OpenSource Security Foundation: Funding, Vetting, and Oversight for Critical Dependencies
Description
Establish an OpenSource Security Foundation (OSSF) — a multilateral initiative capitalized by tech companies, governments, and philanthropies — that provides funding, security auditing, and oversight for the most critical open-source packages on which global infrastructure depends. js, Java, Rust, Go). Provide comprehensive security funding and staffing for these packages.
(2) Security Audit and Maintenance Fund: $500M annual budget providing grants to maintainers of critical packages for security work — hiring security engineers, conducting code reviews, implementing CI/CD security testing, conducting regular audits. Direct payment for security labor, not indirect grants.
(3) Vulnerability Disclosure and Patch Coordination: OSSF operates a coordinated vulnerability disclosure system where vulnerabilities in critical packages are reported to OSSF, who coordinates disclosure and patch deployment across dependent applications. Modeled on the coordination model used for Linux kernel vulnerabilities.
Implementation Pathway
Phase 1 (2025–2026)
- • Tech companies (Microsoft, Google, Apple, Meta, Amazon) commit $100M/year each ($500M total)
- • Dependency Triage identifies critical 1,000 packages
- • OSSF Security Fund begins disbursements to maintainers
Phase 2 (2026–2028)
- • Funding reaches $1B/year from expanded donor base
- • Vulnerability disclosure system operational
- • Security audits completed on 100% of critical packages
Phase 3 (2028+)
- • OSSF becomes standard for open-source security governance
- • Supply chain vulnerability exploitation rate declines 50%+
- • Maintainers across ecosystem have adequate resources for security work
Required Resources
Impact Analysis
Overall Net Impact
Combined analysis across all timeframes
Short-term
0-2 years
No benefits identified
No harms identified
Mid-term
3-10 years
No benefits identified
No harms identified
Long-term
10+ years
No benefits identified
No harms identified
