Trusted Build Environment Secure Log for Software Supply Chain
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Solution Overview
Problem
The complexity of the software build process makes it difficult to identify malicious attacks, such as injecting malicious source code or skipping verification steps, which often go unnoticed for extended periods.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a trusted build environment that generates a secure log at each stage of the build process, including measurements of tools, inputs, and actions, to produce a certificate of software origin that can be audited for security and integrity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a traditional build process is used, then the build process can be completed, but malicious attacks are hard to identify and remain unnoticed
Solution Approach 1:
A trusted log serves as an intermediary component that records and verifies all actions, tools, and measurements during the build process. This log acts as a mediator between the build process and security verification, providing a tamper-evident record that enables identification of malicious attacks without fundamentally changing the build process itself.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback by continuously recording build process actions in the trusted log and enabling verification against expected security policies. This feedback mechanism allows security issues to be detected and reported back, transforming the previously opaque build process into one with visible security status.
2Reliability
If verification steps are added to the build process, then security can be improved, but the build process becomes more complex and attacks are still hard to identify
Solution Approach 1:
The verification process is segmented into discrete, loggable actions that are individually recorded in the trusted log. Each build step, tool execution, and measurement is broken down into separate recordable events, making it easier to identify where malicious attacks occur without requiring complex holistic analysis.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual or complex analytical detection methods with automated measurement and logging mechanisms. Trusted measurements and cryptographic verification replace the need for complex human analysis of build processes, automatically detecting deviations and malicious activities.
3Loss of information
If measurements and logging are implemented throughout the build process, then security verification is enabled, but the build process complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The trusted log serves multiple functions simultaneously: it records build actions, stores measurements, provides verification data, and enables security policy checking. This multi-functional component reduces the need for separate systems for each function, thereby limiting the increase in overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of fundamentally transforming the build process, the system creates a parallel copy of the build process state in the trusted log. This copy contains all necessary information for verification without disrupting the original build flow, minimizing added complexity while preserving complete information.
Data Source
AI summary
A method comprises generating, during a software build process conducted in a trusted build environment, a trusted log comprising a plurality of records of actions performed during the software build process and a plurality of identifiers of tools used to perform the actions, aggregating the plurality of records of actions and the plurality of identifiers into a build certificate file, generating a digital signature to be applied to the build certificate, and publishing the build certificate in association with one or more build artifacts generated by the software build process.