What is open source security?
Open-source security is the collection of tools and processes used to secure and manage the lifecycle of open-source software (OSS) and dependencies from development to production. It involves identifying and remediating security vulnerabilities, performing risk assessments, and implementing security measures to protect open-source projects from potential threats. These practices ensure the integrity and reliability of open-source software.
Because open-source software plays a key role in software development, its security has never been more essential. Powering everything from operating systems like Linux to databases like PostgreSQL, OSS is here to stay. And with the rise of cloud services and AI technologies, which often rely on OSS, open-source adoption is poised to increase. According to a report by Red Hat, 95% of IT leaders agree that open-source solutions are strategically important to their organization’s overall enterprise infrastructure software strategy.
With OSS, developers can innovate more rapidly by building upon existing code, which not only fosters creativity but also leads to more robust and secure software because a diverse group of contributors can identify and fix issues more effectively. Additionally, OSS can significantly reduce costs for organizations by eliminating licensing fees associated with proprietary software and allowing customization to meet specific needs.
However, leveraging OSS also brings significant security challenges. The very attributes that make OSS appealing—its open, collaborative nature—can also make it vulnerable to security threats. Without robust security practices, organizations risk exposing themselves to myriad security vulnerabilities that can be exploited by malicious actors.
Read on for a comprehensive guide to best practices and tools for securing open-source software, including the use of Software Composition Analysis (SCA) and Software Bills of Material (SBOMs) to identify and address vulnerable components within the source code and to manage source libraries, source packages, and source dependencies. Let’s start with a closer look at threats associated with open-source software.
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The risks of open-source software
Dependency vulnerabilities: Many OSS projects rely on a network of dependencies. A vulnerability in one dependency can cascade through the entire software stack, creating widespread security issues.
Inadequate maintenance: Not all OSS projects receive equal attention and maintenance. Some projects may become outdated, with unpatched vulnerabilities lingering in the codebase. This can be particularly problematic for widely used libraries that are no longer actively maintained.
Supply chain attacks: OSS can be a target for supply chain attacks, where attackers compromise a piece of software at its source or during its distribution.
Code tampering and malware insertion: The open nature of OSS means anyone can contribute to the codebase, opening the door to malicious contributions if proper vetting and review processes are not in place. For instance, the npm ecosystem has experienced incidents where malicious packages were published, affecting thousands of projects that included these dependencies.
Real-world examples of OSS security breaches
Considering the risks mentioned above, it’s not surprising that there are various examples of vulnerabilities and security threats that have had a big impact on organizations. In fact, the consequences of OSS security breaches can be staggering, affecting millions of users and critical systems. Let's dive into some real-life examples:
Log4j vulnerability (Log4Shell): Discovered in November 2021, this critical vulnerability in the widely used Java logging library Log4j allowed attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected systems. Given Log4j's widespread use, the vulnerability had a massive impact, prompting urgent patches and mitigation efforts across the tech industry.
Heartbleed Bug: This vulnerability in the OpenSSL cryptographic library was identified in 2014. The Heartbleed Bug enabled attackers to access sensitive information from the memory of compromised servers, including encryption keys and user data. The ubiquity of OpenSSL meant that the bug had a far-reaching impact. Notably, it compromised major platforms such as Yahoo, exposing user credentials and other sensitive information.
XZ Utils vulnerability (CVE-2024-3094): Identified in 2024, this critical remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability was found in the XZ Utils data compression library. The vulnerability stemmed from malicious code that allowed attackers to compromise specific Linux distributions. The exploitation of this vulnerability could lead to severe consequences, necessitating immediate patches and rigorous security measures.
As these examples demonstrate, strong OSS security measures are non-negotiable. Organizations must adopt comprehensive strategies to mitigate risks. In the next section, we’ll take a look at actionable steps to protect your organization.
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Best practices for securing open-source software
1. Keep an inventory of open-source components
Keeping track of all the OSS components you’ve used in projects is essential for managing updates and vulnerability patches effectively. A comprehensive inventory allows organizations to efficiently monitor and manage dependencies, ensuring that all components are secure and compliant.
Leverage up-to-date inventories: An up-to-date inventory allows for efficient tracking of components, making it easier to apply patches and manage dependencies. Regularly review your inventory to pinpoint components that are no longer maintained, and promptly replace them to ensure ongoing security and functionality.
Manage your OSS inventory: Solutions like Wiz for Supply Chain Security offer comprehensive capabilities for managing OSS inventories through code scanning. Wiz helps you understand what is actually deployed by providing a centralized view of your software bill of materials (SBOM) across cloud environments. It uses an agentless approach to scan all resources, active or not, and detect installed technologies. Wiz’s search capabilities allow you to quickly locate specific libraries or packages, identify obsolete or vulnerable components, and generate reports in standard formats for compliance. This ensures a constantly updated inventory, helping you mitigate risks and maintain compliance with licensing requirements.
2. Use trusted sources
Choosing reputable sources for OSS is a crucial means of maintaining the integrity and security of your software components. Follow these actionable steps for peace of mind:
Vet sources carefully: Always download OSS from official repositories or well-known sources. Verify the project’s popularity, community activity, and maintenance status. Projects with active communities and regular updates are more likely to be secure.
Verify the integrity of downloaded components: Use tools like sigstore to verify the authenticity and integrity of downloaded components. sigstore provides a secure method to sign and verify software artifacts, ensuring that the components have not been tampered with.
3. Regularly update and patch
One of the fundamental practices for securing open-source tools is ensuring that all components are regularly updated and patched. Staying current with updates helps mitigate known vulnerabilities that could be exploited by malicious actors. Here are some tips to put into practice:
Apply patches and updates right away: Software vulnerabilities are often discovered and then disclosed publicly. If these vulnerabilities are not addressed quickly with updates and patches, they can be exploited, leading to security breaches. The well-known Heartbleed vulnerability in OpenSSL illustrates the extensive consequences of unpatched security flaws.
Take a strategic approach: Efficiently managing updates and patches requires a systematic approach. Automated tools like Dependabot can streamline this process on GitHub. Select a tool that automatically checks for updates in your dependencies and creates pull requests to keep your projects up-to-date. Implementing such tools in your continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipeline ensures that updates are handled promptly and with minimal manual intervention.
4. Conduct thorough security assessments
To identify and resolve potential vulnerabilities in OSS, regularly audit your security processes and tools. By proactively performing these evaluations, you can uncover and address issues before attackers exploit them. Here’s how:
Conduct regular security audits: Regular security assessments play a key role in proactively identifying vulnerabilities before they can be exploited. These audits should include code reviews, configuration reviews, and dependency checks. Audits should also evaluate access controls, data protection measures, and compliance with security policies to ensure that security measures remain up-to-date and effective.
Leverage automation: Employ both automated and manual security review techniques. Automated tools like OWASP Dependency-Check or Dependabot can scan your projects for known vulnerabilities in dependencies. Additionally, manual code reviews and penetration testing can uncover issues that automated tools might overlook.
5. Monitor for vulnerabilities
Continuous monitoring for new vulnerabilities is critical for responding promptly and mitigating risks. By integrating monitoring into your security workflow, you can detect and address vulnerabilities in real time, reducing the window of exposure.
Take advantage of continuous monitoring: Solutions like Wiz provide continuous monitoring and vulnerability detection across your cloud and software environments. By integrating these tools into your security workflow, you can ensure that new vulnerabilities are identified and addressed swiftly.
Regularly update and review monitoring protocols: Continuously review and update your monitoring protocols to keep pace with evolving threats. It’s important that your monitoring tools and processes remain effective and can address new types of vulnerabilities as they emerge.
6. Enforce license compliance
Verifying that all components adhere to their respective licenses is an essential part of managing OSS effectively; here’s how to do it:
Audit license compliance: Conduct periodic audits of all OSS components to double-check compliance with their respective licenses. If you identify any non-compliant components, take corrective actions right away.
Select a license compliance tool: Tools like Deps.dev and FOSSA help in managing and verifying license compliance. Deps.dev offers detailed insights into dependencies and their licenses, enabling you to identify potential issues quickly. FOSSA provides automated scanning and continuous monitoring of your codebase to ensure all components comply with their respective licensing terms. Both tools generate reports and alerts, making it easier to address non-compliance issues promptly and maintain adherence to licensing requirements.
7. Integrate security into DevOps (DevSecOps)
Embedding security into DevOps processes builds continuous security into the entire development lifecycle and communicates to your teams that security is everyone’s responsibility. Follow these steps to make the most of DevSecOps:
Implement early security assessments: Conduct security assessments at the initial stages of development to identify and address potential vulnerabilities early. This proactive approach reduces the cost and impact of remediation.
Automate security processes throughout the SDLC: Introduce security checks and automated testing at each phase of the CI/CD pipeline. Tools like the Wiz CLI can be integrated into CI/CD pipelines like Jenkins and offer integrated security scans so that you can automate these processes, helping you maintain security without hindering development speed.
8. Implement secure coding practices
The best practices above apply when you’re integrating OSS. However, when building OSS, incorporating secure coding practices is also critical. These security practices should be applied throughout the development lifecycle to build robust and secure OSS:
Emphasize security in development: Practices such as input validation, proper error handling, encryption, and avoiding hardcoding secrets are fundamental to secure coding. Ensuring that these practices are followed reduces the risk of introducing vulnerabilities during development.
Follow established principles for secure coding: Adhere to principles such as the principle of least privilege (PoLP), defense in depth, and fail-safe defaults. Tools like ESLint and SonarQube can help enforce coding standards and detect security issues early in the development process.
By following these best practices, you can significantly reduce your attack surface and enjoy the benefits of OSS while mitigating potential risks.
In our guide to code security tools, we cover the best OSS multi-lanaguage code security tools,such as:
- Semgrep
- SonarQube
- PMD
- Bearer
- Graudit
Secure your open-source software with Wiz
As we’ve seen, securing open-source software is crucial for maintaining a robust and resilient software environment. To further enhance the security of your applications and to stay ahead of emerging threats, explore the advanced solutions offered by Wiz.
Here’s a concise overview of how Wiz can help you fortify your OSS security:
Continuous monitoring: Wiz provides real-time visibility into OSS components across cloud environments, ensuring immediate detection of vulnerabilities.
Security vulnerability detection: Our platform uses advanced scanning techniques to identify vulnerabilities in OSS dependencies and configurations during development and deployment.
SBOM: Wiz maintains an accurate, centralized inventory of all OSS components and their dependencies without requiring intrusive agents.
Auto-remediation: Our tools enable quick resolution of identified vulnerabilities and misconfigurations through automated workflows integrated into CI/CD pipelines.
Integration with developer tools: Wiz seamlessly integrates with popular developer platforms like GitHub, facilitating early detection and remediation of security issues within the development workflow.
Compliance and reporting: With detailed compliance reports and continuous monitoring, trust Wiz to ensure adherence to security standards and licensing requirements.
By leveraging these features, Wiz helps you build, deploy, and maintain secure open-source software. To learn how Wiz can help you fortify your software security, schedule a free demo today.
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