A recent discovery by Legit Security has brought to light a dependency confusion vulnerability in an archived Apache project, emphasizing the risks associated with overlooked third-party dependencies. This vulnerability, which pertains to archived and potentially neglected projects, allows for software supply chain attacks through dependency hijacking. The exploit is triggered when package managers mistakenly fetch a malicious package with a similar name from a public registry, instead of the intended private or local package. This situation underscores the need for rigorous scrutiny of third-party projects, especially those that are archived and not regularly updated with security patches.
The specific vulnerability was demonstrated by the Legit team in the “Cordova App Harness,” an archived project by Apache. By uploading a malicious package that shared a name with the archived project but with a higher version number, the Legit team was able to hijack the library, resulting in over 100 downloads of the malicious package within three days. This incident illustrates the potential security risks associated with the ongoing use of archived projects that may not receive regular updates and the importance of monitoring such dependencies closely.
Following the discovery, the Legit team reported the vulnerability to Apache on March 24, and the issue was acknowledged within a day. Apache accepted the suggested solution by Legit to release a public version of the private package, effectively preventing exploitation by attackers. This response highlights the critical role of timely communication and collaboration between security researchers and project maintainers in mitigating cybersecurity threats.
The Legit team also emphasized the need for organizations to adopt proactive security measures to mitigate the risks of dependency confusion. These measures include regular security scans, secure configuration of dependencies, replacing deprecated projects, developer education, and staying informed about emerging threats. By implementing these best practices, organizations can strengthen their security posture and protect their software ecosystems from potential breaches and vulnerabilities associated with dependency confusion and other similar exploits.
