One of the more interesting results from the Pwn2Own contest at CanSecWest was the exploitation of a Blackberry using a WebKit vulnerability.

RIM just learned a lesson that Apple (and others) have been struggling with for a few years now. While I don’t think open code is inherently more or less secure than proprietary code, any time you include external code in your platform you are intrinsically tied to whoever maintains that code.

This is bad enough for applications and plugins like Adobe Flash and Acrobat/Reader, but it is really darn ugly for something like Java (a total mess from a security standpoint).

While I don’t know if it was involved in this particular hack, one of the bigger problems with using external code is when a vulnerability is discovered and released (or even patched) before you include the patch in your own distribution. Many of the other issues around external code are easier to manage, but Apple clearly illustrates what appears to be the worst one. This is the delay between initial release of patches for open projects (including WebKit, driven by Apple) and their own patches – often months later. During this window, the open source repository shows exactly what changed and thus points directly at their own vulnerability. As Apple has shown – even with WebKit, which it drives – this is a serious problem and seriously aggravates the wait for patch delivery.

At this point I should probably make clear that I don’t think including external code (even open source) is bad – merely that it brings this pesky security issue which requires management.

There are three ways to minimize this risk:

  1. Patch early and often. Keep the window of vulnerability for your platform/application as short as possible by burning the midnight oil once a fix is public.
  2. Engage deeply with the open source community your code comes from. Preferably have some of your people on the core team, which only happens if they actually contribute something of significance to the project. Then prepare to release your patch at the same time the primary update is released (don’t patch before – that might well break trust).
  3. Invest in anti-exploitation technologies that hopefully mitigate any vulnerabilities, no matter the origin.

The real answer is you need to do all three. Issue timely fixes when you get caught unaware, engage deeply with the community you now rely on, and harden your platform.

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