Practical Mutation Testing for Smart Contracts

Joran J. Honig; Maarten H. Everts; Marieke Huisman

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-31500-9_19

Practical Mutation Testing for Smart Contracts

Joran J. Honig^*, Maarten H. Everts, Marieke Huisman

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Academic › peer-review

25 Citations (Scopus)

79 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Solidity smart contracts operate in a hostile environment, which introduces the need for the adequate application of testing techniques to ensure mitigation of the risk of a security incident. Mutation testing is one such technique. It allows for the evaluation of the efficiency of a test suite in detecting faults in a program, allowing developers to both assess and improve the quality of their test suites. In this paper, we propose a mutation testing framework and implement a prototype implementation called Vertigo that targets Solidity contracts for the Ethereum blockchain. We also show that mutation testing can be used to assess the test suites of real-world projects.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Data Privacy Management, Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Technology
Subtitle of host publication	ESORICS 2019 International Workshops, DPM 2019 and CBT 2019, Luxembourg, September 26-27, 2019, Proceedings
Editors	Cristina Pérez-Solà, Guillermo Navarro-Arribas, Alex Biryukov, Joaquín García-Alfaro
Place of Publication	Cham
Publisher	Springer
Pages	289-303
Number of pages	15
ISBN (Electronic)	978-3-030-31500-9
ISBN (Print)	978-3-030-31499-6
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31500-9_19
Publication status	Published - 2019
Event	3rd International Workshop on Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Technology, CBT 2019 - Luxembourg, Luxembourg Duration: 26 Sept 2019 → 27 Sept 2019 Conference number: 3

Publication series

Name	Lecture Notes in Computer Science
Publisher	Springer
Volume	11737
ISSN (Print)	0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)	1611-3349

Conference

Conference	3rd International Workshop on Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Technology, CBT 2019
Abbreviated title	CBT
Country/Territory	Luxembourg
City	Luxembourg
Period	26/09/19 → 27/09/19

Keywords

Mutation testing
Smart contract
Solidity

Access to Document

10.1007/978-3-030-31500-9_19

Cite this

Honig, J. J., Everts, M. H., & Huisman, M. (2019). Practical Mutation Testing for Smart Contracts. In C. Pérez-Solà, G. Navarro-Arribas, A. Biryukov, & J. García-Alfaro (Eds.), Data Privacy Management, Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Technology: ESORICS 2019 International Workshops, DPM 2019 and CBT 2019, Luxembourg, September 26-27, 2019, Proceedings (pp. 289-303). (Lecture Notes in Computer Science; Vol. 11737). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31500-9_19

Honig, Joran J. ; Everts, Maarten H. ; Huisman, Marieke. / Practical Mutation Testing for Smart Contracts. Data Privacy Management, Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Technology: ESORICS 2019 International Workshops, DPM 2019 and CBT 2019, Luxembourg, September 26-27, 2019, Proceedings. editor / Cristina Pérez-Solà ; Guillermo Navarro-Arribas ; Alex Biryukov ; Joaquín García-Alfaro. Cham : Springer, 2019. pp. 289-303 (Lecture Notes in Computer Science).

@inproceedings{4d5ae2db225f4c43b82b33b38293d4a7,

title = "Practical Mutation Testing for Smart Contracts",

abstract = "Solidity smart contracts operate in a hostile environment, which introduces the need for the adequate application of testing techniques to ensure mitigation of the risk of a security incident. Mutation testing is one such technique. It allows for the evaluation of the efficiency of a test suite in detecting faults in a program, allowing developers to both assess and improve the quality of their test suites. In this paper, we propose a mutation testing framework and implement a prototype implementation called Vertigo that targets Solidity contracts for the Ethereum blockchain. We also show that mutation testing can be used to assess the test suites of real-world projects.",

keywords = "Mutation testing, Smart contract, Solidity",

author = "Honig, {Joran J.} and Everts, {Maarten H.} and Marieke Huisman",

year = "2019",

doi = "10.1007/978-3-030-31500-9_19",

language = "English",

isbn = "978-3-030-31499-6",

series = "Lecture Notes in Computer Science",

publisher = "Springer",

pages = "289--303",

editor = "Cristina P{\'e}rez-Sol{\`a} and Guillermo Navarro-Arribas and Alex Biryukov and Joaqu{\'i}n Garc{\'i}a-Alfaro",

booktitle = "Data Privacy Management, Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Technology",

address = "Germany",

note = "3rd International Workshop on Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Technology, CBT 2019, CBT ; Conference date: 26-09-2019 Through 27-09-2019",

}

Honig, JJ, Everts, MH & Huisman, M 2019, Practical Mutation Testing for Smart Contracts. in C Pérez-Solà, G Navarro-Arribas, A Biryukov & J García-Alfaro (eds), Data Privacy Management, Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Technology: ESORICS 2019 International Workshops, DPM 2019 and CBT 2019, Luxembourg, September 26-27, 2019, Proceedings. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 11737, Springer, Cham, pp. 289-303, 3rd International Workshop on Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Technology, CBT 2019, Luxembourg, Luxembourg, 26/09/19. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31500-9_19

Practical Mutation Testing for Smart Contracts. / Honig, Joran J.; Everts, Maarten H.; Huisman, Marieke.
Data Privacy Management, Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Technology: ESORICS 2019 International Workshops, DPM 2019 and CBT 2019, Luxembourg, September 26-27, 2019, Proceedings. ed. / Cristina Pérez-Solà; Guillermo Navarro-Arribas; Alex Biryukov; Joaquín García-Alfaro. Cham: Springer, 2019. p. 289-303 (Lecture Notes in Computer Science; Vol. 11737).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Academic › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - Practical Mutation Testing for Smart Contracts

AU - Honig, Joran J.

AU - Everts, Maarten H.

AU - Huisman, Marieke

N1 - Conference code: 3

PY - 2019

Y1 - 2019

N2 - Solidity smart contracts operate in a hostile environment, which introduces the need for the adequate application of testing techniques to ensure mitigation of the risk of a security incident. Mutation testing is one such technique. It allows for the evaluation of the efficiency of a test suite in detecting faults in a program, allowing developers to both assess and improve the quality of their test suites. In this paper, we propose a mutation testing framework and implement a prototype implementation called Vertigo that targets Solidity contracts for the Ethereum blockchain. We also show that mutation testing can be used to assess the test suites of real-world projects.

AB - Solidity smart contracts operate in a hostile environment, which introduces the need for the adequate application of testing techniques to ensure mitigation of the risk of a security incident. Mutation testing is one such technique. It allows for the evaluation of the efficiency of a test suite in detecting faults in a program, allowing developers to both assess and improve the quality of their test suites. In this paper, we propose a mutation testing framework and implement a prototype implementation called Vertigo that targets Solidity contracts for the Ethereum blockchain. We also show that mutation testing can be used to assess the test suites of real-world projects.

KW - Mutation testing

KW - Smart contract

KW - Solidity

U2 - 10.1007/978-3-030-31500-9_19

DO - 10.1007/978-3-030-31500-9_19

M3 - Conference contribution

SN - 978-3-030-31499-6

T3 - Lecture Notes in Computer Science

SP - 289

EP - 303

BT - Data Privacy Management, Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Technology

A2 - Pérez-Solà, Cristina

A2 - Navarro-Arribas, Guillermo

A2 - Biryukov, Alex

A2 - García-Alfaro, Joaquín

PB - Springer

CY - Cham

T2 - 3rd International Workshop on Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Technology, CBT 2019

Y2 - 26 September 2019 through 27 September 2019

ER -

Honig JJ, Everts MH , Huisman M. Practical Mutation Testing for Smart Contracts. In Pérez-Solà C, Navarro-Arribas G, Biryukov A, García-Alfaro J, editors, Data Privacy Management, Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Technology: ESORICS 2019 International Workshops, DPM 2019 and CBT 2019, Luxembourg, September 26-27, 2019, Proceedings. Cham: Springer. 2019. p. 289-303. (Lecture Notes in Computer Science). doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-31500-9_19

Practical Mutation Testing for Smart Contracts

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Keywords

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Cite this