CWE-1104: Use of Unmaintained Third Party Components
Learn about CWE-1104 (Use of Unmaintained Third Party Components), its security impact, exploitation methods, and prevention guidelines.
What is Use of Unmaintained Third Party Components?
• Overview: Use of Unmaintained Third Party Components (CWE-1104) occurs when a software product relies on third-party libraries or components that are no longer actively supported or updated by their developers. This reliance can lead to security vulnerabilities as these components may contain unresolved bugs or security issues.
• Exploitation Methods:
- Attackers exploit this vulnerability by targeting known vulnerabilities in outdated components that have not been patched.
- Common attack patterns include injecting malicious code through unpatched vulnerabilities and exploiting deprecated functions or APIs that have known security issues.
• Security Impact:
- Direct consequences include unauthorized access, data breaches, and system compromise due to unpatched vulnerabilities.
- Potential cascading effects involve the spread of malware, loss of data integrity, and further exploitation of interconnected systems.
- Business impact can be severe, including financial losses, damage to reputation, and legal liabilities due to non-compliance with security regulations.
• Prevention Guidelines:
- Specific code-level fixes include replacing outdated components with actively maintained alternatives and regularly updating dependencies to their latest versions.
- Security best practices involve conducting regular audits of third-party components, maintaining an inventory of dependencies, and using tools to monitor for vulnerabilities.
- Recommended tools and frameworks include using dependency-checking tools like OWASP Dependency-Check, integrating vulnerability scanners into the CI/CD pipeline, and employing software composition analysis tools to manage and assess third-party components.
Technical Details
Likelihood of Exploit: Not specified
Affected Languages: Not specified
Affected Technologies: Not Technology-Specific, ICS/OT