The Attack of the Clones - A Study of the Impact of Shared Code on Vulnerability Patching

Explore a comprehensive analysis of vulnerability patching in client-side applications through this 20-minute IEEE conference talk. Delve into the impact of shared code on security, examining data collected over 5 years from 8.4 million hosts. Discover novel attack scenarios involving infrequently used application versions and shared libraries. Learn about patching rates across different applications, user types, and the influence of exploit releases. Gain insights into the vulnerability lifecycle, survival analysis techniques, and recommendations for improving patch deployment processes. Understand the challenges posed by multiple installations and shared libraries in popular client applications, and explore strategies to enhance overall cybersecurity.

Intro
Motivation
We need to be in the machine
Measuring vulnerability decay at-scale
Main Contributions
Vulnerability Lifecycle with Shared Code
What is shared code?
Attack Scenario Trigger the old version
Datasets
Approach
Survival Analysis
Patching Milestones (medians)
Shared Code Impact
User Type Impact
Exploit Impact
Recommendations
Conclusions
Questions