Today, over 90% of organizations depend on open-source software (OSS) within their applications. OSS powers much of the tech we use daily, from Google and Amazon to our phones, cars, and countless apps. Once a niche concept in the ’90s, OSS has surged in popularity, especially with the demand for digital solutions during the pandemic. While OSS offers collaboration and innovation, its open nature also
brings security risks that require careful management to mitigate vulnerabilities.
Open Source Software
Open-source software (OSS) is publicly accessible code that anyone can examine, modify, or distribute. Available under various licenses, OSS speeds up development by providing ready-made functionality, saving users from building from scratch. This fosters a collaborative community where users can enhance the code by adding features or fixing issues.
The benefits of OSS include reduced costs, flexibility, and longer-term support, as it is maintained by a community rather than a single entity. Today, it’s estimated that 90% of organizations use OSS in their applications.
Risks associated with Open Source Software
OSS has become integral to modern software development, it inherently exposes us to malicious intent, too. So much so that research by DevOps automation firm, Sonatype revealed a x6 increase in malicious attacks aimed at open source in public repositories in this year alone. Using open-source software (OSS) can bring significant benefits, but it also introduces certain risks, especially in industries with high security, reliability, or compliance standards.
Security Risks
Since OSS code is accessible to anyone, it’s easier for attackers to study and identify potential security flaws. Although open-source communities actively address vulnerabilities, patches may not always be prompt, and there’s a risk of exposure.
- Malicious Code Injection: Contributors with malicious intent can potentially inject harmful code. These changes, if undetected in peer review, could propagate widely, especially if projects don’t have strict contributor vetting.
- Dependency Risks: OSS projects often rely on other open-source libraries (transitive dependencies). These dependencies may have their own vulnerabilities, which can unknowingly expose software to additional threats.
Licensing Risks
OSS projects use various licenses (e.g., GPL, MIT, Apache), each with unique terms regarding usage, modification, and distribution. Combining OSS from multiple sources can create compatibility issues, which can lead to inadvertent license violations.
- Copyleft Obligations: Certain OSS licenses (such as GPL) require that modified code be shared openly, potentially exposing proprietary innovations. Organizations using such licenses without understanding these obligations can risk exposing their intellectual property.
- Indemnity and Liability: Open-source projects typically do not come with warranties, so if there are issues or legal disputes, the user organization is solely responsible.
Software Composition Analysis
Software Composition Analysis (SCA) is a process that identifies and assesses open-source and third-party components within a software application. SCA tools scan the application’s codebase to uncover all included libraries, frameworks, and dependencies. SCA tools check for known vulnerabilities in open-source components against public databases like the National Vulnerability Database (NVD), helping teams stay proactive about security.
They identify and flag licenses tied to open-source libraries to ensure compliance and avoid potential legal issues. SCA tools map the dependency tree, identifying direct and transitive dependencies and their respective versions, to track potential risks. They help teams keep track of version updates for third-party components, suggesting upgrades to safer or more stable versions.
SCA tools are not a one-size-fits-all kind of deal. It all comes down to mapping out your priorities and ensuring that the tool you choose fits your developer’s workflow and competence. Once selected, it must be applied holistically to your strategy and culture.
This means treating it as any other project that is tracked and managed through the standard processes and rituals the team has, like project planning, design reviews or daily scrums. But first, there are some key elements to take into consideration when shopping around.
Best practices in choosing the right SCA tool:
Here are best practices to consider when selecting the right Software Composition Analysis (SCA) tool:
1. Focus on Developer Experience: A security tool’s success depends on how easily developers can adopt it. If it’s too complex or disrupts their workflow, it won’t be widely used. Involve developers in the selection process and prioritize tools that are intuitive, easy to use, and integrate seamlessly with existing workflows.
2. Support for Languages and Integration: Choose an SCA tool that supports a wide range of programming languages and frameworks, particularly those core to your tech stack. The tool should integrate smoothly across the entire Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) to fit naturally into your build environment.
3. Emphasize Automation and Actionable Insights: Opt for a tool that doesn’t just identify issues but provides actionable guidance on how to resolve them. Ideally, the tool should offer automated fixes and concrete remediation steps, helping developers resolve problems more efficiently.
4. Ensure Continuous Monitoring: Look for a tool that provides up-to-date vulnerability data and comprehensive component detection. Continuous monitoring allows the tool to identify issues early, which is critical for projects with less frequent deployment cycles.
5. Prioritize Effective Detection: The tool should accurately detect vulnerabilities and help development teams prioritize which issues to address first. Auto-identification of code without manual input reduces time spent on evaluating false positives, speeding up the triage process.
6. Expand and Build on Security: Once your SCA tool is fully integrated, consider expanding your security approach by incorporating other tools like SAST (Static Application Security Testing) and DAST (Dynamic Application Security Testing). These tools complement SCA by testing both the written code and the running application, providing comprehensive protection and ensuring your software remains secure and high-quality.
7. Ensure CI/CD Integration: Choose an SCA tool that easily integrates with Continuous Integration (CI) environments, further supporting seamless adoption into the development pipeline.
Open Source Software Analysis Services are crucial for organizations that rely on open-source software to ensure compliance, security, and quality within their projects. These services address various needs, including license compliance, security vulnerability management, and maintaining the health of dependencies. By integrating directly into contemporary CI/CD pipelines, they provide real-time insights and automated remediation, helping to mitigate risks and enhance software quality.
Choosing the right tool depends on your project’s scale, the number of open source dependencies, and the specific needs of your organization.
EPTeck’s Open Source Software Analysis Services
At EPTeck, we focus on creating state of the art Open Source Analysis solutions to meet your specific product requirements using different open source as well as commercial tools. With deep expertise across widely-used analysis tools, our provided solution will analyze, assess, and manage open source software dependencies, licenses, security vulnerabilities, and compliance. Ensuring that OSS components used in projects are secure, up-to-date, and comply with legal and licensing requirements.
Here’s an overview of the major types of OSS analysis services provided by EPTeck using some of the popular tools/platforms available:
License Compliance Checking
This service by EPTeck help organizations ensure that the OSS components they use are compliant with their project’s licensing policies. Our License Compliance Checking solution will analyze the licenses of open source packages and alert users if there are any conflicts (e.g., copyleft licenses in proprietary software).
- Detection of software licenses
- Identification of license conflicts
- Generation of license compatibility reports
- Generation of Software Bill of Materials (SBOM)
Security Vulnerability Analysis
Open source components can contain known vulnerabilities. Our Security Vulnerability Analysis services check against vulnerability databases like the National Vulnerability Database (NVD) to identify potential security risks in open source dependencies.
- Vulnerability scanning i.e. CVEs
- Risk assessment for open source libraries
- Alerts for new vulnerabilities in dependencies
- Suggested security patches or versions
Dependency Management
Dependency management solution monitor the open source libraries and dependencies used in a project, alerting developers when a new version or security update is available.
- Automatic dependency tracking
- Versioning and update alerts
- Dependency health assessment
- Recommendations for alternative libraries if a package is deprecated
Code Quality and Maintenance
Code Quality and Maintenance service evaluate the quality, health, and sustainability of open source code being integrated into projects. This includes code quality metrics, activity levels in repositories, and long-term maintainability.
- Code maintainability analysis
- Community and contributor activity tracking
- Project lifecycle analysis
- Quality metrics (e.g., complexity, test coverage)
Popular OSS Analysis Tools use by EPTeck
Here is the list of some of the popular tools used by EPTeck to create your complete OSS analysis solution;
Snyk: Snyk is a widely-used platform that focuses on security and license compliance for open source components. It integrates with CI/CD pipelines to automatically detect and remediate vulnerabilities in open source libraries.
- Vulnerability scanning
- License compliance checking
- Automatic fixes and upgrades
- Integration with GitHub, GitLab, Jenkins, etc.
Black Duck by Synopsys: Black Duck provides detailed analysis of open source licenses, security risks, and compliance issues. It also offers deep integration with CI/CD pipelines and software development workflows.
- Open source license and security risk management
- SBOM generation and management
- Policy enforcement and automated remediation
- Broad language and platform support
FOSSA: FOSSA offers a powerful toolset for managing license compliance, security, and open source governance. It integrates well with development workflows to automate compliance processes.
- License detection and compliance management
- Security vulnerability monitoring
- Automated license audit reports
- Integration with CI tools and Git repositories
OWASP Dependency-Check: OWASP Dependency-Check is an open source tool that identifies project dependencies and checks them for known, publicly disclosed vulnerabilities.
- Vulnerability scanning for Java, .NET, Ruby, Python, and Node.js dependencies
- Continuous monitoring for new vulnerabilities
- Integration with build tools like Maven, Gradle, and Jenkins
OWASP Dependency-Track: Dependency-Track is an intelligent Component Analysis platform that allows organizations to identify and reduce risk in the software supply chain. Dependency-Track takes a unique and highly beneficial approach by leveraging the capabilities of Software Bill of Materials (SBOM). This approach provides capabilities that traditional Software Composition Analysis (SCA) solutions cannot achieve.
- Vulnerability Detection
- Policy Evaluation & Impact Analysis
- Outdated Version Detection
- Bill of Materials (BOM)
How EPTeck can help?
Our team is equipped to provide comprehensive Open Source Software Analysis Services tailored to your specific project requirements. Whether you’re managing license compliance, security vulnerabilities, or dependency chain, we deliver solutions that enable effective oversight of open-source components in your projects.
We customize our analysis services to align with your unique needs, ensuring compatibility with your software stack, continuous integration, and overall project goals. By tailoring our approach, our team help you achieve optimal software quality while reducing risks and development complexity.
Why Choose EPTeck for OSS Analysis Services?
- Experienced Team: Our engineers have deep knowledge of the license compliance, security vulnerabilities concepts.
- Custom Solutions: We offer fully customizable OSS analysis solution by combining tools the most relevant to your project need.
Contact us today to discover how EPTeck can help you securing your next project!
