Removing address != 0x0 checks from OpenZeppelin Contracts

General
13

Revisiting this thread as we start preparing the next major version of OpenZeppelin Contracts.

My thoughts on this have changed. I now believe that address != 0 checks do make sense and provide value. The reason is that address 0 is a clearly distinct address that can show up in at least two scenarios:

  • Read from an uninitialized address value in storage or memory.
  • Returned from ecrecover applied to an invalid signature.

Rejecting address 0 in interfaces as an invalid account provides a layer of protection against accidentally using these values.

The Nomad hack for example involved the use of address 0 which accidentally had a role assigned.

1 Like