Close
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Cloud
    • Cloud
    • Cybersecurity

    PureSec Discloses Vulnerabilities in OpenWhisk Serverless Runtime

    By
    Sean Michael Kerner
    -
    July 24, 2018
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin
      PureSec OpenWhisk Vulnerabilities

      PureSec disclosed on July 24 that it reported a pair of vulnerabilities in the Apache OpenWhisk serverless runtime that potentially could have left users at risk.

      Apache OpenWhisk is an open-source project that serves as the basis for the IBM Cloud Functions service as well. The two flaws—CVE-2018-11756 and CVE-2018-11757—could have enabled a remote attacker to overwrite the source code of a vulnerable function. OpenWhisk has patched the issues, and IBM is downplaying the overall risk.

      “After this very low-risk vulnerability was reported to the Apache open community, IBM updated our code within a week to prevent this minor flaw from impacting users of OpenWhisk,” Michael Behrendt, IBM Distinguished Engineer, IBM Cloud Functions, told eWEEK. “This quick response reflects the many benefits of building and operating technology in the open community, as improvements can be found and vulnerabilities corrected rapidly.”

      OpenWhisk is a serverless technology that is also sometimes referred to as functions-as-a-service, or event-driven programming. In a serverless model, programmatic code, or “functions,” are executed on ephemeral containers that only exist to serve a given function. Other popular serverless platforms include AWS Lambda and Google Cloud Functions. Ory Segal, founder and CTO of PureSec, said his company is in the process of conducting a comparative analysis review of all popular serverless platforms.

      “One of the issues we wanted to check was the isolation capabilities, as well as the immutability, or lack thereof, of function code,” Segal told eWEEK.

      Of particular note, Segal warned that prior to the patch being made to OpenWhisk, an unauthenticated end user could have exploited the vulnerabilities his firm discovered. That said, there is no indication that OpenWhisk was ever exploited by attackers using those vulnerabilities, he added.

      “Serverless security research and exploitation techniques are pretty cutting edge, and PureSec is definitely pioneering in this field,” Segal said. “We haven’t seen anything remotely relevant on the internet and on the dark web, which we monitor constantly.”

      PureSec announced the general availability of its serverless security platform on July 19. The platform includes static analysis algorithms to analyze functions during the development phase and a serverless applications firewall to control the perimeter of functions once invoked. There are other vendors that provide serverless security scanning, including Twistlock, which announced its serverless capabilities on June 19.

      The team at PureSec believes that serverless is the future of cloud computing, bringing benefits for developers and operators, Segal said.

      “When it comes to security, there are massive benefits to serverless over more traditional architectures,” he said. “The fact that functions are ephemeral, and don’t stay around for a long time, also reduces the ability to use their infrastructure for long-running malicious activities.”

      That said, Segal emphasized that serverless is not a panacea for application security. Developers are still responsible for building robust and secure serverless applications.

      “A vulnerable serverless application can still be abused and exploited, just like any other application,” he said. “The main difference is that you cannot use any of the traditional application security solutions such as WAFs or RASP, which is why we founded PureSec.” 

      Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at eWEEK and InternetNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.

      Sean Michael Kerner
      Sean Michael Kerner is an Internet consultant, strategist, and contributor to several leading IT business web sites.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.
      Get the Free Newsletter!
      Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis
      This email address is invalid.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Latest News

      Zeus Kerravala on Networking: Multicloud, 5G, and...

      James Maguire - December 16, 2022 0
      I spoke with Zeus Kerravala, industry analyst at ZK Research, about the rapid changes in enterprise networking, as tech advances and digital transformation prompt...
      Read more
      Applications

      Datadog President Amit Agarwal on Trends in...

      James Maguire - November 11, 2022 0
      I spoke with Amit Agarwal, President of Datadog, about infrastructure observability, from current trends to key challenges to the future of this rapidly growing...
      Read more
      Applications

      Kyndryl’s Nicolas Sekkaki on Handling AI and...

      James Maguire - November 9, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nicolas Sekkaki, Group Practice Leader for Applications, Data and AI at Kyndryl, about how companies can boost both their AI and...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      IT Management

      Intuit’s Nhung Ho on AI for the...

      James Maguire - May 13, 2022 0
      I spoke with Nhung Ho, Vice President of AI at Intuit, about adoption of AI in the small and medium-sized business market, and how...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×