Risks on Kosli's Software Development Lifecycle

Description #

Supply Chain Compromise encompasses attacks where malicious code or vulnerabilities are introduced through external components that an organisation trusts and uses in its software delivery pipeline. Unlike direct attacks on an organisation’s own systems, supply chain attacks exploit the inherent trust placed in third-party software, making them particularly difficult to detect. A single compromised upstream component can propagate malicious code to thousands of downstream consumers before the compromise is discovered.

Insider Threat

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Insider Threat #

Risk ID: SDLC-RISK-0002

Authorized personnel (developers, contractors, administrators, or other trusted users) with legitimate access to source code repositories, development environments, production systems, or sensitive data may intentionally or unintentionally compromise the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of software assets.

Mapped Controls

Artifact Binary Provenance

Description #

Insider Threat includes risks of malicious code injection, unauthorized data exfiltration, credential misuse, sabotage of build/deployment pipelines, or negligent security practices that expose systems to exploitation. Additionally, insider threat encompasses scenarios where external attackers have compromised the credentials of legitimate users, enabling them to conduct attacks while masquerading as trusted personnel with valid access. The trusted position and technical knowledge of insiders—or attackers leveraging insider credentials—makes detection difficult and potential impact significant.

Unauthorised Deployment

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Unauthorised Deployment #

Risk ID: SDLC-RISK-0003

Software is deployed to production without passing required quality gates, security scans, or approval checks.

Mapped Controls

SDLC-CTRL-0010:

Deployment Approvals

SDLC-CTRL-0002:

SDLC-CTRL-0013:

Deployment Controls

Description #

Unauthorised Deployment occurs when software artefacts reach production environments without completing the required quality gates, security validations, or approval workflows. This can happen through misconfigured CI/CD pipelines, direct manual deployments that bypass automated controls, or exploitation of overly permissive deployment credentials. The risk is compounded in environments where deployment tooling lacks sufficient access controls or where emergency “break-glass” procedures are poorly governed and frequently abused.

Credential and Secret Exposure

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Credential and Secret Exposure #

Risk ID: SDLC-RISK-0004

Leaked or poorly managed secrets enable unauthorised access to production systems, customer data, or CI/CD pipelines.

Mapped Controls

Vulnerability Scanning — SAST

Description #

Credential and Secret Exposure occurs when sensitive authentication material—such as API keys, database passwords, service account tokens, encryption keys, or certificates—is inadvertently or deliberately exposed in locations where it can be accessed by unauthorised parties. This commonly happens through secrets committed to version control repositories, hardcoded credentials in application code, secrets leaked in CI/CD logs and artifacts, or credentials stored in insufficiently protected configuration management systems. Once exposed, credentials can be harvested by attackers and used to gain unauthorised access to production systems, customer data, and internal infrastructure.

Vulnerable Software in Production

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Vulnerable Software in Production #

Risk ID: SDLC-RISK-0005

Known vulnerabilities in code or dependencies are exploited in the production environment.

Mapped Controls

SDLC-CTRL-0020:

SDLC-CTRL-0021:

Vulnerability Scanning — SCA

SDLC-CTRL-0022:

Vulnerability Scanning — Containers

SDLC-CTRL-0004:

Dependency Management

Artifact Binary Provenance

Description #

Vulnerable Software in Production occurs when applications or their dependencies containing known security vulnerabilities are deployed to and remain running in production environments. This risk arises from inadequate vulnerability scanning during the build and release process, failure to keep dependencies up to date, delayed patching of known CVEs, or insufficient visibility into the software composition of running workloads. Attackers actively scan for known vulnerabilities and can exploit them rapidly once public disclosures are made, making timely detection and remediation critical.

Audit and Compliance Failure

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Audit and Compliance Failure #

Risk ID: SDLC-RISK-0006

Inability to provide evidence of controls to regulators, auditors, or enterprise customers, resulting in reputational or commercial damage.

Mapped Controls

SDLC-CTRL-0002:

Description #

Audit and Compliance Failure occurs when an organisation cannot produce sufficient evidence that its software development and operational controls are functioning as intended. This risk is not about the absence of controls themselves, but about the inability to demonstrate their existence and effectiveness to regulators, auditors, or enterprise customers. It arises from gaps in record-keeping, inconsistent control enforcement, lack of traceability between changes and approvals, or reliance on manual processes that leave insufficient audit trails. In regulated industries, the burden of proof lies with the organisation—controls that cannot be evidenced are treated as controls that do not exist.

Unauthorised System Access

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Unauthorised System Access #

Risk ID: SDLC-RISK-0007

Production environments are accessed by personnel without appropriate authorisation or without full audit trails.

Mapped Controls

SDLC-CTRL-0015:

Infrastructure and Configuration as Code

SDLC-CTRL-0014:

Secrets Management

Description #

Unauthorised System Access occurs when individuals gain access to production environments, infrastructure, or sensitive systems without appropriate authorisation or without their access being fully recorded and auditable. This includes scenarios where access controls are too broad, where former employees or contractors retain active credentials, where shared accounts obscure individual accountability, or where privileged access is granted without time-bound restrictions or proper justification. The risk extends to both external attackers who exploit weak access controls and internal personnel whose access exceeds their legitimate operational needs.

Configuration Drift

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Configuration Drift #

Risk ID: SDLC-RISK-0008

Infrastructure or application configuration diverges from its known, approved state, causing undetected changes in security posture or behaviour.

Mapped Controls

SDLC-CTRL-0005:

Description #

Configuration Drift occurs when the actual state of infrastructure, application configuration, or deployment environments diverges from the known, approved, and version-controlled state. This divergence can result from manual changes applied directly to production systems, emergency fixes that are never reconciled with the source of truth, inconsistent configuration management practices, or failures in infrastructure-as-code pipelines. Configuration drift is particularly insidious because changes accumulate silently over time, creating a growing gap between what the organisation believes is running and what is actually deployed. This gap undermines security controls, complicates incident response, and erodes confidence in the environment’s integrity.

Environment Breach

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Environment Breach #

Risk ID: SDLC-RISK-0009

External attacker running workloads in our system.

Mapped Controls

SDLC-CTRL-0019:

Penetration Testing

SDLC-CTRL-0015: