, CosmWasm, and Substrate programs vulnerable in ways Solidity auditors don't catch.
Why Rust Program Audits Require Specialized Expertise
A Rust smart contract audit is a manual, line-by-line security review of your on-chain programs by auditors who specialize in the account model, not a generalist firm adapting EVM checklists. Rust's memory safety doesn't make a program secure: on Solana, programs don't own their data and every account must be explicitly validated, which creates entirely different vulnerability classes than the EVM.
Real Rust exploits prove the point. Wormhole lost ~$320M to a spoofed sysvar account, Cashio ~$52M to a missing account-type check, and Mango Markets ~$114M to oracle manipulation, none of which resemble a Solidity bug. Missing account validation, incorrect signer checks, CPI (Cross-Program Invocation) confusion, and PDA seed collisions have all caused nine-figure losses. Anchor's constraints help, but they don't eliminate logic bugs, and an auditor who only knows Solidity will miss these.
You need a specialist Rust audit before mainnet launch, before a major upgrade, or before a program starts handling meaningful value. Teams shipping Solana DeFi, staking, bridges, or any program that custodies user funds are exactly who these vulnerability classes target.
Our Methodology
Our Rust audit methodology addresses the unique security model of account-based blockchains.
Architecture & Account Mapping
We map every account, PDA derivation, and CPI call. Understand the trust model before reviewing code.
Automated Scanning
Sentinel runs Rust-specific static analysis, checking for common Solana pitfalls: missing owner checks, unchecked arithmetic, incorrect account deserialization.
Manual Program Review
Line-by-line review focused on account validation, signer authorization, CPI safety, and state transition correctness.
Invariant Testing
Custom test harnesses targeting program invariants. We simulate adversarial inputs, malicious accounts, and race conditions.
Report & Remediation
Severity-rated findings with Rust-specific fix recommendations. Re-audit of all patches included.
Vulnerability Classes We Target
These are the vulnerability patterns most relevant to this audit type: the ones that cause real losses.
Missing Account Validation
Programs that fail to verify account ownership, type, or initialization status. Attackers substitute malicious accounts to bypass logic.
CPI Confusion
Cross-Program Invocations to attacker-controlled programs that mimic expected interfaces. Signature and authority can be spoofed.
PDA Seed Collisions
Program Derived Addresses with insufficient or predictable seeds that allow attackers to derive conflicting accounts.
Signer Authorization Gaps
Missing or incorrect signer checks on privileged instructions: admin functions, fund transfers, state mutations.
Arithmetic Overflow
Rust's checked arithmetic in debug mode becomes unchecked in release. Programs that rely on debug-mode panics ship exploitable math.
Reinitialization Attacks
Accounts that can be reinitialized after creation, resetting state and allowing attackers to replay setup sequences.
Arbitrary CPI / Unchecked Program ID
Cross-Program Invocations that never verify the callee's program ID let an attacker pass a malicious program and hijack execution flow.
Account Type Confusion
Accounts deserialized without checking their type or discriminator. Cashio's $52M exploit chained forged accounts with no root of trust to mint unlimited tokens.
Sysvar & Account Spoofing
Reading a sysvar (clock, instructions, rent) from an unvalidated account. Wormhole's $320M hack used a forged instructions sysvar to bypass signature verification.
Precision & Rounding Errors
Rounding-direction and loss-of-precision bugs in AMM, lending, and staking math that bleed value over many transactions, distinct from overflow.
Non-Canonical PDA Bumps
Accepting non-canonical bump seeds lets attackers derive spoofed Program Derived Addresses that still pass validation; programs must enforce the canonical bump.
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Services
Solidity Audits
Line-by-line Solidity smart contract audits combining manual review, static analysis, and fuzzing. Severity-rated findings with actionable remediation.
DeFi Security
Security audits for DeFi protocols: DEXs, lending, vaults, staking, and yield aggregators. Economic attack modeling, oracle analysis, and governance review.
Pen Testing
Adversarial penetration testing for Web3 infrastructure. Real-world attack simulations targeting smart contracts, frontends, APIs, and operational security.
Chains We Audit
Rust Audits tuned to the chains where this work matters most.
Related Research
Solana Smart Contract Vulnerabilities: The Patterns Behind $500M in Exploits
Wormhole $320M, Mango $114M, Cashio $52M. None of them were Rust bugs. The seven vulnerability classes behind Solana's biggest exploits, and what an audit checks for each.
industryHow to Choose a Smart Contract Audit Firm Without Getting Burned
A framework for evaluating audit firms based on methodology, track record, and specialization, not marketing. What to look for, what to avoid, and the questions most teams forget to ask.
exploitsDrift Protocol's $270M Exploit: How Solana's Durable Nonces Became a Social Engineering Weapon
An attacker drained $270M from Drift Protocol by abusing Solana's durable nonce feature to pre-sign malicious multisig transactions weeks before execution.
researchAI's Growing Role in Auditing and Cybersecurity
With smart contract deployments hitting a record 8.7M per quarter, manual review can't keep up. Discover why AI-assisted auditing is the only realistic way to close the Web3 security gap.
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