CISA Lays Out a Roadmap for Open Source Software Security

CISA has released an Open Source Software Security Roadmap outlining a path forward to help ensure a secure the open source software (OSS) ecosystem.

“CISA envisions a prosperous future where secure, resilient technology is the backbone of our world,” the roadmap says, and OSS is key to this future. “We envision a world in which every critical OSS project is not only secure but sustainable and resilient, supported by a healthy, diverse, and vibrant community.”

The roadmap lays out four key priorities: 

  • Establishing CISA’s role in supporting the security of OSS
  • Driving visibility into OSS usage and risks
  • Reducing risks to the federal government
  • Hardening the open source ecosystem 

CISA also states specific objectives within these main goals. For example, as part of their effort to increase visibility into OSS usage, “CISA will identify the OSS libraries that are most used to support critical functions across the federal government and critical infrastructure. CISA will utilize this information to understand where the greatest risks lie and prioritize activities to mitigate and reduce these risks.” 

In the roadmap, CISA expresses concern about the cascading effects of vulnerabilities in widely used OSS (e.g., Log4Shell) as well as supply chain attacks on open source repositories leading to compromise of downstream software.

See also:

 

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