Understanding smart contract access controls

Access control in Solidity smart contracts is crucial for restricting access to sensitive functionality and preventing unauthorized usage. Implementing strong access control mechanisms can protect your smart contracts from attacks and vulnerabilities.

In this section, we will deep dive into access control with dos and don’ts, followed by examples of bad access controls.

Dos:

• Use well-established access control patterns, such as the Ownable pattern, role-based access control (RBAC), or access control lists (ACLs)
• Define modifiers to restrict access to certain functions
• Be explicit in defining access levels for functions and state variables
• Test and audit your access control mechanisms thoroughly to ensure proper restrictions
• Update access controls as needed when adding new functionality or roles

Don’ts:

• Don’t rely solely on hardcoded addresses for access control as this can...