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https://dx.doi.org/10.48550/ar...
Article . 2023
License: CC BY
Data sources: Datacite
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Security Weaknesses of Copilot-Generated Code in GitHub Projects: An Empirical Study

Authors: Yujia Fu; Peng Liang; Amjed Tahir; Zengyang Li; Mojtaba Shahin; Jiaxin Yu; Jinfu Chen;

Security Weaknesses of Copilot-Generated Code in GitHub Projects: An Empirical Study

Abstract

Modern code generation tools utilizing AI models like Large Language Models have gained increased popularity due to their ability to produce functional code. However, their usage presents security challenges, often resulting in insecure code merging into the code base. Thus, evaluating the quality of generated code, especially its security, is crucial. While prior research explored various aspects of code generation, the focus on security has been limited, mostly examining code produced in controlled environments rather than open source development scenarios. To address this gap, we conducted an empirical study, analyzing code snippets generated by GitHub Copilot and two other AI code generation tools (i.e., CodeWhisperer and Codeium) from GitHub projects. Our analysis identified 733 snippets, revealing a high likelihood of security weaknesses, with 29.5% of Python and 24.2% of JavaScript snippets affected. These issues span 43 Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) categories, including significant ones like CWE-330: Use of Insufficiently Random Values , CWE-94: Improper Control of Generation of Code , and CWE-79: Cross-site Scripting . Notably, eight of those CWEs are among the 2023 CWE Top-25, highlighting their severity. We further examined using Copilot Chat to fix security issues in Copilot-generated code by providing Copilot Chat with warning messages from the static analysis tools, and up to 55.5% of the security issues can be fixed. We finally provide the suggestions for mitigating security issues in generated code.

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Keywords

Software Engineering (cs.SE), FOS: Computer and information sciences, Computer Science - Software Engineering, Computer Science - Cryptography and Security, Cryptography and Security (cs.CR)

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selected citations
These citations are derived from selected sources.
This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Citations provided by BIP!
popularity
This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Popularity provided by BIP!
influence
This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Influence provided by BIP!
impulse
This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Impulse provided by BIP!
13
Top 10%
Top 10%
Top 10%
Green