23 SaaS Startups + 1 Boilerplate + Real-World Business Impact

I've completed a dependency vulnerability assessment of the highest risk dependencies in the project.json file, reported the findings and outline the next steps.

Tools used: Visual Studio Code, npm audit and Github.

I’ve completed the next phase of my dependency audit, mapping all findings to CVE numbers and assessing severity with CVSS scores. I have ranked them from most critical to least critical. Out of the 12 highest risk dependencies:

• 5 are showing a 8.1/10 or above CVSS
• 7 are showing a 7.5/10 CVSS
• The highest CVSS is a 8.8/10
• The least 'critical' is a 7.1/10 CVSS

I plan to simplify each dependency to understand its actual risk to clearly communicate potential impact from a non-technical perspective without jargon before evaluating the commercial business risk associated with each vulnerability.

To ensure I follow the right professional approach, I’ll be referencing OWASP and CWE documentations and industry frameworks such as ISO 27001: A.12.6.1 and NIST SP 800-53: AT-3.

I have found Stripe verified business data for 23 startups using this boilerplate to run their SaaS and will be using the average of their monthly revenue to work out the asset value, exposure factor, single loss expectancy, annual rate of occurence and annual loss expectancy for each dependency.

I will then base my report on the damage of ignoring these 12 high-risk dependencies for:

• The vendor selling the boilerplate 
• And the customers using this boilerplate to launch their own SaaS applications. 

After assessing the risks and quantifying their potential business impact, I will evaluate appropriate remediation strategies for the highest-risk dependencies.
My findings will be documented to show which fixes are safe to apply, what breaks and the overall impact on the application’s security posture.

Finally, I will perform a static code review to identify unsafe patterns, insecure practices and potential exposures in the boilerplate’s code.  

Once the review is complete, I will reach out to the founder to share my findings and provide guidance on updates that can make the boilerplate more secure for their customers.