Signer Authority Role

Overview

Remediation Guide: How to Fix Signer Authority Role Issues

The signer authority role detector identifies Solana programs where privileged operations verify that an account is a signer but do not validate that the signer holds a specific authority role (admin, owner, operator). This means any wallet that signs the transaction can perform operations intended only for authorized parties — including fund transfers, configuration changes, and program upgrades via CPI.

Why This Is an Issue

Checking is_signer confirms the account signed the transaction but says nothing about who the signer is. Without authority validation:

• Any signer can transfer funds (CWE-284): Lamport transfers protected only by is_signer allow any wallet to drain the treasury.
• Any signer can modify state: Configuration data, fee parameters, and account state can be tampered with by unauthorized users.
• Privilege escalation via CPI (CWE-269): Privileged CPI calls (program upgrades, admin operations on other programs) can be triggered by any signer, potentially compromising the program or downstream programs.

This is distinct from a missing signer check — the signer check exists but is insufficient. The program has the appearance of security without the substance.

How to Resolve

Native Solana

use solana_program::{account_info::AccountInfo, program_error::ProgramError, pubkey::Pubkey};

pub fn admin_transfer(
    accounts: &[AccountInfo],
    amount: u64,
) -> Result<(), ProgramError> {
    let authority = &accounts[0];
    let vault = &accounts[1];
    let config = &accounts[2];

    // Signer check (necessary but not sufficient)
    if !authority.is_signer {
        return Err(ProgramError::MissingRequiredSignature);
    }

    // Authority role validation (the critical check)
    let config_data = config.try_borrow_data()?;
    let admin_key = Pubkey::try_from(&config_data[0..32])
        .map_err(|_| ProgramError::InvalidAccountData)?;
    if *authority.key != admin_key {
        return Err(ProgramError::InvalidArgument);
    }

    // Now safe -- caller is both signer AND admin
    **vault.try_borrow_mut_lamports()? -= amount;
    **authority.try_borrow_mut_lamports()? += amount;
    Ok(())
}

Anchor

#[derive(Accounts)]
pub struct AdminTransfer<'info> {
    // Signer<'info> validates is_signer
    // has_one validates the key matches config.admin
    pub admin: Signer<'info>,
    #[account(has_one = admin @ ErrorCode::Unauthorized)]
    pub config: Account<'info, ProgramConfig>,
    #[account(mut)]
    pub vault: Account<'info, Vault>,
}

#[account]
pub struct ProgramConfig {
    pub admin: Pubkey,
}

Examples

Vulnerable Code

pub fn withdraw(accounts: &[AccountInfo], amount: u64) -> ProgramResult {
    let signer = &accounts[0];
    let vault = &accounts[1];

    // Checks signer -- but ANY signer can call
    if !signer.is_signer {
        return Err(ProgramError::MissingRequiredSignature);
    }

    // VULNERABLE: no authority check
    **vault.try_borrow_mut_lamports()? -= amount;
    **signer.try_borrow_mut_lamports()? += amount;
    Ok(())
}

Fixed Code

pub fn withdraw(accounts: &[AccountInfo], amount: u64) -> ProgramResult {
    let authority = &accounts[0];
    let vault = &accounts[1];
    let config = &accounts[2];

    if !authority.is_signer {
        return Err(ProgramError::MissingRequiredSignature);
    }

    // Validate authority role
    let config_data = config.try_borrow_data()?;
    let expected = Pubkey::try_from(&config_data[0..32])
        .map_err(|_| ProgramError::InvalidAccountData)?;
    if *authority.key != expected {
        return Err(ProgramError::InvalidArgument);
    }

    drop(config_data);
    **vault.try_borrow_mut_lamports()? -= amount;
    **authority.try_borrow_mut_lamports()? += amount;
    Ok(())
}

Sample Sigvex Output

{
  "detector_id": "signer-authority-role",
  "severity": "high",
  "confidence": 0.75,
  "title": "Lamport Transfer With Signer But No Authority Validation",
  "description": "Lamport transfer requires signer but doesn't validate that the signer has authority (e.g., admin, owner). Any signer can transfer lamports, which could lead to unauthorized fund movements.",
  "location": { "function": "withdraw", "block": 0, "statement": 1 },
  "cwe": 284
}

Detection Methodology

The detector performs two-pass analysis over the function’s intermediate representation:

1. Signer tracking: Records all accounts that have CheckSigner statements, building a set of confirmed signers.
2. Authority tracking: Records accounts validated by CheckKey with a constant (non-dynamic) expected value, indicating the signer’s key is compared against a known authority address. Dynamic expected values (loaded from variables) do not count as proper authority validation.
3. Privileged operation matching: For each TransferLamports, StoreAccountData, or InvokeCpi involving a signer-checked account, verifies that the same account also has authority validation.
4. Severity grading: Lamport transfers and data modifications with signer-only produce high severity. Privileged CPI calls with signer-only produce critical severity (due to potential program upgrade or escalation).
5. Context adjustment: Confidence is reduced for Anchor programs (where Signer<'info> handles signer checks but has_one/constraint must handle authority), admin functions, and read-only functions.

Limitations

False positives:

• User-initiated operations where any signer is legitimately authorized (e.g., a user withdrawing from their own account using a PDA they own).
• Anchor programs where has_one constraints validate authority before the handler.

False negatives:

• Authority validation performed via CPI to an external access control program.
• Complex authority derivation through PDA seeds or multi-step lookups.

Related Detectors

• Instruction Sender Validation — missing both signer and authority checks
• Admin Key Management — hardcoded or missing admin keys
• Role-Based Access Control — missing role checks for privileged operations
• Missing Signer Check — entirely missing signer validation

References

• Solana Program Security
• Sealevel Attacks
• CWE-284: Improper Access Control
• CWE-269: Improper Privilege Management
• Anchor Framework Docs