MahaauD asks whether upgrading the .NET Runtime alone resolves SCA-detected vulnerabilities for Microsoft.AspNetCore.* NuGet packages, or if manual package updates are also necessary.

Upgrading NuGet Packages vs. .NET Runtime: Resolving SCA Vulnerabilities

MahaauD asks whether upgrading only the .NET Runtime is enough to address vulnerabilities flagged by a Software Composition Analysis (SCA) tool in Microsoft.AspNetCore.* NuGet packages, or if these packages must also be upgraded explicitly.

Scenario

  • Issue: SCA scan reports known vulnerabilities in the following NuGet packages at version 8.0.0:
    • Microsoft.AspNetCore.Authorization
    • Microsoft.AspNetCore.Components
    • Microsoft.AspNetCore.Http.Connections.Client
    • Microsoft.AspNetCore.SignalR.Client
  • Scanner Recommendation: Upgrade these packages to 8.0.15.
  • Attempted Solution: .NET Runtime on the environment was upgraded to 8.0.15.
  • Result: Vulnerabilities still reported; package versions untouched.

Clarifying the Relationship

In .NET, there’s a distinction between the runtime your application targets and the NuGet packages you reference in your project:

  • Upgrading the .NET Runtime installs a newer version of the runtime on your machine or server, but does not affect NuGet package versions in your project files (.csproj).
  • Referenced NuGet Packages are included at the versions defined in your project; unless you explicitly update versions with NuGet, these do not change even when you upgrade the runtime globally.

Why Do SCA Scans Still Flag Vulnerabilities?

Your project dependencies (including Microsoft.AspNetCore.*) remain at 8.0.0 unless manually updated. SCA tools analyze the packages declared in your project and their versions, not just your machine’s installed runtime. Updating only the runtime does not resolve vulnerabilities in project-scoped package dependencies.

What You Should Do

  1. Explicitly upgrade the NuGet package references in your project to the recommended secure versions (e.g., 8.0.15).

    • In Visual Studio, use the NuGet Package Manager UI or run:

      dotnet add package Microsoft.AspNetCore.Authorization --version 8.0.15
dotnet add package Microsoft.AspNetCore.Components --version 8.0.15
...and so on for each flagged package
  2. Verify that your csproj no longer references the vulnerable versions.
  3. Rebuild and redeploy your application after updating package references.
  4. Rerun your SCA scan to confirm vulnerabilities are resolved.

Summary Table

Action Effect on NuGet References
Upgrade .NET Runtime only No effect, packages unchanged
Upgrade NuGet package version References updated (fixes vulnerabilities)

Takeaways

  • Always update both the runtime and vulnerable NuGet packages.
  • The SCA tool validates package versions used in your build, not just your deployment environment.

References

If you have further questions about dependency management or vulnerability scanning, feel free to ask for more details.

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