security

A set of rules for writing safer blockchain smart contracts, which are programs that manage assets on a blockchain. It requires checks, state updates, and outside calls to happen in a specific order and covers common safety patterns.

In plain words
What is it for?
Use it when implementing or reviewing functions that change smart-contract state, move tokens, accept outside input, or manage administrator permissions.
Why use it?
It helps prevent bugs that could let attackers steal funds, misuse permissions, or break token accounting. It also makes security requirements explicit while code is being written.

Cursor rule for Cursor

Install

Getting it into your agent

One page per mod, every tool's command on it. A separate URL per tool would split the same page into five that compete with each other.

agentmods
npx agentmods add rules/ccashwell/evm-cortex/security
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/ccashwell/evm-cortex

Made for: Cursor.

Per session 433 This file is loaded in full into every session.
When invoked 433 The same file — it is already loaded in full.
Security scan A 0 findings. Scan, not verified.
Origin original No closer match found in the catalogue.
Token cost

What it costs to keep this loaded

Counted locally with the o200k_base tokenizer, which is exact for GPT models; Claude uses its own tokenizer and its counts differ. Treat this as one consistent yardstick across the catalogue rather than a bill. Prices are per million input tokens.

ModelPer sessionOnce invoked
Fable 5 $0.00433 $0.00433
Opus 5 $0.00217 $0.00217
Sonnet 5 $0.00087 $0.00087
Haiku 4.5 $0.00043 $0.00043

Measured 2d ago against content hash 39e691a96820, method: parsed. Prices are Anthropic first-party input rates as of 2026-08-30, from the pricing page.

Security

Grade A, and why

security scanned grade A with 0 findings against 26 rules in 11 categories — prompt injection, anti-refusal, data exfiltration, privilege escalation, supply chain, agent snooping, system-prompt leakage, SSRF and excessive agency — measured 2d ago.

A static scan of the body, not an audit. Every finding is printed with the line that produced it so you can judge whether it matters here. A mod is markdown that instructs an agent; that is exactly why what it instructs is worth reading.

Nothing flagged

None of the 26 patterns this scan looks for appear in this file: no shell pipes, no recursive deletes, no credential paths, no hidden text, no instruction-override or anti-refusal phrasing, no agent-config snooping. That is not a guarantee, it is the absence of the things that are checkable.

.cursor/rules/security.mdc · 54 lines

What it actually says

Smart Contract Security Rules

Mandatory Patterns

Checks-Effects-Interactions

Every state-changing function MUST follow this order:

  1. Validate inputs and permissions (checks)
  2. Update state variables (effects)
  3. Make external calls (interactions)

Reentrancy Protection

  • Use OpenZeppelin ReentrancyGuard on any function making external calls
  • Even with CEI pattern, add the guard as defense in depth
  • Watch for read-only reentrancy through view functions

Token Safety

  • ALWAYS use SafeERC20 for token transfers
  • Check token decimals -- USDC=6, WBTC=8, most=18
  • Handle fee-on-transfer tokens (received != sent)
  • Handle rebasing tokens (stETH balance changes)
  • Handle tokens with blocklists (USDC, USDT)

Access Control

  • Every state-changing function needs explicit access control
  • Use Ownable2Step (prevents accidental ownership transfer)
  • Use AccessControl for multi-role systems
  • Add timelock for admin functions affecting user funds
  • Document all privileged roles

Input Validation

  • Validate ALL external inputs (zero address, zero amount, bounds)
  • Use custom errors with descriptive parameters
  • Validate array lengths match in batch operations

Vulnerability Checklist (Before Every PR)

  • No hardcoded secrets
  • Checks-effects-interactions followed
  • ReentrancyGuard on external call functions
  • SafeERC20 used for all transfers
  • Access control on all state-changing functions
  • Events emitted for all state changes
  • Edge cases handled (0, max, empty state)
  • No tx.origin usage
  • External call return values checked
  • No delegatecall to untrusted addresses

When Security Issue Found

  1. STOP current work
  2. Classify severity (Critical/High/Medium/Low)
  3. Write PoC test demonstrating the issue
  4. Fix following the recommendation pattern
  5. Verify fix with the PoC test
  6. If secrets leaked: rotate immediately
Changes

What this file has done since we first saw it

Hashed on every crawl. A supply-chain change to an agent config is a question of when, not whether, so the history is kept rather than the latest state alone.

  1. 2d ago First seen · 54 lines · 433 tokens per session scan A 39e691a96820

Subscribe to this mod's changes

security is a cursor rule published in the GitHub repository ccashwell/evm-cortex (127 stars, last pushed 22d ago), licensed MIT. It adds 433 tokens to every session, about $0.0022 per session on Opus 5. A static security scan graded it A with 0 findings. No closer match exists in the catalogue, so it is treated as the original; first seen 2026-08-30.