A groundbreaking analysis by Pebblebed has revealed a startling reality in open-source security: critical bugs in the Linux kernel often remain hidden for years. By tracking unique CVE identifiers against kernel releases, researchers found that the average bug survives undetected in the codebase for approximately two years.
Even more alarming is the longevity of these vulnerabilities. The data highlights that some bugs have managed to hide in the kernel for over two decades. While some of these long-standing bugs are relegated to legacy or unmaintained drivers, others reside in core, active subsystems, posing a significant risk to infrastructure stability.
The study suggests that these hidden flaws, known as technical debt, accumulate over time. Unlike physical debt, however, software vulnerabilities do not depreciate; they often become more dangerous as potential attack surfaces evolve. The findings underscore the immense difficulty of securing massive, monolithic codebases and the necessity of advanced, automated detection tools to identify these sleeping giants before they are exploited.
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