The Walldorf-based software giant SAP has established the monthly SAP Security Patch Day to publish the latest security updates for its comprehensive product portfolio. As with almost every leading software producer, reports of security vulnerabilities or product bugs are recorded, processed, and fixed in a standardized procedure. The result is at least a correction guide, often also an installable security patch or even a service pack.
Security patches are released on the second Tuesday of each calendar month as part of SAP Security Patch Day. Security researchers and customers can report chess points to SAP as part of a “Responsible Disclosure” process. The resulting corrections are then presented to the SAP customer community on the following Patch Day. Customers can find the SAP Notes for the respective month on SAP Security Patch Day in Digital Asset Management.
Besides the PDF document, one can also select the security notes in the SAP Support Portal in the ONE Support Launchpad application “SAP Security Notes”.
Many leading software vendors follow a Patch Day ritual. Compared to a selective release, the bundled publication on a predictable date offers advantages for both customers and manufacturers. For example, customers don’t have to worry about missing an SAP Security Patch, while SAP can spend time between Security Patch Days identifying and fixing security vulnerabilities.
It is good practice for software vendors to give their customers and external security researchers the possibility to report potential vulnerabilities. These reports are received and processed as part of “Responsible Disclosure” based on the CERT policy for Coordinated Vulnerability Disclosure. It is common practice to name the researcher of vulnerability disclosure, and SAP does so with an SAP Security Patch Day.
SAP is committed to identifying and addressing security issues that affect its software and cloud solutions. Besides continuously improving the security processes, SAP also offers responsible vulnerability disclosure via the SAP Trust Center. SAP adopts the principle of coordinated vulnerability disclosure provided by CERT in 2017.
The general answer to the question can only be: “As fast as possible”. Since this is not always possible and reasonable, we recommend using a risk-based approach. In addition to the importance of the SAP Security Note under review, you should also consider the SAP software component affected by the vulnerability. Depending on the deployment scenario and the state of the affected software component, you can define individual prioritization. If there are reasons not to install a critical patch, keep compensatory measures in mind.
We recommend you look at our Advisory Page, which you can find at abex.io/advisory. At the same time, there are many helpful articles on our blog. Of course, you can also get information in the ONE Support Launchpad application “SAP Security Notes” using the SAP customer account.
Unfortunately, we are not aware of such a service offered by SAP. However, our team always publishes an SAP Security Patch Day summary article, which we share with all followers via our LinkedIn channel. The release of our summary happens shortly after the SAP Security Patch Day publication, and followers will receive a notification.
If you find a vulnerability in standard software, please handle this sensitive information with care, not to expose the customers of the solution to unnecessary risks. To report a vulnerability to SAP, we recommend that you visit the SAP Trust Center’s Security Issue Management.
