Resolved Security

If you’re a developer or part of a security team, you know the drill: a new vulnerability pops up in one of your open source dependencies, and the immediate advice is to upgrade to a fixed version. Sounds simple, right? But if you’ve ever tried it, you know that upgrading dependencies can feel like walking a tightrope - one wrong step and your app breaks, tests fail, or worse, your release pipeline grinds to a halt.

So what if there was a smarter way to fix vulnerabilities without the headache of massive upgrades? Enter backporting - a time-tested approach that’s been quietly keeping Linux distros and big tech companies secure for decades. And yes, it’s something your engineering team can start using today.

Why Upgrading Dependencies Isn’t Always the Answer

Security scanners are great at flagging vulnerable versions, but they often miss the nuances. They work like this:

Detect vulnerable package version
Alert you to upgrade to a fixed, usually newer, version

But here’s the catch: upgrading isn’t just about swapping one version for another.
It often comes with:

Breaking API changes
Shifts in behavior that expose edge cases
A domino effect of upgrades across your entire codebase

No wonder developers hate upgrades. They’re manual, risky, and time-consuming - and security teams want them done at a scale that just isn’t realistic.

In fact, our research shows organizations spend over 5% of their R&D budget just on dependency upgrades - and still only fix about 10% of their security goals. That’s a lot of effort for little payoff.

Let’s Talk about Backporting: The Secret Sauce for Safer, Faster Fixes

Backporting flips the script. Instead of upgrading your entire dependency, you extract just the security fix from the newer version and apply it to the version you’re already using. Think of it as a surgical patch rather than a full replacement.

Here's what that looks like:

You’re on version 1.2 of a library - it’s vulnerable.
The fix exists in version 2.0, but upgrading to 2.0 is risky.
With backporting, you apply the fix from 2.0 directly to your 1.2 version without changing anything else.

This approach isn’t new. Linux distributions like Red Hat and Ubuntu have been backporting security patches for decades, keeping older versions secure without forcing disruptive upgrades. Big tech companies do it internally, and some open source projects maintain long-term support branches specifically for this purpose.

Download The Backporting (Mini) Blueprint Now →

Why Backporting Works Better for Engineering Teams

Backporting offers some serious benefits:

Focus: Fix the exact vulnerability without touching unrelated code.
Less testing: Smaller changes mean fewer regressions and less QA overhead.
Faster releases: No waiting for full upgrade validation cycles.
Bridging the gap: Security teams get fixes without forcing developers into risky upgrades.
Scale: focusing only on the exact fixes that matter means you get way more done, faster.

Button line: Backporting turns the dreaded “upgrade everything and hope for the best” into a controlled, low-risk process.

How to Start Backporting Without the Headache

Backporting sounds great, but it can be tricky to do manually - especially at scale. That’s where Resolved Security comes in.

Resolved automates the heavy lifting:

Scans your codebase and identifies vulnerable dependencies.
Creates secure twins of your packages with backported fixes - no manual patching required.
Automates updates so your app stays compatible and secure.
Lets you ship confidently knowing you’ve fixed vulnerabilities without breaking your app.

It’s like having a security team and a dev team working in perfect harmony.🙂

Take Back Control of Your Open Source Security

If you’re tired of choosing between security and stability, backporting is the way forward. It’s a proven strategy that lets your team fix vulnerabilities quickly and safely - without the chaos of full dependency upgrades.

Want to see how backporting with Resolved can transform your security workflow? Reach out for a demo or download our full Backporting Blueprint to get started.