Prioritization of software patches

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9959111-B2
Application number	US-201615206323-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 11, 2016
Priority date	Jul 11, 2016
Publication date	May 1, 2018
Grant date	May 1, 2018

Abstract

Various embodiments of systems, computer program products, and methods for prioritizing software patches are described herein. In an aspect, the software patches are retrieved by querying software repositories. Further, code changes associated with the software patches are determined. One or more instances of bug fix patterns are identified in determined code changes. The software patches are classified based on the identified bug fix patterns. Priorities of the software patches corresponding to the identified instances of the bug fix patterns are determined based on the classification and a pre-defined policy. Upon determining priorities, the software patches are installed based on the priorities.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing instructions, which when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform operations comprising:
retrieving software patches by querying software repositories;
analyzing a change list comprising one or more code changes between a first software patch and a subsequent software patch of the software patches;
identifying one or more instances of one or more bug fix patterns in the one or more code changes;
adding the one or more instances to a set of instances of bug fix patterns that resolve different bug classes, wherein a bug fix pattern of the bug fix patterns corresponds to a bug class of the bug classes;
classifying the subsequent software patch based on the set of instances of the bug fix patterns;
based on the classification, automatically determining a priority of the subsequent software patch, wherein the priority corresponds to a sum of occurrences of the one or more instances; and
installing the software patches according to a pre-defined policy based on determined priorities of the software patches.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the one or more code changes are determined by comparing source code of the first software patch and source code of the subsequent software patch.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the one or more code changes depend on specifics of a programming language.

4. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the pre-defined policy comprises a statement of intent including rules based on which the software patches are prioritized for installation.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the pre-defined policy comprises priorities and actions corresponding to the software patches.

6. A computer implemented method to classify and prioritize software patches, comprising:
retrieving software patches by querying software repositories;
analyzing a change list comprising one or more code changes between a first software patch and a subsequent software patch of the software patches;
identifying one or more instances of one or more bug fix patterns in the one or more code changes;
adding the one or more instances to a set of instances of bug fix patterns that resolve different bug classes, wherein a bug fix pattern of the bug fix patterns corresponds to a bug class of the bug classes;
classifying the subsequent software patch based on the set of instances of the bug fix patterns;
based on the classification, automatically determining a priority of the subsequent software patch, wherein the priority corresponds to a sum of occurrences of the one or more instances; and
installing the software patches according to a pre-defined policy based on determined priorities of the software patches.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 6 , wherein the one or more code changes are determined by comparing source code of the first software patch and source code of the subsequent software patch.

8. The computer implemented method of claim 6 , wherein the one or more code changes depend on specifics of a programming language.

9. The computer implemented method of claim 6 , wherein the pre-defined policy comprises a statement of intent including rules based on which the software patches are prioritized for installation.

10. The computer implemented method of claim 6 , wherein the pre-defined policy comprises priorities and actions corresponding to the software patches.

11. A computing system to classify and prioritize software patches, comprising:
at least one processor; and
one or more memory devices communicative with the at least one processor, wherein the one or more memory devices store instructions to:
retrieving software patches by querying software repositories;
analyzing a change list comprising one or more code changes between a first software patch and a subsequent software patch of the software patches;
identifying one or more instances of one or more bug fix patterns in the one or more code changes;
adding the one or more instances to a set of instances of bug fix patterns that resolve different bug classes, wherein a bug fix pattern of the bug fix patterns corresponds to a bug class of the bug classes;
classifying the subsequent software patch based on the set of instances of the bug fix patterns;
based on the classification, automatically determining a priority of the subsequent software patch, wherein the priority corresponds to a sum of occurrences of the one or more instances; and
installing the software patches according to a pre-defined policy based on determined priorities of the software patches.

12. The computing system of claim 11 , wherein the one or more code changes are determined by comparing source code of the first software patch and source code of the subsequent software patch.

13. The computing system of claim 11 , wherein the one or more code changes depend on specifics of a programming language.

14. The computing system of claim 11 , wherein the pre-defined policy comprises a statement of intent including rules based on which the software patches are prioritized for installation.

Assignees

• Sap Se

Inventors

• Plate Henrik
• Ponta Serena
• Sabetta Antonino

Classifications

• G06F8/71 Primary

  Version control (security arrangements therefor G06F21/57); Configuration management · CPC title

• G06F8/65 Primary

  Updates (security arrangements therefor G06F21/57) · CPC title

• G06F8/658

  Incremental updates; Differential updates · CPC title