OpenZeppelin Blog

Venus Protocol SwapRouter Audit

Written by OpenZeppelin Security | June 20, 2023

June 20, 2023

This security assessment was prepared by OpenZeppelin.

Table of Contents

Summary

Type
DeFi
Timeline
From 2023-05-15
To 2023-06-01
Languages
Solidity
Total Issues
8 (7 resolved)
Critical Severity Issues
0 (0 resolved)
High Severity Issues
0 (0 resolved)
Medium Severity Issues
0 (0 resolved)
Low Severity Issues
2 (2 resolved)
Notes & Additional Information
6 (5 resolved)

Scope

We audited the VenusProtocol/venus-protocol repository at the e5f112ac6f8cb9e5dcf760ad3626c9f3fc43609c commit.

In scope were the following contracts:

 contracts
└── Swap
    ├── IRouterHelper.sol
    ├── RouterHelper.sol
    ├── SwapRouter.sol
    ├── interfaces
    │   ├── CustomErrors.sol
    │   ├── IPancakePair.sol
    │   ├── IPancakeSwapV2Factory.sol
    │   ├── IPancakeSwapV2Router.sol
    │   ├── IVBNB.sol
    │   ├── IVtoken.sol
    │   ├── IWBNB.sol
    │   └── InterfaceComptroller.sol
    └── lib
        ├── PancakeLibrary.sol
        └── TransferHelper.sol

System Overview

Venus SwapRouter is a tailored adaptation of the PancakeSwap V2 PancakeRouter which broadens the range of user interactions by adding Venus markets. Its usefulness comes from the ability to carry out operations like supplying collateral and repaying debt starting with a token that may differ from the underlying one. This is achieved by leveraging PancakeSwap to exchange these tokens for the required asset before initiating the supply or repay operations. Alongside the main SwapRouter contract, a collection of supporting libraries is used to conduct necessary checks for appropriate interactions with PancakeSwap V2 pools.

Security Model and Trust Assumptions

Venus SwapRouter interacts with PancakeSwap V2 pools and Venus markets, operating under the assumption that these protocols function as intended according to their respective contract specifications.

The contract does not hold user funds, however it may have user approvals.

Privileged Roles

There is only one privileged role which can change the vBNB address and transfer mistakenly sent ERC-20 tokens out of the SwapRouter contract.

Low Severity

Missing Docstrings

Throughout the codebase, there are several parts that do not have docstrings. For example:

Consider thoroughly documenting all functions (and their parameters) that are part of any contract's public API. Functions implementing sensitive functionality, even if not public, should be clearly documented as well. When writing docstrings, consider following the Ethereum Natural Specification Format (NatSpec).

Update: Resolved in pull request #281 at commits 394d1a7 and 9751c85. The functions were documented in their definitions in the contracts instead of their declarations in the interfaces.

Locked BNB in Contract

There are multiple occurrences in SwapRouter.sol where ETH can become locked. For instance:

Consider removing the payable attribute or adding a withdrawal feature.

Update: Resolved in pull request #281 at commit 7a8044a.

Notes & Additional Information

Misleading Docstrings

Line 811 in SwapRouter.sol states that the function checks if the value is "greater than" when it actually checks if the value is "greater or equal to".

Consider correcting this docstring.

Update: Resolved in pull request #281 at commit 20e3118.

Naming Can Be Improved

Consider amending the aforementioned names for clarity and consistency.

Update: Resolved in pull request #281 at commit 027835e.

Some Convenience Functions Are Missing

The SwapRouter contract has functions to facilitate supply and repay operations for ERC-20 tokens. However, some of the functions are missing.

Here are some examples of missing functions, although this is not an exhaustive list.

  • swapExactTokensForBNBAndSupply
  • swapExactTokensForBNBAndSupplyAtSupportingFee
  • swapTokensForExactBNBAndSupply
  • swapTokensForExactBNBAndSupplyAtSupportingFee

Consider adding them to offer more convenience functions to the users.

Update: Resolved in pull request #281 at commits fb66414 and cf6b8cb. All the suggested functions were implemented with the exception of swapTokensForExactBNBAndSupplyAtSupportingFee. The Venus team stated:

New functions added to the SwapRouter contract:

  • swapExactTokensForBNBAndSupply
  • swapExactTokensForBNBAndSupplyAtSupportingFee
  • swapTokensForExactBNBAndSupply

We cannot implement swapTokensForExactBNBAndSupplyAtSupportingFee as swapTokensForExactBNBAtSupportingFee does not exist in the RouterHelper because getting the amount of the tokens (with fees on transfer) to swap for an exact amount of BNB is not possible.

Confusing Use of ETH and BNB in Comments and Function Names

BNB and ETH are referenced multiple times interchangeably throughout the codebase. For example, in lines 129, 154, 221, and 241. The actual deployment will be on BSC and ETH mentions are a result of PancakeSwap being a Uniswap fork.

To increase the clarity of the codebase, consider changing all mentions of ETH to BNB.

Update: Resolved in pull request #281 at commits bbe298f, 9751c85, and dbf855c.

Lack of SPDX License Identifiers

Throughout the codebase, there are files that lack SPDX license identifiers. For instance:

To avoid legal issues regarding copyright and follow best practices, consider adding SPDX license identifiers to files as suggested by the Solidity documentation.

Update: Resolved in pull request #281 at commit 8b08294.

PancakeRouter Functions' Code Can Be Reused

The SwapRouter contract adapts the swap router logic from the PancakeRouter contract. It also adds code that operates either before or after a swap. The adapted code increases the complexity of the SwapRouter contract which makes it more prone to potential bugs.

Consider calling the PancakeRouter functions instead of adapting their code to the SwapRouter contract.

Update: Acknowledged, not resolved. The Venus team stated:

Our PancakeRouter contract uses a newer Solidity version and reverts with custom errors instead of require statements. We prefer to maintain and use our version.

Conclusions

The system implements all common security checks for swap routers, demonstrating adherence to industry standards. However, some changes have been proposed to follow best practices and reduce the potential attack surface.

Appendix

Monitoring Recommendations

While the audit helps identify code-level issues in the current implementation, the Venus team is encouraged to incorporate monitoring activities for deployed contracts. Specifically, it is recommended to set up an alert system for when funds are mistakenly sent to the contract in order to facilitate prompt recovery. In addition, monitor the setVBNBAdress function that implements the onlyOwner modifier to ensure that all admin actions are authorized by the team and that the VBNB address remains correct.