Security Scorecards

Overview

• What Is Scorecards?
• Prominent Scorecards Users

Using Scorecards

• Prerequisites
• Installation
• Authentication
• Basic Usage
• Report Problems
• Scorecards' Public Data

Checks

• Default Scorecards Checks
• Detailed Check Documentation (Scoring Criteria, Risks, and Remediation)

Contribute

• Code of Conduct
• Contribute to Scorecards
• Add a New Check
• Connect with the Scorecards Community
• Report a Security Issue

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Overview

What is Scorecards?

We created Scorecards to give consumers of open-source projects an easy way to judge whether their dependencies are safe.

Scorecards is an automated tool that assesses a number of important heuristics ("checks") associated with software security and assigns each check a score of 0-10. You can use these scores to understand specific areas to improve in order to strengthen the security posture of your project. You can also assess the risks that dependencies introduce, and make informed decisions about accepting these risks, evaluating alternative solutions, or working with the maintainers to make improvements.

The inspiration for Scorecards’ logo: "You passed! All D's ... and an A!"

Project Goals

1. Automate analysis and trust decisions on the security posture of open source projects.

2. Use this data to proactively improve the security posture of the critical projects the world depends on.

Prominent Scorecards Users

Scorecards has been run on thousands of projects to monitor and track security metrics. Prominent projects that use Scorecards include:

• sos.dev
• deps.dev
• metrics.openssf.org

Using Scorecards

Prerequisites

Platforms: Currently, Scorecards supports OSX and Linux platforms. If you are using a Windows OS you may experience issues. Contributions towards supporting Windows are welcome.

Language: You must have GoLang installed to run Scorecards (https://golang.org/doc/install)

Installation

Standalone

To install Scorecards as a standalone:

1. Visit our latest release page and download the correct binary for your operating system
2. Extract the binary file
3. Add the binary to your GOPATH/bin directory (use go env GOPATH to identify your directory if necessary)

Using Homebrew

You can use Homebrew (on macOS or Linux) to install Scorecards.

brew install scorecard

Using Linux package managers

Package Manager	Linux Distribution	Command
Nix	NixOS	nix-env -iA nixpkgs.scorecard
AUR helper	Arch Linux	Use your AUR helper to install scorecard

Authentication

GitHub imposes api rate limits on unauthenticated requests. To avoid these limits, you must authenticate your requests before running Scorecard. There are two ways to authenticate your requests: either create a GitHub personal access token, or create a GitHub App Installation.

• Create a GitHub personal access token. When creating the personal access token, we suggest you choose the public_repo scope. Set the token in an environment variable called GITHUB_AUTH_TOKEN, GITHUB_TOKEN, GH_AUTH_TOKEN or GH_TOKEN using the commands below according to your platform.

# For posix platforms, e.g. linux, mac:
export GITHUB_AUTH_TOKEN=<your access token>
# Multiple tokens can be provided separated by comma to be utilized
# in a round robin fashion.
export GITHUB_AUTH_TOKEN=<your access token1>,<your access token2>

# For windows:
set GITHUB_AUTH_TOKEN=<your access token>
set GITHUB_AUTH_TOKEN=<your access token1>,<your access token2>

OR

• Create a GitHub App Installation for higher rate-limit quotas. If you have an installed GitHub App and key file, you can use the three environment variables below, following the commands (set or export) shown above for your platform.

GITHUB_APP_KEY_PATH=<path to the key file on disk>
GITHUB_APP_INSTALLATION_ID=<installation id>
GITHUB_APP_ID=<app id>

These variables can be obtained from the GitHub developer settings page.

Basic Usage

Docker

scorecard is available as a Docker container:

The GITHUB_AUTH_TOKEN has to be set to a valid token

docker run -e GITHUB_AUTH_TOKEN=token gcr.io/openssf/scorecard:stable --show-details --repo=https://github.com/ossf/scorecard

Using repository URL

Scorecards can run using just one argument, the URL of the target repo:

$ scorecard --repo=github.com/ossf-tests/scorecard-check-branch-protection-e2e
Starting [CII-Best-Practices]
Starting [Fuzzing]
Starting [Pinned-Dependencies]
Starting [CI-Tests]
Starting [Maintained]
Starting [Packaging]
Starting [SAST]
Starting [Dependency-Update-Tool]
Starting [Token-Permissions]
Starting [Security-Policy]
Starting [Signed-Releases]
Starting [Binary-Artifacts]
Starting [Branch-Protection]
Starting [Code-Review]
Starting [Contributors]
Starting [Vulnerabilities]
Finished [CI-Tests]
Finished [Maintained]
Finished [Packaging]
Finished [SAST]
Finished [Signed-Releases]
Finished [Binary-Artifacts]
Finished [Branch-Protection]
Finished [Code-Review]
Finished [Contributors]
Finished [Dependency-Update-Tool]
Finished [Token-Permissions]
Finished [Security-Policy]
Finished [Vulnerabilities]
Finished [CII-Best-Practices]
Finished [Fuzzing]
Finished [Pinned-Dependencies]

RESULTS
-------
Aggregate score: 7.9 / 10

Check scores:
|---------|------------------------|--------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  SCORE  |          NAME          |             REASON             |                         DOCUMENTATION/REMEDIATION                         |
|---------|------------------------|--------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 10 / 10 | Binary-Artifacts       | no binaries found in the repo  | github.com/ossf/scorecard/blob/main/docs/checks.md#binary-artifacts       |
|---------|------------------------|--------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 9 / 10  | Branch-Protection      | branch protection is not       | github.com/ossf/scorecard/blob/main/docs/checks.md#branch-protection      |
|         |                        | maximal on development and all |                                                                           |
|         |                        | release branches               |                                                                           |
|---------|------------------------|--------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| ?       | CI-Tests               | no pull request found          | github.com/ossf/scorecard/blob/main/docs/checks.md#ci-tests               |
|---------|------------------------|--------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 0 / 10  | CII-Best-Practices     | no badge found                 | github.com/ossf/scorecard/blob/main/docs/checks.md#cii-best-practices     |
|---------|------------------------|--------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 10 / 10 | Code-Review            | branch protection for default  | github.com/ossf/scorecard/blob/main/docs/checks.md#code-review            |
|         |                        | branch is enabled              |                                                                           |
|---------|------------------------|--------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 0 / 10  | Contributors           | 0 different companies found -- | github.com/ossf/scorecard/blob/main/docs/checks.md#contributors           |
|         |                        | score normalized to 0          |                                                                           |
|---------|------------------------|--------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 0 / 10  | Dependency-Update-Tool | no update tool detected        | github.com/ossf/scorecard/blob/main/docs/checks.md#dependency-update-tool |
|---------|------------------------|--------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 0 / 10  | Fuzzing                | project is not fuzzed in       | github.com/ossf/scorecard/blob/main/docs/checks.md#fuzzing                |
|         |                        | OSS-Fuzz                       |                                                                           |
|---------|------------------------|--------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1 / 10  | Maintained             | 2 commit(s) found in the last  | github.com/ossf/scorecard/blob/main/docs/checks.md#maintained             |
|         |                        | 90 days -- score normalized to |                                                                           |
|         |                        | 1                              |                                                                           |
|---------|------------------------|--------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| ?       | Packaging              | no published package detected  | github.com/ossf/scorecard/blob/main/docs/checks.md#packaging              |
|---------|------------------------|--------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 8 / 10  | Pinned-Dependencies    | unpinned dependencies detected | github.com/ossf/scorecard/blob/main/docs/checks.md#pinned-dependencies    |
|         |                        | -- score normalized to 8       |                                                                           |
|---------|------------------------|--------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 0 / 10  | SAST                   | no SAST tool detected          | github.com/ossf/scorecard/blob/main/docs/checks.md#sast                   |
|---------|------------------------|--------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 0 / 10  | Security-Policy        | security policy file not       | github.com/ossf/scorecard/blob/main/docs/checks.md#security-policy        |
|         |                        | detected                       |                                                                           |
|---------|------------------------|--------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| ?       | Signed-Releases        | no releases found              | github.com/ossf/scorecard/blob/main/docs/checks.md#signed-releases        |
|---------|------------------------|--------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 10 / 10 | Token-Permissions      | tokens are read-only in GitHub | github.com/ossf/scorecard/blob/main/docs/checks.md#token-permissions      |
|         |                        | workflows                      |                                                                           |
|---------|------------------------|--------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 10 / 10 | Vulnerabilities        | no vulnerabilities detected    | github.com/ossf/scorecard/blob/main/docs/checks.md#vulnerabilities        |
|---------|------------------------|--------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Scoring

Each individual check returns a score of 0 to 10, with 10 representing the best possible score. Scorecards also produces an aggregate score, which is a weight-based average of the individual checks weighted by risk.

• “Critical” risk checks are weighted at 10
• “High” risk checks are weighted at 7.5
• “Medium” risk checks are weighted at 5
• “Low” risk checks are weighted at 2.5

Tests that are rated as “Critical” risk are:

• Dangerous-Workflow

Tests that are rated as “High” risk are:

• Maintained
• Dependency-Update-Tool
• Binary-Artifacts
• Branch-Protection
• Code-Review
• Signed-Releases
• Token-Permissions
• Vulnerabilities

Tests that are rated as “Medium” risk are:

• Fuzzing
• Packaging
• Pinned-Dependencies
• SAST
• Security-Policy

Tests that are rated as “Low” risk are:

• CI-Tests
• CII-Best-Practices
• Contributors
• License

Showing Detailed Results

For more details about why a check fails, use the --show-details option:

./scorecard --repo=github.com/ossf-tests/scorecard-check-branch-protection-e2e --checks Branch-Protection --show-details
Starting [Pinned-Dependencies]
Finished [Pinned-Dependencies]

RESULTS
-------
|---------|------------------------|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|  SCORE  |          NAME          |             REASON             |            DETAILS             |                         DOCUMENTATION/REMEDIATION                         |
|---------|------------------------|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 9 / 10  | Branch-Protection      | branch protection is not       | Info: 'force pushes' disabled  | github.com/ossf/scorecard/blob/main/docs/checks.md#branch-protection      |
|         |                        | maximal on development and all | on branch 'main' Info: 'allow  |                                                                           |
|         |                        | release branches               | deletion' disabled on branch   |                                                                           |
|         |                        |                                | 'main' Info: linear history    |                                                                           |
|         |                        |                                | enabled on branch 'main' Info: |                                                                           |
|         |                        |                                | strict status check enabled    |                                                                           |
|         |                        |                                | on branch 'main' Warn: status  |                                                                           |
|         |                        |                                | checks for merging have no     |                                                                           |
|         |                        |                                | specific status to check on    |                                                                           |
|         |                        |                                | branch 'main' Info: number     |                                                                           |
|         |                        |                                | of required reviewers is 2     |                                                                           |
|         |                        |                                | on branch 'main' Info: Stale   |                                                                           |
|         |                        |                                | review dismissal enabled on    |                                                                           |
|         |                        |                                | branch 'main' Info: Owner      |                                                                           |
|         |                        |                                | review required on branch      |                                                                           |
|         |                        |                                | 'main' Info: 'admininistrator' |                                                                           |
|         |                        |                                | PRs need reviews before being  |                                                                           |
|         |                        |                                | merged on branch 'main'        |                                                                           |
|---------|------------------------|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Using a Package manager

For projects in the --npm, --pypi, or --rubygems ecosystems, you have the option to run Scorecards using a package manager. Provide the package name to run the checks on the corresponding GitHub source code.

For example, --npm=angular.

Running specific checks

To run only specific check(s), add the --checks argument with a list of check names.

For example, --checks=CI-Tests,Code-Review.

Formatting Results

There are three formats currently: default, json, and csv. Others may be added in the future.

These may be specified with the --format flag. For example, --format=json.

Report Problems

If you have what looks like a bug, please use the Github issue tracking system. Before you file an issue, please search existing issues to see if your issue is already covered.

Public Data

If you're interested in seeing a list of projects with their Scorecard check results, we publish these results in a BigQuery public dataset.

This data is available in the public BigQuery dataset openssf:scorecardcron.scorecard-v2. The latest results are available in the BigQuery view openssf:scorecardcron.scorecard-v2_latest.

You can extract the latest results to Google Cloud storage in JSON format using the bq tool:

# Get the latest PARTITION_ID
bq query --nouse_legacy_sql 'SELECT partition_id FROM
openssf.scorecardcron.INFORMATION_SCHEMA.PARTITIONS WHERE table_name="scorecard-v2"
ORDER BY partition_id DESC
LIMIT 1'

# Extract to GCS
bq extract --destination_format=NEWLINE_DELIMITED_JSON
'openssf:scorecardcron.scorecard-v2$<partition_id>' gs://bucket-name/filename.json

The list of projects that are checked is available in the cron/data/projects.csv file in this repository. If you would like us to track more, please feel free to send a Pull Request with others. Currently, this list is derived from projects hosted on GitHub ONLY. We do plan to expand them in near future to account for projects hosted on other source control systems.

NOTE: The public dataset uses a Pass/Fail scoring system with a confidence score between 0 and 10. A confidence of 0 indicates that the check was unable to achieve any real signal, and that the result should be ignored. A confidence of 10 indicates the check was completely sure of the result.

Checks

Scorecard Checks

The following checks are all run against the target project by default:

Name	Description
Binary-Artifacts	Is the project free of checked-in binaries?
Branch-Protection	Does the project use Branch Protection ?
CI-Tests	Does the project run tests in CI, e.g. GitHub Actions, Prow?
CII-Best-Practices	Does the project have a CII Best Practices Badge?
Code-Review	Does the project require code review before code is merged?
Contributors	Does the project have contributors from at least two different organizations?
Dangerous-Workflow	Does the project avoid dangerous coding patterns in GitHub Action workflows?
Dependency-Update-Tool	Does the project use tools to help update its dependencies?
Fuzzing	Does the project use fuzzing tools, e.g. OSS-Fuzz?
License	Does the project declare a license?
Maintained	Is the project maintained?
Pinned-Dependencies	Does the project declare and pin dependencies?
Packaging	Does the project build and publish official packages from CI/CD, e.g. GitHub Publishing ?
SAST	Does the project use static code analysis tools, e.g. CodeQL, LGTM, SonarCloud?
Security-Policy	Does the project contain a security policy?
Signed-Releases	Does the project cryptographically sign releases?
Token-Permissions	Does the project declare GitHub workflow tokens as read only?
Vulnerabilities	Does the project have unfixed vulnerabilities? Uses the OSV service.

Detailed Checks Documentation

To see detailed information about each check, its scoring criteria, and remediation steps, check out the checks documentation page.

Contribute

Code of Conduct

Before contributing, please follow our Code of Conduct.

Contribute to Scorecards

See the Contributing documentation for guidance on how to contribute to the project.

Adding a Scorecard Check

If you'd like to add a check, please see guidance here.

Connect with the Scorecards Community

If you want to get involved in the Scorecards community or have ideas you'd like to chat about, we discuss this project in the OSSF Best Practices Working Group meetings.

Artifact	Link
Scorecard Dev Forum	ossf-scorecard-dev@
Scorecard Announcements Forum	ossf-scorecard-announce@
Community Meeting VC	Link to z o o m meeting
Community Meeting Calendar	Biweekly mondays, 3:30pm-4:30pm PST Calendar
Meeting Notes	Notes
Slack Channel	#security_scorecards

	Facilitators	Company	Profile
	Azeem Shaik	Google	azeemshaikh38
	Laurent Simon	Google	laurentsimon
	Naveen Srinivasan		naveensrinivasan
	Chris McGehee	Datto	chrismcgehee

Report a Security Issue

To report a security issue, please follow instructions here.