account-abstraction-security

name	account-abstraction-security
description	Protocol Type Trigger account_abstraction (detected when ERC-4337 interfaces, EntryPoint, UserOperation, or Paymaster patterns found) - Inject Into Breadth agents, depth-external

Injectable Skill: Account Abstraction Security

Protocol Type Trigger: account_abstraction (detected when ERC-4337 interfaces, EntryPoint, UserOperation, or Paymaster patterns found) Inject Into: Breadth agents, depth-external Language: EVM only (other VMs handle account abstraction natively without smart contract validation stacks) Finding prefix: [AA-N]

Orchestrator Decomposition Guide

When decomposing this skill into depth agent investigation questions, map sections to domains:

• Section 1: depth-external (validation flow, external calls to EntryPoint)
• Section 2: depth-edge-case (paymaster edge cases, gas bounds)
• Section 3: depth-state-trace (signature validation state, module registry)
• Section 4: depth-token-flow (fee payment flows, token approvals)

When This Skill Activates

Recon detects ERC-4337 patterns: UserOperation, IAccount, IPaymaster, EntryPoint, validateUserOp, validatePaymasterUserOp, postOp, isValidSignature (ERC-1271), or smart account/wallet factory patterns.

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1. UserOperation Validation Flow

For each validateUserOp implementation:

1a. Signature Verification

• What signature scheme is used? (ECDSA, multi-sig, passkey/WebAuthn, session keys)
• Is the signature verified against the CORRECT signer(s)?
• Is the userOpHash computed correctly (includes chainId, entryPoint, nonce)?
• Can a valid signature for one operation be replayed for a different operation? (nonce management)

1b. Nonce Management

• Is the nonce scheme sequential, 2D (key + sequence), or custom?
• Can nonce be skipped or reused?
• For 2D nonces: can different keys interfere with each other?
• Does the nonce validation happen BEFORE or AFTER signature verification?

1c. Return Value Correctness

• validateUserOp must return validationData encoding (authorizer, validUntil, validAfter).
• Does the return value correctly encode time bounds?
• Does returning 0 (success) vs 1 (failure) vs packed data follow the spec?
• Can the function return success for an INVALID operation?

Tag: [TRACE:validateUserOp → sig_scheme={scheme} → hash_includes_chainId={YES/NO} → nonce_check={method}]

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2. Paymaster Validation

For each validatePaymasterUserOp implementation:

2a. Pre-Validation vs Post-Execution

• What validation occurs in validatePaymasterUserOp (pre-execution)?
• What validation occurs in postOp (post-execution)?
• If payment validation is DEFERRED to postOp: what happens if postOp reverts? Does the paymaster eat the cost?
• Can a user consume gas without ever paying? (trigger validatePaymasterUserOp success → execute expensive operation → postOp fails to collect payment)

2b. Payment Token Handling

If paymaster accepts ERC-20 for gas payment:

• Is the token approval checked in validatePaymasterUserOp or postOp?
• Can the user revoke approval BETWEEN validation and postOp? (inner execution context)
• Is the exchange rate (token/gas) manipulable? (oracle dependency → cross-reference ORACLE_ANALYSIS)
• Is there a maximum gas sponsor amount to prevent griefing?

2c. Paymaster Context Integrity

• Data passed via context from validatePaymasterUserOp to postOp: can it be tampered with?
• Is the context length bounded? (unbounded context → gas griefing)
• Does postOp handle all three modes? (opSucceeded, opReverted, postOpReverted)

Tag: [TRACE:paymaster_validate → deferred_checks={list} → postOp_can_fail={YES/NO} → payment_collected={guaranteed/conditional}]

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3. Signature Validation Modules (ERC-1271)

For each isValidSignature implementation:

3a. Delegation Security

• Is signature validation delegated to external modules/plugins?
• If yes: is the module registry access-controlled? (who can add/remove modules)
• Can a malicious module return 0x1626ba7e (valid) for ANY hash? (always-true validator)
• Is there a timelock/guardian approval for module changes?

3b. Module Interaction Safety

• Can modules call back into the account contract? (reentrancy via validation)
• Can modules access account funds during validation?
• Is there a gas limit on module isValidSignature calls?

3c. Session Key Constraints

If session keys or scoped permissions are supported:

• Are permissions correctly scoped? (target contract, function selector, value limit, time window)
• Can a session key exceed its permission scope through calldata manipulation?
• Are session key permissions checked BEFORE or AFTER signature verification?

Tag: [TRACE:isValidSignature → delegated_to={module} → registry_access={control} → always_valid={YES/NO}]

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4. Factory and Initialization

4a. Counterfactual Address Binding

• Is the wallet's initialization data (owner, modules, config) committed to the CREATE2 salt/address?
• Can an attacker deploy a wallet at the expected address with DIFFERENT initialization parameters?
• Pattern: CREATE2(salt=hash(owner)) is safe. CREATE2(salt=nonce) without binding owner → attacker deploys with their own owner at the victim's expected address.

4b. Pre-Deployment Fund Safety

• Can funds be sent to a counterfactual address before deployment?
• If yes: can anyone deploy the wallet at that address and drain the funds?
• Is there a race condition between fund deposit and wallet deployment?

4c. Re-Initialization Protection

• After deployment: can initialize() be called again?
• Is the initializer modifier (initializer/reinitializer) correctly applied?
• For proxy-based accounts: can the implementation be initialized separately from the proxy?

Tag: [TRACE:factory_deploy → salt_binds_owner={YES/NO} → pre_deploy_funds={safe/vulnerable}]

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Key Questions (must answer all)

1. Does validateUserOp correctly verify signatures against the operation hash including chain ID?
2. Can the paymaster be drained by operations that validate but fail to pay in postOp?
3. Are signature validation modules restricted to a trusted registry with access control?
4. Is the wallet's CREATE2 address bound to its initialization parameters (owner, config)?
5. Can session keys or scoped permissions be exceeded through calldata manipulation?

Common False Positives

• EntryPoint-enforced nonce: If using standard EntryPoint nonce management → protocol-level nonce check may be redundant
• Trusted module whitelist with timelock: Module registry behind multisig + timelock → low risk of malicious module
• Paymaster with prepaid deposits: If paymaster requires pre-deposited balance (not deferred payment) → postOp failure doesn't lose funds
• Standard factory with owner-bound salt: CREATE2 salt includes keccak256(owner) → counterfactual address is owner-specific

Step Execution Checklist (MANDATORY)

Section	Required	Completed?	Notes
1. UserOperation Validation	IF validateUserOp present		Signature, nonce, return value
2. Paymaster Validation	IF paymaster present		Pre/post validation, payment token
3. Signature Validation Modules	IF ERC-1271 / modules		Delegation, session keys
4. Factory and Initialization	IF wallet factory present		Address binding, re-init