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Vulnerability and Patch Management Policy

Effective February 9, 2026

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Purpose

This policy establishes automated procedures for identifying and remediating security vulnerabilities in Beekeeper Studio cloud services. Automation-first approach minimizes manual effort while maintaining security.

Our Architecture: Beekeeper Studio is a desktop database client. This policy covers vulnerabilities in our cloud services (account management, billing, license validation, support systems, optional workspace sync) and desktop application code. See Data Flow Diagram.

Key Objectives:

  • Automated vulnerability identification (Dependabot, npm audit)
  • Risk-based prioritization
  • Timely remediation (7-180 days based on severity)
  • Minimal service disruption

Scope

Applies to:

  • Cloud production systems and infrastructure
  • Application code and dependencies (Node.js, Ruby)
  • Operating systems and system software
  • Third-party libraries and frameworks
  • Container images
  • Database systems

Customer Responsibility: Customer database systems and infrastructure (we don’t access these)

1. Vulnerability Management Principles

1.1 Defense in Depth

Vulnerability management is one layer of security:

  • Preventive: Regular patching reduces attack surface
  • Detective: Scanning identifies unknown vulnerabilities
  • Compensating: When patching delayed, implement mitigations
  • Continuous: Ongoing process, not one-time activity

1.2 Risk-Based Approach

Prioritize based on risk, not just severity:

  • Exploitability: Is exploit code publicly available?
  • Exposure: Is vulnerable system internet-facing?
  • Impact: Could it compromise customer/student data?
  • Mitigations: Are compensating controls in place?

1.3 Balance Security and Stability

Patching decisions consider:

  • Security benefit: How much risk is reduced?
  • Operational impact: Could patch cause outages?
  • Testing requirements: How much validation needed?
  • Business priorities: Can we afford downtime?

2. Vulnerability Scanning Approach

2.1 Automated Dependency Scanning

Tools and Coverage:

GitHub Dependabot (Primary)

  • Scope: Application dependencies (npm, Ruby gems, Python packages)
  • Frequency: Real-time on pull requests, daily for main branch
  • Coverage: All repositories with package manifests
  • Action: Automated pull requests for dependency updates

Snyk (Secondary - if implemented)

  • Scope: Application code, container images, infrastructure as code
  • Frequency: Daily scans of production branches
  • Coverage: Known vulnerabilities and license compliance
  • Action: Alerts to security team, tickets created

npm audit / bundle audit

  • Scope: Direct and transitive dependencies
  • Frequency: On every pull request (CI/CD pipeline)
  • Coverage: npm packages (Node.js) and Ruby gems
  • Action: Fail build if critical/high vulnerabilities found

Container Image Scanning

  • Tool: Docker Scout or Trivy
  • Scope: Base images and application containers
  • Frequency: On image build and daily for deployed images
  • Coverage: OS packages and application dependencies
  • Action: Block deployment if critical vulnerabilities present

2.2 Infrastructure Vulnerability Scanning

Note: Infrastructure is managed by Heroku. Heroku handles OS patching, network security, and platform-level vulnerability management. Our responsibility is application-level security and dependency management.

Manual Vulnerability Assessments

  • Scope: Production infrastructure and applications
  • Frequency: Quarterly
  • Tools: OpenVAS, Nessus, or similar
  • Action: Full assessment report with remediation plan

2.3 Web Application Scanning

OWASP ZAP or Burp Suite

  • Scope: Public-facing web applications and APIs
  • Frequency: Before major releases, quarterly for production
  • Coverage: OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities
  • Action: Findings triaged and assigned to developers

Manual Security Testing

  • Scope: Critical features and authentication flows
  • Frequency: Major releases and new features
  • Method: Manual penetration testing (internal or external)
  • Action: Detailed report with remediation recommendations

2.4 Scan Coverage and Blind Spots

Good Coverage:

  • ✅ Application dependencies (automated)
  • ✅ Container images (automated)
  • ✅ Code repositories (GitHub security features)
  • ✅ Public web endpoints (periodic)

Limited Coverage:

  • ⚠️ Third-party SaaS services (rely on vendor security)
  • ⚠️ Mobile applications (if applicable)
  • ⚠️ Infrastructure configurations (manual review)
  • ⚠️ Business logic vulnerabilities (manual testing)

Mitigation for Blind Spots:

  • Vendor security assessments (see Subprocessor Inventory)
  • Code review focusing on security
  • Security training for developers
  • Bug bounty program (future consideration)

3. Dependency Scanning Tooling

3.1 GitHub Dependabot Configuration

Repository Settings:

# .github/dependabot.yml
version: 2
updates:
  - package-ecosystem: "npm"
    directory: "/"
    schedule:
      interval: "daily"
    open-pull-requests-limit: 10
    reviewers:
      - "security-team"
    labels:
      - "dependencies"
      - "security"

  - package-ecosystem: "bundler"
    directory: "/"
    schedule:
      interval: "daily"
    open-pull-requests-limit: 10

Automated Actions:

  • Pull request created for each dependency update
  • Security vulnerabilities flagged in PR description
  • CI/CD tests run automatically
  • Auto-merge for patch-level updates (if tests pass)
  • Manual review required for major/minor updates

3.2 npm audit Integration

CI/CD Pipeline:

# Run npm audit on every PR
npm audit --audit-level=moderate

# Fail build if vulnerabilities found
if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
  echo "Security vulnerabilities found!"
  exit 1
fi

Audit Levels:

  • critical: Always fail build
  • high: Fail build
  • moderate: Fail build (can be overridden with justification)
  • low: Warning only, does not fail build

3.3 Container Image Scanning

Docker Scout (or Trivy):

# Scan image before push
docker scout cves my-app:latest

# Block push if critical vulnerabilities
docker scout cves my-app:latest --exit-code --only-severity critical,high

Base Image Policy:

  • Use official images only (e.g., node:20-alpine, ruby:3.2-slim)
  • Update base images monthly
  • Pin to specific versions (not latest)
  • Scan before deployment

3.4 False Positive Management

Handling False Positives:

  1. Verify vulnerability applicability (is affected code path used?)
  2. Check for compensating controls (platform security, input validation)
  3. Document suppression with justification
  4. Review suppressions quarterly

Suppression File Example:

# .snyk file
version: v1.22.0
ignore:
  SNYK-JS-LODASH-1234567:
    - '*':
        reason: 'Vulnerable code path not used in our application'
        expires: '2026-05-09'
        created: '2026-02-09'

4. Patch Timelines and SLAs

4.1 Severity Classification

Vulnerabilities classified using CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System):

Severity CVSS Score Description Examples
Critical 9.0 - 10.0 Remote code execution, unauthenticated access RCE, SQLi, auth bypass
High 7.0 - 8.9 Significant impact, privileged access required XSS, privilege escalation, info disclosure
Medium 4.0 - 6.9 Moderate impact, additional factors needed CSRF, limited DoS, minor info leaks
Low 0.1 - 3.9 Minimal impact, difficult to exploit Informational, UI issues

4.2 Patching SLAs

Standard Timelines:

Severity Production Systems Non-Production Dependencies Exceptions
Critical 7 days 14 days 7 days Emergency: 24-48 hours
High 30 days 60 days 30 days Can extend to 45 days
Medium 90 days 180 days 90 days Can extend to 120 days
Low 180 days Next release Next release No formal SLA

Emergency Patching:

  • Active exploitation in the wild: 24-48 hours
  • Wormable vulnerabilities: 24-48 hours
  • Customer data exposure: 24-48 hours
  • Zero-day vulnerabilities: As soon as patch available

SLA Clock Starts:

  • When vulnerability disclosed publicly, OR
  • When automated scan detects vulnerability, OR
  • When CVE published, whichever is earliest

4.3 Risk-Based Adjustments

Factors that may extend timeline:

  • ✅ Vulnerability not exploitable in our configuration
  • ✅ Strong compensating controls in place (platform security, input validation)
  • ✅ Vulnerable code path not used
  • ✅ Patch causes breaking changes requiring significant testing

Factors that may shorten timeline:

  • ❌ Vulnerability actively exploited
  • ❌ Public exploit code available
  • ❌ Internet-facing system
  • ❌ System processes customer/student data
  • ❌ No compensating controls available

Approval Required for Extensions:

  • Critical: CTO + Security Contact + CEO
  • High: CTO + Security Contact
  • Medium: Security Contact
  • Low: Engineering Lead

5. Vulnerability Monitoring Process

5.1 Continuous Monitoring

Automated Sources:

  • GitHub Security Advisories: Automatically monitors repositories
  • Dependabot Alerts: Real-time notifications for dependency vulnerabilities
  • CVE Databases: National Vulnerability Database (NVD), MITRE CVE
  • Vendor Security Bulletins: AWS, Heroku, Stripe, etc.
  • npm Security Advisories: For Node.js dependencies
  • RubyGems Security: For Ruby dependencies

Manual Monitoring:

  • Security Mailing Lists: ruby-security-ann, nodejs-sec, OWASP
  • Twitter/Social Media: Security researchers, @CVEnew
  • Security News: Bleeping Computer, Krebs on Security, The Hacker News
  • Vendor Blogs: AWS Security Blog, GitHub Blog

5.2 Vulnerability Triage Process

Step 1: Initial Assessment (Within 24 hours of detection)

  1. Review Dependabot/security advisory
  2. Determine if affected (check versions in use)
  3. Assess exploitability and exposure
  4. Assign severity per SLA table

Step 2: Remediation Planning (Within 72 hours for Critical/High)

  1. Create GitHub issue with vulnerability details
  2. Assign to developer
  3. Set target date per SLA (7/30/90/180 days)
  4. Identify testing needs

Step 3: Communication

  • Critical/High: Immediate Slack/email to CTO
  • Medium: Review during monthly compliance hour
  • Low: Review quarterly

5.3 Vulnerability Ticket Template

## Vulnerability: [CVE-YYYY-XXXX] [Brief Description]

**Severity:** Critical / High / Medium / Low
**CVSS Score:** X.X
**Affected System:** [Application/Component/Library]
**Affected Versions:** [Version numbers]

### Description
[Brief description of vulnerability and impact]

### Affected Components
- [ ] Production API servers
- [ ] Production databases
- [ ] Frontend application
- [ ] Background workers
- [ ] Dependencies: [list specific packages]

### Exploit Details
- Public exploit available: Yes / No
- Actively exploited: Yes / No
- Remote or local: Remote / Local
- Authentication required: Yes / No

### Impact Assessment
- Customer data at risk: Yes / No
- Student data at risk: Yes / No
- System availability at risk: Yes / No
- Actual risk level: Critical / High / Medium / Low

### Remediation
- **Patch available:** Yes / No
- **Patch version:** [Version number]
- **Alternative mitigation:** [If patch not available]
- **Target date:** [Per SLA]
- **Assigned to:** [@developer]

### Testing Plan
- [ ] Unit tests pass
- [ ] Integration tests pass
- [ ] Manual testing completed
- [ ] Staging deployment verified
- [ ] Performance impact assessed

### Deployment Plan
- **Deployment window:** [Date and time]
- **Rollback plan:** [How to rollback if issues]
- **Communication plan:** [Who to notify]

### Verification
- [ ] Vulnerability scan confirms fix
- [ ] No new issues introduced
- [ ] Monitoring shows normal operation
- [ ] Ticket updated and closed

6. Patch Deployment Process

6.1 Development and Testing

Development Phase:

  1. Create feature branch for patch
  2. Update dependency or apply code fix
  3. Run automated tests locally
  4. Run vulnerability scan to confirm fix
  5. Code review by peer (required for Critical/High)
  6. Merge to main branch after approval

Testing Requirements by Severity:

Severity Unit Tests Integration Tests Manual Testing Staging Deploy Load Testing
Critical Required Required Required Required If applicable
High Required Required Recommended Required Not required
Medium Required Recommended Not required Recommended Not required
Low Required Not required Not required Not required Not required

6.2 Staging Deployment

Staging Environment:

  • Mirror of production (same versions, similar data)
  • Used to validate patches before production
  • Automated deployment via CI/CD
  • Smoke tests run automatically

Validation Checklist:

  • Application starts successfully
  • Health checks pass
  • Critical user flows work
  • No error spikes in logs
  • Performance within acceptable range
  • No regression bugs found

Soak Time:

  • Critical patches: 4 hours minimum in staging
  • High patches: 24 hours minimum in staging
  • Medium patches: 48 hours minimum in staging
  • Low patches: Included in next release

6.3 Production Deployment

Deployment Windows:

  • Emergency (Critical): Anytime, 24/7
  • Urgent (High): Business hours preferred, off-hours if needed
  • Standard (Medium/Low): Scheduled maintenance windows (Tuesday/Thursday 10am-12pm EST)

Deployment Procedures:

Before Deployment:

  • Change ticket created and approved
  • Rollback plan documented
  • Monitoring alerts configured
  • On-call engineer available
  • Customer communication sent (if user-facing changes)

During Deployment:

  • Take production backup (database, configurations)
  • Deploy to canary environment first (10% of traffic)
  • Monitor error rates and performance
  • Gradually roll out to 50%, then 100%
  • Verify health checks and metrics

After Deployment:

  • Run vulnerability scan to confirm fix
  • Monitor for 1 hour (Critical) or 24 hours (High)
  • Update documentation if needed
  • Close vulnerability ticket
  • Update patch log

6.4 Rollback Procedures

Automatic Rollback Triggers:

  • Error rate >5% above baseline
  • Response time >2x baseline
  • Health check failures
  • Database connection errors

Manual Rollback Process:

  1. Decide to rollback (CTO or on-call engineer)
  2. Execute rollback via CI/CD (previous version)
  3. Verify system stability
  4. Investigate root cause
  5. Plan alternative fix or mitigation

Rollback SLA:

  • Critical systems: 15 minutes
  • High-priority systems: 30 minutes
  • Standard systems: 1 hour

7. Compensating Controls

When patching is delayed beyond SLA, implement compensating controls:

7.1 Platform-Level Controls

Heroku provides:

  • Platform-managed network security
  • Rate limiting via Heroku router
  • Automated SSL/TLS certificate management
  • Platform-level DDoS protection

7.2 Application-Level Controls

Input Validation:

  • Strengthen input validation and sanitization
  • Additional authentication checks
  • Rate limiting on vulnerable endpoints
  • CAPTCHA for public endpoints

Code Changes:

  • Temporary workaround code
  • Disable vulnerable feature if possible
  • Additional error handling
  • Increased logging and monitoring

7.3 Operational Controls

Enhanced Monitoring:

  • Alert on suspicious activity
  • Increased log review frequency
  • Real-time security monitoring
  • Manual review of access logs

Access Restrictions:

  • Reduce privileged access
  • Require approval for sensitive operations
  • Temporary disable feature if high risk
  • Customer communication about limitations

7.4 Documentation

All compensating controls must be:

  • Documented in vulnerability ticket
  • Reviewed by Security Contact
  • Approved by CTO for Critical/High vulnerabilities
  • Re-assessed weekly until patch applied
  • Removed after patch deployment

8. Zero-Day Vulnerability Response

8.1 Definition

Zero-day vulnerability: Security flaw actively exploited before vendor releases patch.

Characteristics:

  • No official patch available
  • Exploit code exists or exploited in wild
  • Vendor may not be aware
  • Urgent response required

8.2 Zero-Day Response Process

Immediate Actions (Within 1 hour):

  1. Activate Incident Response Plan
  2. Assess if Beekeeper Studio is vulnerable
  3. Determine if exploitation has occurred (check logs)
  4. Implement immediate compensating controls
  5. Notify CTO and Security Contact

Short-Term (Within 24 hours):

  1. Disable vulnerable feature if possible
  2. Enable Heroku maintenance mode or restrict access
  3. Increase monitoring and alerting
  4. Search logs for indicators of compromise
  5. Prepare customer communication (if needed)

Medium-Term (Until patch available):

  1. Monitor vendor communications for patch ETA
  2. Test vendor patches in non-production
  3. Review compensating controls daily
  4. Maintain heightened alerting
  5. Coordinate with subprocessors if affected

Patch Deployment (When available):

  1. Test patch immediately upon release
  2. Deploy to production within 24-48 hours
  3. Verify vulnerability resolved
  4. Remove compensating controls
  5. Post-incident review

9. Vulnerability Disclosure Program

9.1 Receiving Security Reports

Responsible Disclosure:

  • Email: security@beekeeperstudio.io
  • Public key available for encrypted communication (PGP)
  • Acknowledge receipt within 48 hours
  • Provide timeline for fix within 7 days

Researcher Guidelines:

  • Report vulnerabilities privately before public disclosure
  • Provide detailed reproduction steps
  • Allow reasonable time to fix (90 days minimum)
  • No testing against production without permission

9.2 Coordinated Disclosure

Our Commitments:

  • Acknowledge valid reports within 48 hours
  • Provide regular updates on remediation progress
  • Fix critical vulnerabilities within 30 days
  • Credit researcher if desired (after fix deployed)
  • No legal action against good-faith researchers

Timeline:

  1. Day 0: Receive report
  2. Day 1-2: Verify and triage vulnerability
  3. Day 3-7: Provide fix timeline to researcher
  4. Day 7-30: Develop and test fix
  5. Day 30-45: Deploy fix to production
  6. Day 45-90: Coordinated public disclosure (if applicable)

9.3 Bug Bounty Program (Future)

Consideration Factors:

  • Sufficient security maturity
  • Budget for bounty payments
  • Bandwidth to handle increased reports
  • Clear scope and rules of engagement

Timeline: Re-assess annually starting 2027

10. Patch Management for Third-Party Services

10.1 Subprocessor Patching

Responsibility:

  • Subprocessors responsible for their own patching
  • Beekeeper Studio monitors subprocessor security advisories
  • Subprocessor security incidents reported per Subprocessor Agreement

Monitoring:

  • Subscribe to subprocessor security bulletins (AWS, Heroku, Stripe)
  • Review quarterly security reports from subprocessors
  • Request remediation timelines for reported vulnerabilities
  • Escalate concerns to account manager

Incident Response:

  • Subprocessor security incident activates our Incident Response Plan
  • Assess impact on Beekeeper Studio customers
  • Determine if customer notification required (NDPA Section 5.4)
  • Document in incident log

10.2 Managed Service Patching

AWS RDS, Heroku Postgres:

  • Vendor manages OS and database patching
  • Maintenance windows configured for minimal impact
  • Database backups before major updates
  • Automatic minor version updates enabled (security patches)
  • Major version updates tested and scheduled

Heroku Dynos:

  • Stack updates applied during deployments
  • Monitor for stack EOL announcements
  • Upgrade stack before EOL date
  • Test application compatibility with new stack

11. Metrics and Reporting

11.1 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Vulnerability Metrics:

  • Open critical vulnerabilities: Target 0
  • Open high vulnerabilities: Target <5
  • Mean time to patch (critical): Target <7 days
  • Mean time to patch (high): Target <30 days
  • Vulnerabilities past SLA: Target 0

Patching Metrics:

  • Patch compliance rate: Target >95%
  • Failed deployments due to patches: Target <5%
  • Rollbacks due to patches: Target <2%
  • Emergency patches deployed: Track trend

Scanning Metrics:

  • Dependency scan coverage: Target 100% of repositories
  • Container scan coverage: Target 100% of images
  • Infrastructure scan completion: Target quarterly
  • False positive rate: Track and reduce over time

11.2 Reporting Cadence

Monthly (1st Friday, during Monthly Compliance Hour):

  • New critical/high vulnerabilities discovered
  • Patches deployed in last 30 days
  • Overdue vulnerabilities (past SLA)
  • Audience: Security Contact, CTO

Monthly:

  • Comprehensive vulnerability report
  • Patch compliance metrics
  • Trend analysis (vulnerability discovery rate, remediation time)
  • Audience: Engineering team, executive team

Quarterly:

  • Vulnerability management program review
  • Policy compliance assessment
  • Comparison to industry benchmarks
  • Recommendations for improvement
  • Audience: Executive team, board (if applicable)

Annual:

  • Year in review: vulnerabilities, patches, incidents
  • Policy updates and improvements
  • Tooling assessment and recommendations
  • Training needs assessment
  • Audience: All stakeholders

11.3 Dashboard and Visualization

Security Dashboard:

  • Open vulnerabilities by severity (pie chart)
  • Vulnerability age distribution (histogram)
  • Patch compliance rate (gauge)
  • Trend over time (line chart)

Tools:

  • GitHub Security tab (dependency vulnerabilities)
  • Custom dashboard (Grafana or similar)
  • Spreadsheet for manual tracking (if needed)

12. Roles and Responsibilities

Security Contact / Data Protection Officer

  • Owns vulnerability management policy
  • Triages vulnerability reports
  • Monitors vulnerability feeds
  • Escalates critical vulnerabilities
  • Reports metrics to executive team
  • Coordinates with researchers

Engineering Team

  • Develops and tests patches
  • Deploys patches to production
  • Investigates vulnerability impact
  • Implements compensating controls
  • Participates in code security reviews

DevOps / Infrastructure Team

  • Manages infrastructure patching
  • Operates vulnerability scanning tools
  • Deploys patches via CI/CD
  • Monitors system health after patching
  • Manages rollback procedures

CTO / Engineering Leadership

  • Approves SLA extensions
  • Allocates resources for patching
  • Makes risk acceptance decisions
  • Communicates with customers if needed
  • Reviews quarterly metrics

13. Training and Awareness

13.1 Security Training

New Developers:

  • Secure coding practices
  • Common vulnerabilities (OWASP Top 10)
  • Vulnerability scanning tools
  • Responsible disclosure

All Engineers (Annual):

  • Security awareness refresher
  • Recent vulnerabilities and lessons learned
  • Updated security tools and processes
  • Incident response procedures

Security Team (Ongoing):

  • Advanced vulnerability research
  • Exploit analysis and reverse engineering
  • Security conference attendance
  • Security certifications (CISSP, OSCP, etc.)

13.2 Secure Development Lifecycle

Design Phase:

  • Threat modeling for new features
  • Security architecture review
  • Privacy impact assessment

Development Phase:

  • Secure coding guidelines followed
  • Security-focused code reviews
  • Static analysis tools (linting)
  • Dependency checks (npm audit)

Testing Phase:

  • Security test cases
  • Penetration testing for critical features
  • Vulnerability scanning

Deployment Phase:

  • Security checklist before production
  • Monitoring and alerting configured
  • Incident response plan updated

14. Policy Exceptions and Risk Acceptance

14.1 When Patching is Not Possible

Valid Reasons:

  • Patch not available from vendor
  • Patch causes critical functionality to break
  • Extensive code refactoring required
  • Vendor end-of-life, no further patches

Required Actions:

  1. Document why patch cannot be applied
  2. Implement compensating controls
  3. Assess residual risk
  4. Obtain written approval for risk acceptance
  5. Re-assess monthly

14.2 Risk Acceptance Process

Documentation Required:

  • Vulnerability details (CVE, CVSS score, description)
  • Business justification for not patching
  • Compensating controls implemented
  • Residual risk assessment
  • Mitigation timeline (if alternative solution planned)

Approval Authority:
| Severity | Approver | Maximum Duration | Review Frequency |
|———-|———-|——————|——————|
| Critical | CEO + CTO | 30 days | Weekly |
| High | CTO | 90 days | Bi-weekly |
| Medium | Security Contact | 180 days | Monthly |
| Low | Engineering Lead | 1 year | Quarterly |

Risk Acceptance Register:

  • Maintained by Security Contact
  • Reviewed quarterly
  • Expired acceptances require renewal or remediation
  • Audit trail for compliance

15. Integration with Incident Response

This policy supports the Incident Response Plan:

Vulnerability as Incident Trigger:

  • Critical vulnerability with active exploitation → Critical Incident (S1)
  • Customer data exposure via vulnerability → Critical Incident (S1)
  • Vulnerability exploited in production → High Incident (S2)

Incident Response Plan Phases:

  1. Detection: Vulnerability scanning and monitoring
  2. Containment: Compensating controls, disable feature
  3. Eradication: Apply patch or fix
  4. Recovery: Verify fix, resume normal operations
  5. Lessons Learned: Update vulnerability management process

16. Policy Review and Updates

Review Schedule

Monthly (1st Friday, during Monthly Compliance Hour):

  • Review open Dependabot alerts (>7 days old for Critical/High)
  • Check patch SLA compliance
  • Review open vulnerabilities

Quarterly (during Compliance Day):

  • Review false positive suppressions
  • Update tool configurations if needed

Annually (November, during Compliance Week):

  • Full policy review and update
  • Assess new scanning tools
  • Update based on lessons learned

Trigger-Based:

  • After security incident involving unpatched vulnerability
  • When new tools adopted

Change Management

  1. Draft updates (Security Contact / CTO)
  2. Technical review (if applicable)
  3. Executive approval (CEO/CTO)
  4. Update tooling and processes

Security Policies

Contact

Security Vulnerabilities: support@beekeeperstudio.io

Patch Management Questions: support@beekeeperstudio.io

Emergency Security Issues: [CTO contact information]

Document Information

Version: 2.0
Effective Date: 2026-02-09
Last Reviewed: 2026-02-09
Next Review Due: 2027-02-09
Owner: CTO / Security Contact
Approved By: CEO

Changes from v1.0: Clarified desktop app architecture, emphasized automation-first approach (Dependabot), streamlined review schedule, added cross-references to legal documents.

Appendix A: Vulnerability Severity Matrix

Factor Critical (9.0-10.0) High (7.0-8.9) Medium (4.0-6.9) Low (0.1-3.9)
Attack Vector Network (remote) Network or Adjacent Local or Physical Local
Attack Complexity Low (easy) Low High (difficult) High
Privileges Required None Low Low or High High
User Interaction None None Required Required
Impact Complete system compromise Significant data exposure Limited data exposure Minimal impact
Scope Changed (affects other components) Changed Unchanged Unchanged

Appendix B: Common Vulnerability Types and Remediation

Vulnerability Type Description Typical Severity Remediation Approach
SQL Injection Malicious SQL queries via user input Critical Parameterized queries, input validation
XSS (Cross-Site Scripting) Malicious scripts executed in browser High Output encoding, CSP headers
Authentication Bypass Circumvent login mechanisms Critical Fix auth logic, add tests
Privilege Escalation Gain unauthorized permissions High Fix authorization checks
Insecure Deserialization Arbitrary code execution via serialized data Critical Avoid deserializing untrusted data
Broken Access Control Access unauthorized resources High Implement proper access controls
Security Misconfiguration Insecure default configs, verbose errors Medium Harden configurations, disable debug
Sensitive Data Exposure Unencrypted data transmission/storage High Implement encryption (TLS, at-rest)
XML External Entity (XXE) Parse malicious XML to access files High Disable XML external entities
Broken Authentication Weak password policies, session issues High Implement MFA, secure sessions

Appendix C: Patch Deployment Checklist

Pre-Deployment

  • Vulnerability ticket created with details
  • Patch tested in development environment
  • Automated tests pass
  • Code review completed (for Critical/High)
  • Staging deployment successful
  • Soak time completed (per severity)
  • Rollback plan documented
  • Change ticket created and approved
  • On-call engineer identified

During Deployment

  • Production backup completed
  • Deploy to canary (10% traffic)
  • Monitor metrics for 15 minutes
  • Increase to 50% traffic
  • Monitor metrics for 15 minutes
  • Deploy to 100% traffic
  • Verify health checks pass
  • Check error rates and logs

Post-Deployment

  • Run vulnerability scan to confirm fix
  • Monitor for 1 hour (Critical) or 24 hours (High)
  • Verify customer-facing functionality works
  • Update internal documentation
  • Close vulnerability ticket
  • Update patch log and metrics
  • Remove compensating controls (if applicable)
  • Post-deployment review (for Critical patches)

Appendix D: Patch Timeline Tracking Template

CVE ID Severity Disclosure Date SLA Due Date Status Owner Notes
CVE-2026-1234 Critical 2026-02-01 2026-02-08 Patched @dev1 Deployed 2026-02-05
CVE-2026-5678 High 2026-02-05 2026-03-07 In Progress @dev2 Testing in staging
CVE-2026-9012 Medium 2026-01-15 2026-04-15 Open @dev3 Scheduled for next release

Legend:

  • Status: Open, In Progress, Testing, Staging, Patched, Risk Accepted
  • Owner: Developer or team responsible for remediation
  • Notes: Additional context, blockers, or updates