List of software quality issues with the number of affected components.
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Category
Detected Windows executable files that embed PDB files whose integrity is verified with an insecure hashing algorithm.
Causes risk: outdated toolchains detected
2
hardening
Problem
Program database (PDB) files are typically only used during software development. They contain private debug symbols that make it significantly easier to reverse engineer a closed-source application. In some cases, having a program database file is equivalent to having access to the source code. Presence of program databases could indicate that one or more software components have been built using a debug profile, instead of the release.Prevalence in NuGet community
0 packages
found in
Top 100
14 packages
found in
Top 1k
69 packages
found in
Top 10k
19607 packages
in community
Next steps
Private debug database files should not be embedded within executables, and you should remove them from the software package before releasing it.
The integrity verification of the embedded database files should not be done with insecure hashing algorithms. SHA1 and MD5 hashes should be deprecated throughout the application, and a more secure SHA256 algorithm should be used instead.
Detected digital signatures that rely on a weak digest algorithm for integrity validation.
1
signatures
Problem
Digital signatures are applied to applications, packages and documents as a cryptographically secured authenticity record. Signatures verify the origin and the integrity of the object they apply to. The integrity validation relies on the cryptographic strength of the encryption and the hash verification algorithm. If either of the two is considered weak by current standards, there is a chance the signed object could be maliciously modified, without triggering the integrity failure check.Prevalence in NuGet community
0 packages
found in
Top 100
38 packages
found in
Top 1k
315 packages
found in
Top 10k
733240 packages
in community
Next steps
Create signatures with strong ECC key-length of at least 224 bits, or RSA key-length of at least 2048 bits, and use SHA256 as the hashing algorithm. While encryption key-length upgrade does require you to obtain a new certificate, the hashing algorithm can freely be selected during signing.
With Microsoft SignTool, you can specify the hashing algorithm using the /fd SHA256 parameter.
Problem
Debug databases are typically only used during software development. On Windows, they are usually files embedded into the executable (PDB), while on Linux, they're contained inside special executable sections. The databases contain private debug symbols that make it significantly easier to reverse-engineer a closed-source application. In some cases, having a debug database is equivalent to having access to the source code. Presence of debug databases could indicate that one or more software components have been built using a debug profile, instead of the release. Private debug databases can be embedded into software components by programming language tools.Prevalence in NuGet community
0 packages
found in
Top 100
15 packages
found in
Top 1k
76 packages
found in
Top 10k
21579 packages
in community
Next steps
To remediate this issue and remove private debugging information, refer to your programming language toolchain documentation.
Detected digital signatures that have not been performed with an extended validation certificate.
3
signatures
Problem
Digital signatures are applied to applications, packages and documents as a cryptographically secured authenticity record. Signatures are made using digital certificates, which can either be purchased from certificate authorities or be self-issued. When a certificate is purchased from a certificate authority, the subject that requests it goes through an identity validation process. Depending on the certificate type, those checks can be basic or extended. Confirming the subject identity is a multi-step process, and the requesting subject can be mapped to its legal entity name only through extended validation of submitted documents. Extended identity validation typically costs more, and it takes longer for a certificate to be issued when this process is correctly followed.Prevalence in NuGet community
0 packages
found in
Top 100
27 packages
found in
Top 1k
292 packages
found in
Top 10k
732229 packages
in community
Next steps
Consider the benefits of acquiring extended validation certificates. Operating systems tend to be more trusting of software packages signed in this way. Certain security warnings and prompts might also be automatically suppressed. This reduces the number of support tickets for organizations that opt to use extended validation certificates.