Red Teaming the Software Supply Chain – A Deep Dive into DevSecOps Security

Software supply chain attacks have become a critical concern in cybersecurity, with attackers targeting vulnerabilities in dependencies, build processes, and deployment pipelines. Paul McCarty’s training at AUSCERT highlights the importance of red teaming these systems to identify weaknesses before malicious actors exploit them.

You Should Know:

1. Understanding Software Supply Chain Risks

• Dependency Vulnerabilities: Attackers inject malicious code into open-source libraries.
• Build System Compromise: CI/CD pipelines can be hijacked to distribute tainted artifacts.
• Deployment Tampering: Malicious actors modify deployment scripts to insert backdoors.

2. Essential Commands & Tools for Red Teaming

Linux/DevSecOps Commands

• Dependency Scanning:

  Scan for vulnerable dependencies using OWASP Dependency-Check 
  dependency-check --scan /path/to/project --out /path/to/report 
  

• SBOM (Software Bill of Materials) Generation:

  Generate SBOM with Syft 
  syft packages alpine:latest -o json > sbom.json 
  

• CI/CD Pipeline Security Checks:

  Check for misconfigurations in GitHub Actions 
  grep -r "actions/checkout@" .github/workflows/ 
  

Windows-Specific Checks

• Detecting Suspicious DLLs:

  List loaded DLLs in a process 
  Get-Process | Select-Object -ExpandProperty Modules | Where-Object {$_.ModuleName -like "suspicious"} 
  

• Auditing PowerShell Script Execution:

  Check PowerShell script block logging 
  Get-WinEvent -LogName "Microsoft-Windows-PowerShell/Operational" | Where-Object {$_.Id -eq 4104} 
  

3. Mitigation Strategies

• Enforce Code Signing:

  Verify GPG-signed commits in Git 
  git verify-commit HEAD 
  

• Implement SLSA (Supply-chain Levels for Software Artifacts):

  Verify artifact provenance with in-toto 
  in-toto-verify --layout root.layout --link-dir links 
  

4. Training & Further Learning

• AUSCERT Registration: https://lnkd.in/gBqRkMNA
• OWASP Supply Chain Security: https://owasp.org/www-project-supply-chain-security/

What Undercode Say:

Red teaming the software supply chain is no longer optional—it’s a necessity. Attackers are evolving, and so must our defenses. By integrating automated dependency checks, SBOM generation, and strict CI/CD controls, organizations can mitigate risks before they escalate. The future of DevSecOps lies in proactive threat modeling, zero-trust pipelines, and immutable deployments.

Prediction:

As AI-driven code generation (e.g., GitHub Copilot) becomes mainstream, supply chain attacks will increasingly exploit AI-generated dependencies. Organizations must adopt stricter verification mechanisms to counter this emerging threat.

Expected Output:

• A hardened CI/CD pipeline with automated security checks.
• Regular red team exercises to uncover supply chain weaknesses.
• Adoption of SLSA and in-toto for verifiable builds.

References:

Reported By: Mccartypaul Ill – Hackers Feeds
Extra Hub: Undercode MoN
Basic Verification: Pass ✅

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