Case Study: OSTIF Improves Security Posture of Critical Open Source Projects Through OpenSSF Membership

Organization: Open Source Technology Improvement Fund, Inc. (OSTIF)
Contributor: Amir Montazery, Managing Director
Website: ostif.org

Problem

Critical open source software (OSS) projects—especially those that are long-standing and widely adopted—often lack the resources and systematic support needed to regularly review and improve their security posture. Many of these projects are maintained by small teams with limited bandwidth, making it challenging to conduct comprehensive security audits and implement best practices. The risk of undetected vulnerabilities in these projects presents a growing concern for the broader software ecosystem.

Action

To address this gap, OSTIF leverages its OpenSSF membership to conduct rigorous security audits of critical OSS projects. Using a curated process rooted in industry best practices, OSTIF delivers structured security engagements that improve real-world outcomes for maintainers and users alike.

Through active participation in OpenSSF’s Securing Critical Projects working group and Alpha-Omega initiatives since their inception, and through strategic partnership with organizations like Eclipse Foundation, OSTIF receives targeted funding and support to carry out its mission. These collaborations help prioritize high-impact projects and streamline audit administration—despite the inherent complexity of managing funding approvals and coordination. 

It’s pivotal that these important projects receive customized work. Each open source project is unique and so are its security needs, making standardization of audits difficult. OSTIF is able to invest time and expertise in scoping and organizing engagements to be tailored to the project’s best interests, necessities, and budget to generate effective investment in open source security.

OSTIF also incorporates other OpenSSF tools and services such as the OpenSSF Scorecard and the broader Securing Critical Projects Set, which complement its robust audit methodology and offer additional layers of insight into project health. In an ecosystem that is varied and complex, having security resources that can be applied to all projects contextually to generate impactful and sustainable security outcomes is incredibly valuable to all stakeholders, especially OSTIF.

Results

OSTIF’s work has demonstrated the effectiveness of formal security audits in strengthening OSS project resilience. As a member of OpenSSF, OSTIF has been able to expand its reach, increase audit throughput, and reinforce the security practices of some of the open source community’s most essential projects. Since 2021, OSTIF has facilitated numerous engagements funded by OpenSSF. In March of 2025, OSTIF published the results of the audit of RSTUF with OpenSSF’s funding and support. Additionally, 2 more Alpha-Omega funded engagements will be published later this year.

“OSTIF is grateful for the support from OpenSSF, particularly for funding security audits both directly and via Project Alpha-Omega, to help improve the security of critical OSS projects.”
— Amir Montazery, Managing Director, OSTIF

In addition to the technical improvements achieved through audits, OSTIF’s OpenSSF membership has fostered valuable connections with project maintainers, security experts, and funders—creating a collaborative ecosystem dedicated to open source security. Building a community around security audits is a goal of OSTIFs; by sharing resources and providing a platform for researchers to present audit findings through meetups, their goal is to grow expertise and access to security knowledge of the average open source user. 

Key Benefits

• Enhanced security posture of widely-used OSS projects.
• Strategic collaboration with OpenSSF working groups.
• Access to funding and expert networks.
• Improved audit administration through community support.

Biggest Challenge

• Navigating administrative processes and funding approval cycles for new audit projects.
• Funding multi-year programs and engagements. 

To learn more about OSTIF’s work, visit their 2024 Annual Report. Visit their website at ostif.org or follow them on LinkedIn to stay up to date with audit releases.