Open Source Security: Risks and Best Practices

There has been a significant shift towards software development, where organizations ranging from small business entities to large-scale businesses use open-source components to achieve shorter development times and minimized expenses. Based on more recent research, the proportion of open-source code within more recent applications has increased. It is said to constitute between 70-90 percent of many of the commercial applications currently in circulation.

This general usage has led to the development of a tremendous ecosystem that allows developers to build elaborate applications using pre-existing subroutines and initiating modes known as frameworks and libraries. However, this relationship ties organizations heavily to open-source software, posing massive security threats that require vigilant handling. The XZ Utils incident, Log4Shell vulnerability, and the SolarWinds supply chain attack show that existing open-source security protocols must be more potent and more effective.

What is Open Source Security?

Open-source security is the processes, technologies, and measures applied to safeguard open-source software programs and systems. It spans the security process of open source, from component choice to inclusion and validation of code components and even up to component updates and patches for vulnerabilities. At its core, open-source security involves several key aspects:

• Component Integrity: Validating that open-source components have not been tampered with and are downloaded from a proper source. This encompasses confirmation of package origin and ensuring its integrity throughout the software supply chain.

• Vulnerability Management: Ongoing detection, tracking, and remediation of security issues in open-source libraries. This monitors other vulnerabilities, rates their effects, and applies updates or patches when due.

• Compliance and Licensing: Cooperating between open source compliance management and security requirements, including the license requirements and implications of security measures and documentation of all components used.

• Security Assessment: Code review, security testing, and vulnerability scanning of open sources are performed periodically as often as security audits are done. The idea is that threats can be detected before they become threats and used as an opportunity to be secured.

• Ongoing Maintenance: Securing open source components and sub-dependencies during their usage path, updating, monitoring the Security Advisories for any changes, and handling the end-of-life of any deprecated component.

The Risks of Open Source Security

Of all the issues concerning open source, security is one that most users shy away from due to the various risks involved.

Due to its intrinsic characteristics, open-source software is uncontrolled because it is accessible for anyone to employ, alter, and disseminate. This is good for creating new compelling solutions and cooperative working, but it poses risks at the same time. The OWASP Top 10 Risks for Open Source Software provides a comprehensive view of the most critical security challenges organizations face when integrating open-source components:

1. Known Vulnerabilities: This situation focuses on the particular security risks associated with open-source elements when these flaws have been located but not rectified. These vulnerabilities are even more likely to be exploited because the information is available to anyone interested. Once a vulnerability is publicly disclosed and posted on sites like the National Vulnerability Database (NVD), new threats can easily create attacks that will affect organizations that have yet to patch their components.

2. Compromise of Legitimate Package: This takes place when the attacker compromises the package repos or a developer’s ID and posts malicious code into genuine packages. The above compromises are rather sharp and dangerous because they act based on the confidence that organizations bear for classic open-source depots and maintainers. The SolarWinds experience revealed how compromised packages can impact hundreds to thousands of organizations in one supply chain attack.

3. Name Confusion Attacks: They are also referred to as typosquatting or dependency confusion attacks, which occur when attackers develop packages with names close to real packages. Phishers use phenotypic similarities to typosquatting or similar names of packages to convince developers to install spoof packages instead of the intended ones. A lot of the hosts of these attacks exploit the automated nature of dependency management systems that are used nowadays.

4. Unmaintained Software: Free code components that are not maintained pose a huge risk to data security. If maintainers ignore a project or do not respond to security incidents, the project has unprotected security holes and no way to ensure safety. The utilizing organizations thereby become automatically held responsible for maintaining security themselves or accept the increasing risk of running out-of-date code.

5. Outdated Software: As it turns out, even when newer and safer versions of open-source components have been released, organizations do not upgrade to them. This produces security risks since older versions might have recorded susceptibilities or no security enhancements. To prevent errors that cause failure or inability to perform specific functions, updating the dependencies requires a lot of time, exposing clients to other risks for a long time.

6. Untracked Dependencies: It is usually difficult for organizations to know which open-source components they rely on, let alone the downstream dependencies or second-order dependencies. Ultimately, organizations cannot know what components are on their system or whether those components have security problems or require updates. Untracked dependencies make security monitoring and risk management invisible areas that security personnel cannot even see.

7. License Risk: While mainly a legal issue, a license violation can have points related to security measures. Some licenses may require code disclosure or hamper modification ability, thus hindering an organization’s capacity to fuse security fixes. Comprehension and administration of license terms lie at the heart of compliance, security, and flexibility.

8. Immature Software: New or experimental components of an open-source system may not be as secure as they may be if subjected to rigorous real-life use. These components might have numerous unknown, open, or even security anti-patterns that the more mature software has improved over the course of years of development and security auditing.

9. Unapproved Change: Open source components can be upgraded, patched, or modified to contain new features, bug fixes, and security vulnerabilities, but if not approved for inclusion, they can cause security issues when integrated into an application or system. That is why it can be lethal if such an alteration is performed by an unauthorized individual or an individual who has not followed the appropriate checklist, which needs to be solved to ensure that new changes do not bring new vulnerabilities or compatibility problems in the system.

10. Under/Oversized Dependency: Introducing dependencies whose size is too big, including too much code and possible threats, or too small, which cannot perform its functions without adding more dependencies. Unnecessarily large dependencies increase the size of an attack surface in a given application. In contrast, small dependencies may lead to issues such as creating many dependencies in an application, thus complicating security.

Best Practices for Securing Open Source Software

To reduce the threat that has been associated with open-source security, developers and organizations must take the necessary precautions. Here are some best practices:

1. Implement Software Composition Analysis (SCA)

Use appropriate automated tools to constantly monitor and identify open-source software, components, versions, and any known vulnerabilities. This gives certain insights into your software supply chain and allows you to focus on fixing a priority area for an attack. SCA tools need to be best incorporated as part of the development process so that apparent vulnerabilities can be recognized before incorporation into a system.

2. Establish a Vulnerability Management Program

Establish a routine process for addressing security alerts and databases that provide sufficient information and references on security risks. The program should contain procedures for evaluating the effects of the discovered vulnerabilities, selecting the updates by their risk level, and applying them. This is so because the program requires periodic reviews and updates to remain effective throughout its life cycle.

3. Create a Software Bill of Materials (SBOM)

Document all the open-source components across the software and ensure they’re continually updated. This should comprise name, direct and transitive dependencies, version, license, vulnerability, and update records. As a result, the SBOM is the definitive resource for reference during security and compliance purposes.

4. Verify Source Authenticity

Ensure proper authorization of each of the open-source component options. This comprises utilizing package signing and validation features, checking the checksums of downloaded components, and reporting the reliability of the package source and contributors. The level of transparency is then maintained by conducting general audits of the sources from which you acquire your components.

5. Automated Security Testing

Ensure you incorporate or include security testing into your continuous integration and delivery process to discover the weaknesses at the development stage. This should include static Application Security Testing (SAST), Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST), and Interactive Application Security Testing (IAST) as a combination of SAST and DAST.

Secure Your Source Software with Jscrambler

Open-source code protection is most commonly done through software like Jscrambler’s, which protects JavaScript apps. To offer extensive security against code modification, reverse engineering, and other forms of attack methods, Jscrambler is a perfect match for safety-conscious organizations.

Here’s how Jscrambler can help with open-source security:

1. Code Obfuscation: The open-source components are safeguarded against further modification and reverse engineering by Jscrambler’s sophisticated methods of JavaScript Obfuscation and code hardening capabilities. This assists in minimizing risks generally associated with supply chain nuisances and the incorporation of malicious codes. The protection system in the platform guarantees that your code is protected when you manage to distribute it in hostile areas.
   
   

2. Real-Time Application Self-Protection (RASP): The platform's runtime protection assists in recognizing and stopping anti-tampering attempts in real-time so that a compromised open-source component cannot run within your application context. This covers issues related to vulnerable parts, supply chain attacks, installation/run of malicious code, and unlawful alterations. Runtime protection offers extra layers of protection that cannot be procured by simply scanning the code. 
   
   

3. Integration with CI/CD Pipelines: Incorporating Jscrambler with CI/CD means that security remains inherent soon after the code comes to life in the development cycle. Maintaining an organization's components' current status and security by examining JavaScript dependencies. That’s why the platform allows teams to monitor vulnerable dependencies, give notifications on security threats, estimate the potential damage of vulnerabilities, prioritize updates based on risk level, and adhere to security standards. Concurrent monitoring is supposed to help identify security threats as early as possible.
   
   

4. Protection Against Supply Chain Attacks: The platform provides end-to-end security solutions for your software supply chain. These include identifying the origins of open source packages, identifying injections of invalid code, analyzing activity in dependents, record keeping for security compliance purposes, and access control measures. 

Overall, open sources add a lot of advantages, but it is very important to mention that we are facing new threats concerning personal security. Using some of the best practices for protection and appropriate tools, open-source software can continue to be used as a safe base for innovation.