Open Grant Proposal: MCPGuard for FVM — Security Audit Framework for Filecoin Virtual Machine

# Open Grant Proposal: MCPGuard for FVM

**Project Name:** MCPGuard for FVM — Security Audit Framework for Filecoin Virtual Machine

**Proposal Category:** FVM

**Individual or Entity Name:** Individual — Xayaan Ibrahim

**Proposer:** `@0xConsole`

**Project Repo(s):** https://github.com/0xConsole/mcpguard-fvm (to be created upon grant approval)

**(Optional) Filecoin ecosystem affiliations:** None

**(Optional) Technical Sponsor:** None

**Do you agree to open source all work you do on behalf of this RFP under the MIT/Apache-2 dual-license?:** Yes

# Project Summary

MCPGuard for FVM is an open-source security audit framework for smart contracts deployed on the Filecoin Virtual Machine (FVM), covering both FEVM (EVM-compatible runtime) and native actor contracts (Rust/WASM). FVM launched on Filecoin mainnet in March 2023, bringing user programmability to Filecoin. However, FVM's unique architecture — combining general-purpose smart contracts with Filecoin's storage proof system, deal-making mechanics, and miner economics — introduces novel attack surfaces that no existing security tool addresses.

The framework delivers four components: (1) a FEVM Security Scanner with static analysis for 7 Filecoin-specific vulnerability classes including storage deal interaction bugs, miner payment splitting vulnerabilities, proof verification bypass, data CID manipulation, FVM-specific reentrancy, oracle integration risks, and cross-runtime boundary issues; (2) an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server exposing FVM contract analysis as AI-agent-callable tools for security review; (3) a property-based FVM Fuzzer generating random transaction sequences across deal lifecycle states; and (4) an FVM Security Dashboard tracking deployments and alerting on anomalous patterns.

As dataDAOs, perpetual storage, and storage-backed lending emerge on FVM, security tooling is critical for safe deployment. MCPGuard for FVM establishes the first dedicated security baseline for the FVM ecosystem.

## Impact

FVM's combination of smart contract programmability with Filecoin's storage proof system creates attack surfaces absent from any other blockchain: storage deal interaction bugs (PieceCID verification, deal lifecycle), proof verification bypass (PoRep/PoSt edge cases), and cross-runtime boundary issues between FEVM and native actors. These are not theoretical — they are the exact vulnerability classes that emerge when DeFi composability meets storage economics.

The pain points this project addresses: (1) No security tool covers FVM-specific vulnerability classes — existing EVM tools (Slither, Mythril) miss Filecoin storage proof interactions, deal lifecycle, and cross-runtime issues. (2) Pre-audit scanning is unavailable, making professional audits more expensive and less efficient. (3) No tool audits the MCP servers that mediate AI-to-FVM interactions — an emerging attack vector as AI agents are deployed to manage storage deals and FIL payments.

The benefits of getting this right: a security baseline for the entire FVM ecosystem, reduced audit costs for FVM dApp developers, and AI-agent safety for automated storage/deal management. The risks of not getting this right: as FVM DeFi grows (storage-backed lending, dataDAOs, perpetual storage), unmitigated vulnerability classes could lead to exploits that damage trust in the FVM ecosystem. Success looks like: every FVM dApp developer running MCPGuard scans in CI before deployment, and audit firms using it to triage contracts before deep review.

## Outcomes

The final deliverable is a complete, open-source security audit framework with four components:

1. **FEVM Security Scanner** — CLI tool with 7 Filecoin-specific detectors. Detects: storage deal interaction bugs, miner payment splitting vulnerabilities, proof verification bypass, data CID manipulation, FVM-specific reentrancy, oracle integration risks, cross-runtime boundary issues. Outputs structured reports with severity, location, and remediation guidance.

2. **MCP Server for FVM Security** — Exposes contract analysis as 6 AI-agent-callable tools. Enables AI-assisted security review of Filecoin dApps. Provides real-time monitoring of FVM contract deployments. Integrates with CI/CD for pre-deployment scanning.

3. **FVM Fuzzer** — Property-based testing framework generating random FVM transaction sequences (deal-making, proof submission, payment splitting, actor-to-actor calls). Tests invariant preservation across deal lifecycle states. Runs on forked Filecoin mainnet.

4. **FVM Security Dashboard** — Web dashboard tracking FVM contract deployments, alerting on anomalous patterns (unusual deal creation, proof failures, payment anomalies), providing risk scores and storage deal health visualization.

**Success metrics:** 5+ known-vulnerable patterns detected with 0 false negatives in test suite; 7 detectors with <5% false positive rate; 100+ FVM contracts scanned in the first 3 months post-launch; 3+ audit firms or dApp teams adopt the tool in their workflow.

## Data Onboarding

N/A — this project does not onboard data to the Filecoin network. It is a security tooling project.

## Adoption, Reach, and Growth Strategies

**Target audience:** FVM dApp developers (teams building dataDAOs, storage-backed lending, perpetual storage on FVM), audit firms servicing Filecoin clients, and AI-agent developers managing automated storage deals.

**Audience size:** The FVM developer ecosystem is growing rapidly since the 2023 mainnet launch. We will engage through: Filecoin community channels (FIL Slack, FVM Discord), Protocol Labs ecosystem calls, and Filecoin network events.

**Onboarding first 10 users:** Target 3 audit firms (offer free integration support), 3 dataDAO teams (offer pre-deployment scans), 4 FVM dApp developers (offer CI/CD integration). First 100 users: publish 3 integration tutorials (Foundry for FEVM, Rust SDK for native actors, CI/CD), run community workshops, and list the tool on the FVM ecosystem tools page.

## Development Roadmap

### Milestone 1: Architecture + FEVM Scanner Core (Weeks 1–4)
- Scanner architecture and component design
- FEVM scanner with 7 Filecoin-specific detectors (storage deal bugs, miner payment, proof verification, CID manipulation, FVM reentrancy, oracle risks, cross-runtime)
- Test suite on 5 known-vulnerable contract patterns
- CLI interface (`mcpguard-fvm scan `)
- **People:** 1 lead developer (Xayaan Ibrahim)
- **Funding:** $12,000
- **Completion Date:** October 2026

### Milestone 2: MCP Server + CI/CD Integration (Weeks 5–8)
- MCP server with 6 tools (contract analysis, vulnerability lookup, deployment monitoring, CI scanning, deal pattern detection, proof failure detection)
- GitHub Action for CI/CD pre-deployment scanning
- Foundry/Hardhat integration
- **People:** 1 lead developer
- **Funding:** $13,000
- **Completion Date:** November 2026

### Milestone 3: Fuzzer + Dashboard (Weeks 9–12)
- Property-based fuzzer on forked Filecoin mainnet
- FVM transaction sequence generation (deal-making, proof submission, payment splitting, actor calls)
- Invariant testing across deal lifecycle states
- Security dashboard (deployment tracking, anomaly alerts, risk scores, deal health)
- **People:** 1 lead developer
- **Funding:** $13,000
- **Completion Date:** December 2026

### Milestone 4: Documentation + Ecosystem Adoption (Weeks 13–16)
- Full documentation and API reference
- 3 integration tutorials (Foundry/FEVM, Rust/native actors, CI/CD)
- Community workshops (virtual, 2 sessions)
- v1.0 release with semantic versioning
- **People:** 1 lead developer
- **Funding:** $12,000
- **Completion Date:** January 2027

## Total Budget Requested

| Milestone # | Description | Deliverables | Completion Date | Funding |
|===|===|===|===|===|
| 1 | Architecture + FEVM scanner core | 7 detectors, test suite, CLI | October 2026 | $12,000 |
| 2 | MCP server + CI/CD integration | 6 MCP tools, GitHub Action, Foundry/Hardhat | November 2026 | $13,000 |
| 3 | Fuzzer + dashboard | Property-based fuzzer, monitoring dashboard | December 2026 | $13,000 |
| 4 | Documentation + ecosystem adoption | Docs, 3 tutorials, workshops, v1.0 | January 2027 | $12,000 |
| **Total** | | | | **$50,000** |

## Maintenance and Upgrade Plans

All components will be maintained for at least 24 months post-grant under the Apache-2.0 and MIT dual-license. Maintenance includes: detector updates for new FVM vulnerability classes, compatibility updates for Filecoin network upgrades, and MCP protocol version updates. Community contributions will be accepted via GitHub PRs. A sustainability model will be explored: a paid hosted tier (private SBOM storage, SSO, SLA) for enterprise users, with the open-source tool remaining free forever.

# Team

## Team Members

- Xayaan Ibrahim — Lead Developer

## Team Member LinkedIn Profiles

- https://linkedin.com/in/xayaanibrahim/

## Team Website

https://github.com/0xConsole (to be expanded with project page upon grant approval)

## Relevant Experience

Xayaan Ibrahim has 10 years of full-stack development experience and 4 years of crypto/Web3/DeFi production work:

- **EVM Security Expertise:** Extensive experience in Solidity security auditing, vulnerability research, and penetration testing for production DeFi protocols. FEVM is EVM-compatible, so this security expertise transfers directly to Filecoin.
- **Cross-Chain Bridge Development:** Lead developer at Li.Fi/Jumper.exchange, building bridging infrastructure across 20+ chains. Direct understanding of cross-runtime boundary issues, type conversion risks, and authorization models — all relevant to FVM's FEVM ↔ native actor bridge.
- **MCP/Agent Systems:** Built MCP servers and agent integrations for AI-driven security monitoring. The MCP server component leverages proven framework architecture.
- **Rust + Solidity:** Full coverage for both FEVM (Solidity) and native actors (Rust/WASM) — the two FVM programming models.
- **Yearn Finance:** Paid contributor to Yearn's yield aggregation protocol — experience with DeFi protocols that could run on FVM (storage-backed lending, perpetual storage contracts are the FVM equivalent of yield strategies).
- **Security audit reports published:** Vercel, Auth0/Okta, Exodus, Circle, Brave (via HackerOne/Bugcrowd source-code audits).

## Team code repositories

- https://github.com/0xConsole (primary GitHub account)
- MCPGuard framework concept previously developed for Starknet (Starknet Growth Grants proposal) and DFINITY (DFINITY Developer Grants proposal) — same architecture, adapted for FVM-specific vulnerability classes

# Additional Information

- **How did you learn about the Open Grants Program?** Filecoin developer documentation and FVM ecosystem resources.
- **Best email for discussing the grant agreement:** hermanohermes7@gmail.com
- **EVM payout address:** 0xFFa7a5d159c74089D95eee66cD2D327Fbdba8ff9
- The MCPGuard framework is designed to be cross-chain adaptable. The FVM version adds Filecoin-specific vulnerability classes (storage deal interactions, proof verification, cross-runtime boundary) that no other version covers.

No implementation repository, source files, or tests are provided; the project repository is described as being created after grant approval. Start by reviewing the Milestone 1 scanner scope and the proposed `mcpguard-fvm scan ` CLI entry point. Done would require the four planned components, their stated detectors and tests, integrations, documentation, and release deliverables.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.