The widespread use of open source software (OSS) within modern application development poses a “significant security risk”, new research suggests.
According to a new report from cybersecurity company Snyk, together with the Linux (opent in nieuw tabblad) Foundation, today’s organizations are underprepared to tackle these risks.
Gebaseerd op een onderzoek onder meer dan 550 respondenten en gegevens uit 1.3 miljard open source-projecten via Snyk Open Source, stelt het rapport dat twee op de vijf (41%) bedrijven geen vertrouwen hebben in de veiligheid van hun open source-code.
Vulnerabilities in open source code
Het gemiddelde applicatieontwikkelingsproject, zo bleek, kent 49 kwetsbaarheden, evenals 80 directe afhankelijkheden. Normaal gesproken duurt het nu 110 dagen om een kwetsbaarheid in een open source-project te verhelpen, vergeleken met 49 dagen vier jaar geleden.
“Software developers today have their own supply chains – instead of assembling car parts, they are assembling code by patching together existing open source components with their unique code. While this leads to increased productivity and innovation, it has also created significant security concerns,” said Matt Jarvis, Director, Developer Relations, Snyk.
Jarvis added that there’s a certain “naivete” to the industry’s approach to open-source software, which could open the door to all manner of malware, ransomware and other attacks.
For example, less than half (49%) have a security policy for OSS development or usage, dropping down to 27% among medium and large-size companies. Furthermore, less than a third (30%) of organizations without an open-source security policy are aware of the fact that at the moment, no one is addressing the security of open source software.
But some respondents are aware of the security challenges posed by open source software in the supply chain. A quarter said they were concerned about the security impact of their dependencies on OSS, and only 18% said they were confident in the controls they’ve set up for their transitive dependencies, where 40% of all vulnerabilities were found.