SEAM: A Secure Automated and Maintainable Smart Contract Upgrade Framework
Tahrim Hossain, Faisal Haque Bappy, Tarannum Shaila Zaman, Tariqul Islam
TL;DR
This paper tackles the difficulty of upgrading deployed smart contracts and the risks of introducing vulnerabilities during upgrades. It introduces SEAM, an automated framework that converts standard Solidity contracts into upgradable implementations based on the diamond pattern, and provides automated security checks for function selector clashes and storage slot collisions. The architecture encompasses an AST generator, facet generator, diamond contract generator, security reinforcer, and deployment manager with versioning and lifecycle tooling. The results offer a practical path to secure, maintainable, and scalable contract upgrades with reduced developer learning curve. The significance lies in enabling safer upgrades in blockchain applications and reducing potential financial losses due to upgrade-induced vulnerabilities.
Abstract
This work addresses the critical challenges of upgrading smart contracts, which are vital for trust in automated transactions but difficult to modify once deployed. To address this issue, we propose SEAM, a novel framework that automates the conversion of standard Solidity contracts into upgradable versions using the diamond pattern. SEAM simplifies the upgrade process and addresses two key vulnerabilities: function selector clashes and storage slot collisions. Additionally, the framework provides tools for efficiently deploying, modifying, and managing smart contract lifecycles. By enhancing contract security and reducing the learning curve for developers, SEAM lays a robust foundation for more flexible and maintainable blockchain applications.