Are Ethereum contract function securable

0 votes

I am using testrpc and web3.

I used the idiom below to ensure that only a previously defined user should be able to do something:

function doSomethingProtected() {
        if ( msg.sender != authorizedUser )
                throw;

        flagSomething = true;
   }

When calling the function on an instantiated contract with web3 as follows:

myContract.doSomethingProtected( { from: "0x..." } );

it worked. At first I was pleased but then I realized the web3 API had not required me to provide any passphrase for a private key or such like.

Can anyone with the simple knowledge of someones public key/address call this function?

The use of this idiom in the examples led me to believe a benefit of the Ethereum contracts was that it ensured msg.sender was cryptographically assured.

Oct 26, 2018 in Blockchain by Prerna
• 1,960 points
761 views

1 answer to this question.

0 votes
The reason is that you are using testRPC, which doesn't lock it's accounts, so you don't need a password.

If you were to do this with geth, you would need to unlock the account before sending from it.

Without the private key, that function will throw an error, so you are correct in using that authorization method.
answered Oct 30, 2018 by Christine
• 15,790 points

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