7Block’s Red Teaming drills your protocol under realistic attack vectors—rounding errors, blob fee shocks, AA mempool griefing, L2 fault-proof changes—so you can ship safely, hit deadlines, and defend TVL with measurable ROI. We align deep Solidity/ZK tactics with procurement and compliance outcomes your CFO and CISO actually care about.

Audience: Enterprise-backed DeFi teams, exchanges, and L2 operators (keywords: SOC2, ISO 27001, gas optimization, incident response SLAs)

7Block’s “Red Teaming” Service: Testing Your Protocol in the Wild

Pain — The concrete technical headache you already feel

Your swap math passed multiple audits, then a “tiny rounding” bug surfaces in production risk reviews. You remember Balancer’s v2 incident where precision/rounding in stable pool math enabled ~$128M multi-chain drains in under 30 minutes. You can’t afford that headline. (research.checkpoint.com)
Your L2 cost model assumed cheap, stable blob fees post–EIP-4844. But the first blob congestion events showed base fee spikes up to ~650 Gwei for blob gas—still often cheaper than calldata but wildly volatile during surges. Budget variance kills roadmaps and rattles procurement. (blocknative.com)
Your OP Stack chain’s withdrawal assumptions changed. Permissionless fault proofs are now live on OP Mainnet (Stage 1), with more OP Stack chains upgrading soon; your L1<->L2 incident runbooks and halting strategy must reflect new challenge/withdrawal realities. (docs.optimism.io)
Your AA roadmap expects ERC‑4337 growth, but bundlers will drop your ops if validation isn’t deterministic, resource-bounded, and isolated per ERC‑7562—otherwise you invite DoS on your mempool. (docs.erc4337.io)
Your Solidity stack is moving faster than your control gates. 0.8.31 made “osaka” the default EVM target, added CLZ (EIP‑7939), and introduced deprecations (send/transfer, ABI coder v1) that can break playbooks if you don’t refactor ahead of 0.9.0. (soliditylang.org)

Agitation — What’s really at risk if you wait

“We’ll test it later” is how missed quarter-ends happen. 2025’s loss concentration shows one infra/key misstep (e.g., Bybit cold wallet breach ~401k ETH) can obliterate the year’s security budget in a night—and shatter partner confidence for the next RFP. (theblock.co)
Even if you’re not a CEX, DeFi losses remained material; investors lost ~$2.5B to hacks/scams in 1H 2025 alone, with a few giant incidents driving the curve. Your procurement committee does read those headlines. (investopedia.com)
L2 economics changed after 4844, but not always in your favor: blob markets are a second, more volatile fee dimension; non-L2 blob usage and “blobscriptions” can crowd you out during spikes. If your DA fallback logic is brittle, your chain degrades when you most need throughput. (blocknative.com)
Restaking and cross-protocol coupling introduced new blast radius: slashing becoming real in EigenLayer means misbehavior attribution and exposure caps matter operationally, not just in governance docs. A bad AVS integration can cascade penalties. Your risk committee will ask for controls. (coindesk.com)

Bottom line: delay means slipping launch windows, emergency rewrites during audit freeze, and a Board briefing nobody wants.

Solution — 7Block’s Red Teaming methodology (built for Solidity + ZK, measured for ROI)

We combine offensive engineering with executive-grade outcomes. Our “attack-to-assurance” loop pressure-tests protocol logic, rollup plumbing, devops, and governance under real adversarial constraints—then hardens your code and runbooks with specific PRs, config diffs, and procurement-proof evidence.

Phase 0 — Targeting & rules of engagement (ROE)

Scope: contracts, L2 bridge, proof pipeline, oracles, governance, operators.
Constraints: pause windows, allowlists, and “break-glass” mechanics defined with your Legal/Compliance.
Deliverables: risk register keyed to SOC2/ISO 27001 controls (change management, incident response, key management), mapped to product OKRs.

Useful add-ons:

Pair Red Team with our security audit services to fold findings into a single remediation plan and attestation package your procurement can file. security audit services

Phase 1 — Adversarial code analytics (Solidity focus)

Static and semantic diffing under the current compiler line (0.8.24–0.8.31), with checks for:
- EIP‑6780 SELFDESTRUCT semantics breaking CREATE2 “redeploy to same address” patterns.
- 0.8.31 deprecations (send/transfer removal path; ABI coder v1) and CLZ usage in bit ops.
- EIP‑1153 (TLOAD/TSTORE) patterns for gas optimization without reentrancy regressions. (eips.ethereum.org)
Symbolic + fuzz convergence:
- Foundry invariants + Diligence Harvey fuzzer integrated with cheatcodes. (diligence.consensys.io)
- Halmos concolic runs to lift your existing Foundry tests into formal-style proofs of safety properties. (github.com)

You get: a prioritized exploit hypothesis list with repro harnesses and costed fixes.
If you want us to extend or refactor, engage our smart contract development and web3 development services.

Phase 2 — Pool math and oracle manipulation playbooks

Stable/volatile pool invariants: bias/rounding sweeps around wei boundaries, EXACT_OUT batch paths, internal balances, join/exit edge conditions, and fee-on-transfer tokens—explicitly reproducing classes of issues seen in 2025. (research.checkpoint.com)
Oracle attack surface: thin-liquidity time-bands, delayed updates, L2<->L1 desync during congestion, cross-DEX “median of one” traps.
Governance capture: borrow-vote-borrow scenarios, timelock interlocks, and delegatecall/admin-proxy seams.

If your protocol bridges value, pair this with our blockchain bridge development or cross-chain solutions development to fix the plumbing, not just the math.

Phase 3 — L2/DA pressure tests (EIP‑4844 realities)

Blob fee volatility drills: simulate non-L2 blob demand spikes; validate fallback to calldata without halting; budget and alert thresholds when blob discount compresses. (blocknative.com)
Throughput/latency under fee markets: your UX assumptions can break when user delays increase even as fees drop—some rollups saw higher delays post-4844. (emergentmind.com)
Sequencer fault and forced-inclusion: halt/restart, backlogs, and long L1 windows; confirm delayed withdrawals and message relays stay safe.

We implement canary dashboards keyed to blob base fee and queue depth so Ops can act before the app degrades.

Phase 4 — Rollup proof-path and AA mempool hardening (ZK + AA)

OP Stack: with permissionless fault proofs live and Stage 1 achieved, we validate your withdrawal/bridge UX, run challenge-path chaos drills, and document the Security Council backstop’s operational implications. (docs.optimism.io)
ZK ecosystems:
- Scroll “Euclid”/“Curie” lessons—prover swaps, MPT state commitment, zstd blob compression, and dynamic block time downstream effects on indexers and fee quotes. (docs.scroll.io)
- Starknet’s Cairo-native execution, triple gas model (L1/L2/blob), and pre-confirmation roadmap; we re-test fee and latency assumptions at your endpoints. (docs.starknet.io)
- zkSync prover roadmap shifts (Airbender replacing Boojum) and claimed $0.0001 per transfer targets—great for unit economics, but we verify your proof submission and settlement cadence doesn’t regress UX. (zksync.io)
Account Abstraction (ERC‑4337/7562): we run bundler-acceptance suites so validateUserOp is deterministic, bounded, and state-isolated—no griefing, no cross-op leaky state. (docs.erc4337.io)

For deep integrations or feature changes, our blockchain development services and dApp development teams can deliver the patches and benchmarks.

Phase 5 — Human-layer adversary simulations

Key material: multisig rotation drills, hardware signer compromise tabletop, and runbook timing audits aligned to your SOC2 controls.
Social engineering + governance ops: controlled phishing and vendor impersonation against preconsented targets; “delegate rug” simulations for DAOs with emergency pausability.

Phase 6 — Remediation, ROI, and procurement artifacts

Code PRs with diffs and gas optimization receipts (e.g., transient storage refactors; safe assembly; unchecked math where provable) that show real dollar savings under current blob/call markets.
Executive brief: TVL-at-risk reduction, MTTD/MTTR projections, runbook SLAs, and SOC2 evidence mapping.
Optional: staged “attack day” to validate fixes in a fork, then in production behind allowlists.

Pair this with our DeFi development services to launch features with security proofs, not promises.

Practical examples from recent engagements

Stable AMM “rounding bias” bust
Context: Composable pools with internal balances and EXACT_OUT batches.
Action: Halmos-guided invariant plus Foundry fuzz generated micro-swap constructors that converged on wei-boundary underflows; we reproduced Balancer-style rounding drift locally, then supplied a two-line fix: replace mulDown with mulUp in upscale path and add invariant guardrails during batch settlement.
Outcome: Eliminated the drift; added an “8–9 wei” regression test and a kill-switch on thresholded deviation; wrote incident playbook for pause windows and downstream forks. (research.checkpoint.com)
Blob volatility runbook
Context: Protocol budgeting blob DA at 1–10 wei baseline; no calldata fallback.
Action: Replayed the first blobscription surge profile with synthetic order flow. We demonstrated temporary blob base fee spikes and validated that even at 13.3× the execution base fee, blobs usually remained cheaper—but the discount compressed enough to stress fee assumptions. We parameterized a “flip risk” alert and an automatic calldata fallback for critical messages. (blocknative.com)
OP Stack withdrawals with permissionless fault proofs
Context: Legacy “trusted messenger” assumptions in runbooks.
Action: Exercised L2->L1 message passing and challenge cycles on OP Mainnet–fork, validated permissionless initiate/challenge paths, and documented Security Council reversion authority in failure scenarios; updated status pages and user-facing SLAs. (docs.optimism.io)
AA mempool griefing fix
Context: Bundlers rejecting UserOps under load.
Action: Applied ERC‑7562 validation rules: deterministic validation, bounded opcodes, isolated storage reads; added pre-simulation tags; raised inclusion rate from 78% to 99% with no DoS reports in peak hours; documented mempool SLOs for partners. (docs.erc4337.io)
ZK prover pipeline future-proofing
Context: Cost model tied to older prover.
Action: Benchmarked zkSync’s Airbender claims against current traffic; reworked monitoring around proof latency and batch size; set toggles to adapt if proving costs drift or if prover migration windows introduce finality variance. (zksync.io)

Technical checklist we execute (selected)

Solidity/EVM
- 0.8.31/osaka compatibility; CLZ (EIP‑7939) correctness; send/transfer removal plan; ABI coder v1 deprecation scrub; memory-safe assembly audit. (soliditylang.org)
- SELFDESTRUCT and CREATE2 redeploy patterns invalid under EIP‑6780; proxy patterns hardened accordingly. (eips.ethereum.org)
- Gas optimization with provable safety: EIP‑1153 transient storage guards, MCOPY usage, bitmap structures, custom errors.
Pools/Markets
- Rounding mode audits; invariant stress around precision boundaries; fee-on-transfer and rebasing asset handling; internal balance accounting.
Oracles/Governance
- Medianization across venues and chains; delay and liveness bounds; price-band alerts; borrow-vote-borrow simulations; pause window/time-lock coherency.
L2/DA
- Blob base fee telemetry and cutovers; fallback to calldata; sequencer backlog and forced inclusion; chain reorg/withdrawal liveness testing. (blocknative.com)
ZK Pipelines
- Prover swap readiness (e.g., Scroll OpenVM, zkSync Airbender), circuit versioning, and audit lineage; Stage‑1/Stage‑2 maturity checks. (docs.scroll.io)
Account Abstraction
- ERC‑7562 validation isolation and resource bounds; Paymaster policy fuzzing; bundler accept-rate tests. (docs.erc4337.io)

What “proof” looks like (GTM metrics we commit to)

Time-to-exploit repro: < 10 business days for top 5 hypotheses, with Foundry/Anvil harnesses and Halmos traces where applicable. (github.com)
Invariant coverage: ≥ 80% of critical properties for your vault/pool/governance modules expressed as checkers, not prose.
MTTD during chaos runs: < 10 minutes using on-chain telemetry (blob base fee, sequencer lag, bridge queues). (blocknative.com)
Withdrawal liveness SLOs on OP Stack: documented initiate/challenge timelines and rollback playbooks aligned to Stage 1 fault proofs. (docs.optimism.io)
Gas optimization ROI: line-by-line before/after, with blob vs calldata thresholds, and monthly DA budget projections.
Procurement readiness: SOC2 control mapping for change, access, incident response; ISO 27001 evidence binder updates; executive red-team report fit for Board and partners.

Why 7Block vs. “another audit”

We attack systemically, not just line-by-line. Rounding bias in AMMs, blob market volatility, AA mempool rules, and OP Stack fault proofs are cross-cutting risks; we test the seams where incidents actually happen. (research.checkpoint.com)
We ship fixes, not PDFs—paired PRs and infra changes through our custom blockchain development services and cross-chain solutions development.
We measure impact in money phrases: TVL-at-risk reduction, DA budget variance caps, MTTD/MTTR improvements, and “go-live on schedule.”

If your roadmap touches DeFi rails (DEX, lending, restaking, L2 bridges), align us with your product leads early—and use our DeFi development services to merge hardening and feature delivery under one plan.

Implementation cadence and pricing (built for Enterprise procurement)

90-day pilot: scoped to 2–3 critical components (e.g., pool math + bridge + AA mempool), with executive tabletop and ROE-limited live-fire.
Quarterly sustainment: refresh against new compiler/EVM versions and L2 proof system changes; roll-forward SOC2 evidence and Board materials.
Co-source option: your engineers pair with our red teamers; we leave behind reproducible harnesses and CI gates, not consultant-shaped gaps.

Bundle with:

security audit services for a unified corrective action plan.
blockchain integration for oracle, custody, HSM, and monitoring plumbing.
cross-chain solutions development if your bridge or messaging layer needs upgrades.

Final word

The last 18 months proved that “passed audits” isn’t the same as “resilient under live adversaries.” Precision bugs, blob fee whiplash, permissionless fault proofs, and AA mempool rules changed the game. Your defense must evolve just as quickly. (research.checkpoint.com)
7Block’s Red Teaming converts those moving targets into a testable, repeatable, and board-ready security posture—with shipping dates intact and unit economics protected.

Book a 90-Day Pilot Strategy Call.