Enterprise Linux users are increasingly at risk from software vulnerabilities. This is especially true given the widespread use of open-source software in Linux applications as well as commercial software.
Live kernel patches reduce the need for organizations shut down servers, restart systems, or schedule disruptive service windows. Although these challenges are important, live kernel patching provides a practical way to reduce downtime while improving operational efficiency.
The problem of keeping up to date with the security patches for newly discovered and known software vulnerabilities, in addition to applying kernel patches is becoming more serious on all platforms. This is a critical process, given the integration of open source code in Linux applications as well as commercial software.
According to Endor Labs’ In the September Dependency Management Report, it was revealed that security patches had a 75% risk of breaking an app. It highlights the dangers of open-source security trends and their dependencies. Linux is widely used to run backend servers and apps in organizations across all industries.
Researchers have noted that these operations require better security strategies for the software development lifecycle. Researchers found that public databases of advisory information are not enough to manage open-source dependencies. It is either not done or pushed off forever. According to studies, there is a delay of up to 25 days between the public release of a patch and its publication.
“The patching processes is very disruptive. You have to stop the service or shut down the entire system to update something. It is a problem if anything visible is seen by the end-user. “It requires scheduling, acceptance from all stakeholders, and everyone signing off that it is at the right timing,” JoaoCorreia at TuxCareLinuxInsider quoted.
TuxCare provides automated enterprise Linux security patches with no downtime or reboots required. KernelCare supports multiple Linux distributions that are commonly used by organizations.
Software is insecure due to resistance to change
Correia says that live patching was first developed in 2006. Oracle, Red Hat and other commercial Linux server distributions are examples of live patching strategies. CanonicalUbuntu’s live patching service is their own.
He said that while organizations are great at adopting the latest technologies, they’re not as good at updating their software patching procedures. IT still patches software the same way it has for 30 years.
He warned that the approach was wrong. The architecture and technology of our stacks are completely different. He said that he was tired of traditional patching being pushed into everything.
The real issue is not live patching. The real challenge is to change people’s attitudes towards live patching. “It is proven to work,” Correia said.
Results Support Wider Live Patching Adoption
The Endor Labs’ report confirms his belief that live patches should be more widely adopted. As an example, in six ecosystems 47% of the advisories contained in public vulnerability database do not provide code-level information. This information is essential for organizations in order to know if their applications contain known vulnerabilities.
In the Python ecosystem, for example, updating the top twenty open-source components in order to make them non-vulnerable would eliminate more than 75% all vulnerabilities. Java would be affected by 60% of all vulnerabilities.
Node Package Manager, or NPM, is an open source repository of tools that engineers use for developing applications and websites. It would eliminate 44% of vulnerabilities. Phantom dependencies that are invisible to tools of security account for 56% library vulnerabilities.
Researchers at Endor Lab also discovered that 95% open-source version upgrades can break applications.
Need urgent adoption of live patching
Correia said that live patching fixes these issues, and much more. It is also proven to secure systems faster than traditional patches.
“It’s not disruptive, but there’s still this unwillingness of people to change their methodology because they fear it will affect them. It will have a positive impact. “You don’t need maintenance windows any more,” he said.
In some quarters, even IT experts are hesitant — or prevented — from adopting live patching. It is a different process from what IT professionals have been taught and done for many years.
“How did you overcome it? We try to shout out every day from the highest hills we can find. “It has to be education”, he said.
Correia’s frustration is caused by the security breaches that are unnecessarily occurring because live patching has not been universally implemented. The problem of an unpatched security vulnerability that affects millions of servers around the world could have been fixed or prevented within 3 or 4 minutes after it was made public.
“You could have applied the patches, updating your system within minutes of this being disclosed. So none of your systems had to be affected.” “You didn’t need to be affected by it,” Correia said.
This problem is a concern for all computer levels, but it should be noted that the government and academic sectors are particularly vulnerable. The U.S. Government has now implemented stricter security guidelines for government agencies.
In academia, clever students and employees love to test and breach campus systems. Correia has worked as a system administrator in universities for years and knows this first-hand. There are also compliance requirements for other industries.
TuxCare’s Live Patching Process
TuxCare’s four-step live patching process begins by monitoring for announcements of new Linux kernel vulnerabilities:
- It is necessary to create a patch that replaces the kernel code.
- The replacement code is then compiled, and prepared to be deployed through TuxCare’s servers.
- KernelCare checks for new updates on the client/server every four hours unless you manually initiate it.
- The patch has been applied. Automated detection and installation is possible. The KCE kernel module stops all processes and loads the binary update into the secure kernel area. It then redirects all functions towards the updated code.
“Most fixes are straightforward. It could be a simple mistake or an oversight in the balance check, or it could be a variable that was used after it had been released. “Correia explained that basic issues can be easily fixed with just a few lines of code.
TuxCare code engineers search for differences both before and after the fix has been deployed. They then compare those differences with other Linux server distributions that have the same configurations.
Live patching for servers vs. Desktops
Correia stated that live kernel patches on Linux web servers are very different from a consumer-end live patch for desktop Linux distributions. The key distinction is that live patches are critical for maintaining uptime and security in web server environments.
Linux desktops are updated regularly with security patches and other system updates. This can be done on a regular basis, or on a roll-out schedule depending on the distribution. Some distributions, such as Ubuntu and Linux Mint provide kernel updates without having to wait for a new release.
Rebooting desktops to update software is not an issue in server environments. Desktop reboots usually take a couple of minutes to complete, which minimizes disruption.
“There’s a difference between an upgrade and a fix.” Updates are a minor, newer version of the package. It can include bug fixes, performance enhancements, new features and edits to the command line.
A patch is an incomplete snippet that fixes a security vulnerability in an existing version. These patches are designed to fix vulnerabilities quickly, without causing any latency. This allows the current implementation to run more safely and administrators to delay rebooting the system until the next maintenance window.