Why Third-Party Software Is a Prime Target
When attackers seek out vulnerabilities in a system or network, third-party software is often the first place they look. Most successful attacks don’t need to rely on advanced zero-day exploits or complicated code hacking when they can target known vulnerabilities in common third-party software instead.
Common applications such as browsers, collaboration tools, and document readers are frequently targeted by attackers and used as entry points, so keeping them patched and secure is as important as any other security update. Yet too many patching tools only focus on operating systems and devices, leaving these applications vulnerable.
With that in mind, let’s explore how attackers exploit unpatched third-party software and how IT teams can stop them before they cause any damage. From there, it’s a race to see if the attackers can weaponize the vulnerabilities before patches can be deployed
What Counts as Third-Party Software
In this context, we’ll refer to any non-OS software as third-party software or applications. This includes programs and applications so commonplace that people don’t even think of them as “third-party,” so while niche tools may certainly qualify, they’re not the main targets attackers look for.
Common third-party software targets include:
Browsers and browser components, such as Chrome, Firefox, and Safari.
Collaboration and conferencing tools such as Slack, Confluence, and others.
PDF readers and document viewers, including Preview and Adobe Acrobat.
Compression tools and file utilities, such as WinZip and WinRAR.
Developer runtimes and frameworks, including Java, .NET, and Node.js.
Media players and plugins, such as iTunes, Windows Media Player, and VLC.
Why Attackers Prefer Third-Party Software
So, what makes these third-party applications such tempting targets? There are several factors that make them common attack vectors, including:
1. Widespread Installation
These third-party applications are commonplace and installed on nearly every endpoint in an organization, across multiple companies. If attackers exploit a software vulnerability, they can gain access to a vast number of devices across multiple organizations, providing plenty of easy targets.
2. Slower Patch Adoption
Third-party software updates are often delayed or ignored, especially when compared to OS patches. While companies may move quickly to patch zero-day vulnerabilities, smaller patch updates are frequently postponed, providing attackers with more time and opportunities to exploit software vulnerabilities and attack.
3. Inconsistent Ownership
Do you know who’s responsible for third-party patching in your company? Is it the user? The IT team? Is there even a patching policy in place? For many organizations, it can be unclear who is responsible for third-party patching, resulting in extended periods of an application going unpatched.
How Attackers Exploit Unpatched Third-Party Software
Once attackers find an unpatched third-party application, they can attack and exploit it in several ways. While the method and specifics will vary based on the software and vulnerability, there are some common methods that businesses, security teams, and employees must be aware of.
1. Exploiting Known Vulnerabilities
When a common vulnerability and exposure (CVE) is identified, cyberattackers will learn about it just as quickly as security teams. From there, it becomes a race between patch deployment and exploitation, and in many cases attackers succeed simply because patches are delayed, not because fixes are unavailable.
2. Phishing and Malicious File Delivery
Phishing and malicious files are common attacks. These send infected email attachments or links to employees, and all it takes is for one careless employee to open one to give the attackers a foot in the door to access and compromise an entire network. Employees must know how to prevent phishing and be trained in cybersecurity best practices to avoid and report these attacks.
3. Drive-By Downloads and Compromised Websites
Outdated browsers and plugins can leave devices vulnerable to silent attacks from compromised websites. In these cases, malicious software can be installed on an employee’s device without them realizing it, providing attackers with a point of entry.
4. Privilege Escalation and Lateral Movement
Once a third-party application is compromised, it can provide attackers with deeper access to a device, account, and company network. If access controls and privilege boundaries are weak or inconsistently enforced, attackers can use compromised credentials to move laterally across systems and applications.
Why These Attacks Are So Effective
While any cyberattack can be damaging if it gets through, unpatched third-party applications are often prime targets for attackers. These attacks can be particularly effective thanks to a variety of factors that make them easier for attackers and more risky for companies.
Reasons for the effectiveness of these attacks include:
Vulnerabilities are already known and documented, so attackers already know what to look for and how to attack.
Exploits require little sophistication once published, so there’s no need for attackers to come up with new methods.
Many endpoints remain unpatched for weeks or months, giving attackers ample time to strike.
Traditional defenses assume patching already happened, so companies can leave their software unpatched without realizing it.
Detection often occurs after damage is done, so by the time companies find out they’ve been hit, it’s already too late.
The Visibility Gap That Attackers Exploit
When attackers strike, they look for vulnerabilities and security gaps they can exploit. If they can find a target with minimal oversight and visibility, they have more freedom to infiltrate a network, steal data, and inflict damage across the company.
If you don’t have visibility into your third-party software, hackers can infiltrate your network through them with far less chance of early detection, often delaying response until damage has already occurred. Common visibility gaps include:
1. Lack of Third-Party Software Inventory
IT teams can’t protect software they don’t know exists. When employees install software on their work devices without IT’s knowledge, they can create security risks by using unprotected, unmonitored applications. Attackers can exploit vulnerabilities in that software to compromise a system through software that IT teams don’t even know needs protection.
2. No Real-Time Insight Into Patch Status
Many companies rely on point-in-time scans to monitor their software and networks. However, those scans only provide snapshots of a single point in time, making it easy for them to miss exposure windows or suspicious activities. Real-time insights into software inventory and patch status are essential for reducing exposure windows and responding quickly once risks are identified.
3. Manual Patching Does Not Scale
Relying on manual patching is unreliable and prone to human error. When employees or IT agents have to install software patches themselves, it can be time-consuming, or they may accidentally miss an update. Without automated patch management, it’s difficult to ensure that software across all endpoints is properly patched, leaving endpoints vulnerable to attack.
How Splashtop AEM Helps Prevent Third-Party Software Exploits
Fortunately, third-party software exploits can be prevented with the right tools and solutions. Splashtop AEM (Autonomous Endpoint Management) is just that solution, bringing visibility, automated updates for supported operating systems and third-party applications, and CVE-based vulnerability insights to businesses of all sizes.
Splashtop AEM empowers administrators and IT teams to monitor and manage multiple endpoints across remote environments and provides multiple features to protect remote devices, including:
1. Continuous Visibility Into Installed Software
Splashtop AEM maintains a real-time inventory of third-party applications, including their versions and patch statuses, enabling IT teams to easily monitor and update all software.
2. CVE Awareness and Risk Context
With Splashtop AEM’s CVE-based insights, IT teams can better understand their vulnerabilities and risks, enabling them to prioritize the most significant threats and focus their security efforts where they’re needed most.
3. Automated Third-Party Patching
Splashtop AEM’s automated patch management solution works across endpoints and covers both operating systems and third-party applications, helping to close exposure windows quickly and efficiently without needing manual labor.
4. Centralized Reporting and Verification
Splashtop AEM provides visibility into each of your endpoints, including patch status verification. This includes centralized reporting across all endpoints, providing clear reports to show patch statuses and confirm remediation.
Step-by-Step: Reducing Risk From Unpatched Third-Party Software
To reduce the security risks posed by unpatched software, keeping your endpoints and applications patched is simple. Follow these steps and you’ll be able to keep your endpoints up to date and protected:
Using Splashtop AEM’s real-time inventory, identify the third-party software installed across your endpoints.
Identify known vulnerabilities using Splashtop AEM’s CVE-based insights.
Define your patching policies and prioritization based on exploitability, exposure, and business impact.
Set up real-time patch automation in Splashtop AEM to automatically deploy updates.
From there, you’ll want to monitor your patch statuses to verify they’re properly installed and address exceptions. You can always refine your policies as new vulnerabilities emerge to ensure your endpoints remain protected.
Security and Compliance Impact
Once you ensure your third-party applications are properly patched and protected, you’ll start seeing several benefits. Not only does proper patching improve cybersecurity and help strengthen your overall security stance, but it also helps support audit readiness and ongoing compliance efforts by improving evidence, visibility, and repeatability.
The positive effects of third-party software patching with Splashtop AEM include:
A smaller, more controlled attack surface, as up-to-date security minimizes the vulnerabilities attackers can exploit.
Faster remediation of known vulnerabilities, since automated patch management can quickly deploy patches to address them.
Fewer successful phishing-based compromises, thanks to the improved security across applications.
Stronger audit readiness, thanks to Splashtop AEM’s visibility and reporting.
Reduced incident response workload, as properly patched apps lead to fewer security incidents.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
With all that said, there are, of course, some mistakes that people can make when working on their patching policies. These missteps may be well-intentioned, but can still result in increased vulnerabilities and weakened security.
Common mistakes include:
Focusing only on OS patching leaves applications and software outdated and vulnerable, making them easy targets for attackers.
Treating third-party updates as optional causes companies to miss important security updates, providing attackers with easy points of entry.
Relying on users to update software is unreliable and prone to human error, as users can frequently delay patches until it’s too late.
Using periodic scans instead of continuous visibility creates windows of opportunity for attackers to strike unnoticed, and security teams won’t be able to respond until it’s too late.
Assuming vulnerability scanners equal remediation is a major fallacy; the scans identify the vulnerabilities, but IT teams still need to remediate them.
Known Vulnerabilities Are Preventable Attacks
If you know a vulnerability exists, it doesn’t matter whether it affects your OS, software, or other applications; it needs to be addressed as quickly as possible. Most third-party software exploits succeed because of delayed patches, so leaving a vulnerability exposed is inviting attackers in.
Fortunately, with the right visibility, prioritization, and automation, you can stop cyberattacks before they begin. Splashtop AEM is a powerful, practical tool for automatically detecting and addressing vulnerabilities with real-time patch management for operating systems and third-party applications, so you can protect your endpoints without investing IT resources and time into each one.
Splashtop AEM gives IT teams the tools and technology they need to monitor endpoints, proactively address issues, and reduce their workloads. This includes:
Automated patching for OS, third-party, and custom apps.
AI-assisted CVE-based vulnerability insights
Customizable policy frameworks that can be enforced throughout your network.
Hardware and software inventory tracking and management across all endpoints.
Alerts and remediation to automatically resolve issues before they become problems.
Background actions to access tools like task managers and device managers without interrupting users.
Ready to protect your endpoints and applications with real-time patch management? Get started with Splashtop AEM today and see how easy it is:
