List of software quality issues with the number of affected components.
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Problem
Software developers use programming and design knowledge to build reusable software components. Software components are the basic building blocks for modern applications. Software consumed by an enterprise consists of hundreds, and sometimes even thousands of open source components. Software developers publish components they have authored to public repositories. Open source projects are the intellectual property of their respective authors. At any time, the authors may choose to completely remove the software component from a public repository. This often occurs when a software project reaches its end-of-life stage, or when the software authors lose interest in maintaining the project. This kind of removal frees up the software package name, its unique software identifier in the public repository, for other developers to use. However, new software project owners might have malicious intent. Threat actors are continuously monitoring popular package names in case their unique identifiers suddenly become available for hijacking. Once the software projects falls under new ownership, the new maintainers may opt to use the project popularity to spread malware to unsuspecting users.
Prevalence in PowerShell Gallery community
4 packages
found in
Top 100
26 packages
found in
Top 1k
483 packages
found in
Top 10k
3.71k packages
in community
Next steps
Inspect behaviors exhibited by the detected software components.
If the software behaviors differ from expected, investigate the build and release environment for software supply chain compromise.
Revise the use of components that raise these alarms. If you can't deprecate those components, make sure that their versions are pinned.
Avoid using this software package until it is vetted as safe.
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 PowerShell Gallery community
3 packages
found in
Top 100
106 packages
found in
Top 1k
237 packages
found in
Top 10k
436 packages
in community
Next steps
Remove private debug database files from the software package before you release it.
Problem
Software components contain executable code that performs actions implemented during its development. These actions are called behaviors. In the analysis report, behaviors are presented as human-readable descriptions that best match the underlying code intent. While most behaviors are benign, some are commonly abused by malicious software with the intent to cause harm. When a software package shares behavior traits with malicious software, it may become flagged by security solutions. Any detection from security solutions can cause friction for the end-users during software deployment. While the behavior is likely intended by the developer, there is a small chance this detection is true positive, and an early indication of a software supply chain attack.
Prevalence in PowerShell Gallery community
14 packages
found in
Top 100
179 packages
found in
Top 1k
969 packages
found in
Top 10k
1.76k packages
in community
Next steps
Investigate reported detections.
If the software intent does not relate to the reported behavior, investigate your build and release environment for software supply chain compromise.
You should delay the software release until the investigation is completed, or until the issue is risk accepted.
Consider rewriting the flagged code without using the marked behaviors.
Problem
Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) are structured addresses that point to locations and assets on the internet. URLs allow software developers to build complex applications that exchange data with servers that can be hosted in multiple geographical regions. URLs can commonly be found embedded in documentation, configuration files, source code and compiled binaries. Typosquatting relies on typographical errors than might occur when typing the domain name or a top-level domain (TLD) code the trusted domain is registered under. By predicting common spelling mistakes, attackers can pre-register domains with URLs that the users are likely to visit directly. While presence of typosquatted variations in network references does not imply malicious intent, all instances of this issue should be reviewed for spelling mistakes and typos. An attacker could be controlling the domains the application intends to connect to.
Prevalence in PowerShell Gallery community
2 packages
found in
Top 100
3 packages
found in
Top 1k
7 packages
found in
Top 10k
21 packages
in community
Next steps
Investigate reported detections.
If the software should not include these network references, investigate your build and release environment for software supply chain compromise.
You should delay the software release until the investigation is completed, or until the issue is risk accepted.
Remove all references to flagged network locations.
Problem
Operating systems allow multiple user accounts to coexist on a single computer system. Each registered user has identity information associated with their account. At the very least, user accounts consist of a user name and an optional password. In some cases, user account data may also include personally identifiable information. Extended personal information may include user's given and last name, their email and mailing address, personal photo and their telephone number. Financially motivated attackers may seek to collect personal information for purposes of selling the private data to a third-party. Malicious code that typically exhibits these behavior traits is commonly referred to as an information stealer. While the presence of code that accesses identity information does not necessarily imply malicious intent, all of its uses in a software package should be documented and approved. Accessing identity information is a very common behavior for software packages. One example of acceptable use for such functions is verifying that the active user has purchased a software license that allows them to run the application.
Prevalence in PowerShell Gallery community
9 packages
found in
Top 100
176 packages
found in
Top 1k
972 packages
found in
Top 10k
1.9k packages
in community
Next steps
Investigate reported detections as indicators of software tampering.
Consult Mitre ATT&CK documentation: T1033 - System Owner/User Discovery.