Better Call Saltzer & Schroeder: A Retrospective Security Analysis of SolarWinds & Log4j

11/04/2022

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by   Partha Das Chowdhury, et al.

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Saltzer & Schroeder's principles aim to bring security to the design of computer systems. We investigate SolarWinds Orion update and Log4j to unpack the intersections where observance of these principles could have mitigated the embedded vulnerabilities. The common principles that were not observed include fail safe defaults, economy of mechanism, complete mediation and least privilege. Then we explore the literature on secure software development interventions for developers to identify usable analysis tools and frameworks that can contribute towards improved observance of these principles. We focus on a system wide view of access of codes, checking access paths and aiding application developers with safe libraries along with an appropriate security task list for functionalities.