On-Chain Smart Contract Certificate Verification for Upgrade Integrity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing blockchain networks face challenges in effectively maintaining and verifying the certification authority authorization of smart contracts, ensuring that deployed smart contracts match their audited versions, and efficiently reissuing certificates for upgraded or compromised contracts.
Innovation Solution
A blockchain cybersecurity platform employs a tiered certificate authority system with root authorities and certificate authorities to issue, verify, and reissue certificates, using on-chain audit certificates that are cryptographically secure and expire automatically, ensuring that smart contracts are verified and matched against their audited versions, and allowing for efficient re-auditing and reissuance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a certificate authority system is implemented to verify smart contracts, then security and trust are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The certificate authority system is segmented into multiple hierarchical levels including root certificate authorities and intermediate certificate authorities. Each level performs specific verification functions, distributing the complexity across multiple specialized components rather than concentrating it in a single system.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a temporal dimension to certificate verification by implementing automatic expiration dates and version tracking. Certificates are validated not only based on their cryptographic integrity but also based on their temporal validity and version correspondence with the smart contract, adding a time-based layer to the verification process.
2Measurement precision
If automatic certificate expiration is implemented for upgraded contracts, then measurement precision is improved, but loss of time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by automatically detecting when a smart contract has been upgraded through blockchain transaction monitoring. When an upgrade is detected, the system proactively invalidates the existing certificate before it would naturally expire, eliminating the need for manual re-auditing and reissuance processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the certificate authority system continuously monitors the blockchain for contract upgrades. When an upgrade is detected, the system automatically feeds this information back to invalidate the corresponding certificate, creating a closed-loop system that maintains accuracy without manual intervention.
3Reliability
If on-chain certificate verification is implemented for interrelated contracts, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal certificate verification system that handles multiple types of smart contracts and interrelationships through a single unified mechanism. The same certificate authority infrastructure and verification logic apply whether verifying standalone contracts or interrelated contracts, eliminating the need for separate verification systems for different contract types.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces certificate authorities as intermediary entities that mediate between smart contracts and verification systems. These intermediaries issue and manage certificates that encode verification results, allowing complex verification logic to be encapsulated in the certificate itself rather than requiring complex verification systems to re-execute the logic.
Data Source
AI summary
In one embodiment, a method includes sending a verification request for a certificate issued by a certificate authority by a first smart contract deployed on a first blockchain network by a first entity, wherein the certificate is associated with a second smart contract, and wherein the verification request includes a program address of the second smart contract and an address of a first root authority entity associated with the certificate authority, receiving a verification response by the first smart contract indicating that the second smart contract is associated with a certificate matching the program address and the address of the first root authority entity in the verification request, determining whether the second smart contract is upgradeable by the first smart contract, determining whether the certificate is valid by the first smart contract based on a determination of whether the second smart contract was modified after the certificate was issued.