Synopsys has released its report, “The State of Software Composition 2017,”
which analyses real-world data to investigate the security of the
software supply chain one of the most significant challenges the
software industry faces today. The report summarises the
analysis of 128,782 software applications, which identified 16,868
unique versions of open source and commercial software components
containing almost 10,000 unique security vulnerabilities.
Synopsys used its software composition analysis product, Protecode™ SC, to analyse applications scanned from January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016. Of the 3rd party software components identified through the analysis of these applications, nearly 50 percent of these components were more than four years old, and in almost every case a newer, more secure version of the software component is available.
“By analysing large data sets and identifying trends and problem areas, we are able to provide the software development community with valuable intelligence to help them keep their software secure and up to date,” said Andreas Kuehlmann, senior vice president and general manager for the Synopsys Software Integrity Group. “Over time, vulnerabilities in third-party components are discovered and disclosed, leaving a previously secure software package open to exploits. The message to the software industry should not be whether to use open source software, but whether you are vigilant about keeping it updated to prevent attacks.”
The research, upon which the report is based, represents a cross section of software including mobile, desktop and web applications, as well as firmware and embedded software from a variety of industries. The report includes information on the most commonly observed 3rd party software components, the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) known to affect these components, the 10-point Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) rank for CVE and the Common Software Weaknesses (CWE) used to classify them.
