Security Vulnerabilities in Software Supply Chain for Autonomous Vehicles

The interest in autonomous vehicles (AVs) for critical missions, including transportation, rescue, surveillance, reconnaissance, and mapping, is growing rapidly due to their significant safety and mobility benefits. AVs consist of complex software systems that leverage artificial intelligence (AI), sensor fusion algorithms, and real-time data processing. Additionally, AVs are becoming increasingly reliant on open-source software supply chains, such as open-source packages, third-party software components, AI models, and third-party datasets. Software security best practices in the automotive sector are often an afterthought for developers. Thus, significant cybersecurity risks exist in the software supply chain of AVs, particularly when secure software development practices are not rigorously implemented. For example, Upstream's 2024 Automotive Cybersecurity Report states that 49.5% of cyberattacks in the automotive sector are related to exploiting security vulnerabilities in software systems. In this chapter, we analyze security vulnerabilities in open-source software components in AVs. We utilize static analyzers on popular open-source AV software, such as Autoware, Apollo, and openpilot. Specifically, this chapter covers: (1) prevalent software security vulnerabilities of AVs; and (2) a comparison of static analyzer outputs for different open-source AV repositories. The goal is to inform researchers, practitioners, and policymakers about the existing security flaws in the commonplace open-source software ecosystem in the AV domain. The findings would emphasize the necessity of security best practices earlier in the software development lifecycle to reduce cybersecurity risks, thereby ensuring system reliability, safeguarding user data, and maintaining public trust in an increasingly automated world.