CertiK Emulator

Some malicious behaviors can only be uncovered during contract execution. The CertiK Emulator is a secure, sandboxed environment that enables dynamic simulation of smart contract behavior — revealing risks like honeypots, privileged control, or liquidity theft that static analysis alone cannot detect.

What is CertiK Emulator?

CertiK Emulator is an isolated EVM bytecode execution engine. It allows smart contracts to be tested in a safe, forked environment without interacting with the actual blockchain.

  • Fork real-time data from DEX markets (e.g., Uniswap, PancakeSwap)
  • Simulate user interactions and liquidity pool dynamics
  • Run controlled buy/sell emulation under different time conditions
  • Fuzz contract functions to identify hidden attack paths

This sandboxed approach preserves the integrity of real assets while enabling powerful runtime analysis.

Dynamic Detection Use Cases

The Emulator enables runtime detection of behaviors such as:

  • Cannot Buy: Token purchases revert or return zero
  • Cannot Sell: Token cannot be sold, even after a holding period
  • Advanced Fuzzer: Privileged roles or functions allow draining funds or overriding logic

Real-World Examples

bsc:0xe2ef03c601df93081973c60cdaf2a640122d1314

  • Static analysis passed
  • Emulator detected that special addresses bypassed allowance restrictions

eth:0x2c8ff97543b8158df4124a0aa1e20d94c707a9ff

  • Contract hardcoded a privileged address
  • openTrade assigned it to routeV2addr
  • setMaxWalletSize redirected supply to the pair and authorized the backdoor
  • CertiK Emulator surfaced the exploit during runtime

Summary

The CertiK Emulator plays a vital role in uncovering dynamic threats that are invisible through source code or on-chain metadata alone. It enhances CertiK Token Scan by simulating token behavior inside a secure and isolated environment — giving users, developers, and auditors deeper insights into hidden risks.