Reusability or disposability? A network analysis of reusable software vulnerabilities

The sharing economics of digital resources such as application programming interface and software development kits enables software developers to create diverse software faster and more effectively. However, developers may unintentionally adopt shared digital resources that contain vulnerable code, which may cause vulnerability in the final software product. In this study, we examine the interplay between the sharing of digital resources and software vulnerability. This study may help developers to identify vulnerable digital resources in a digital ecosystem. We quantify the diffusion of software vulnerability in sharing of digital resources using a machine learning technique to create necessary variables. We conduct regression analyses to examine their effect on the severity of software vulnerabilities