C002 — OpenSSF Scorecard Average for Critical Projects — Input¶
Contents¶
Original Text¶
The average OpenSSF Scorecard score across the top one million critical open source projects is 5.4 out of 10.
Clarified for Testability¶
The mean OpenSSF Scorecard aggregate score, computed across the set of approximately one million open source projects that OpenSSF considers 'critical' (as defined by their criticality criteria), is 5.4 on a 0-10 scale. This implies that even the most important open source projects average only a middling security posture score.
Embedded Assumptions Surfaced¶
- Assumes OpenSSF has defined and scored a set of 'top one million critical' projects — the actual population size and selection criteria need verification.
- Assumes 'average' means arithmetic mean, not median or other central tendency measure.
- Assumes the 5.4 figure is an official or published aggregate, not an estimate or approximation.
- Assumes the Scorecard scoring methodology produces a single aggregate score on a 0-10 scale — the actual scoring may work differently (e.g., per-check scores vs. aggregate).
- The framing implies these are the most important projects, so a 5.4 average is concerning — this embeds the assumption that critical projects should score higher.
Scope¶
| Dimension | Value |
|---|---|
| Domain | Open source security — OpenSSF Scorecard project metrics |
| Timeframe | Not specified; likely refers to data from 2022-2025 based on Scorecard project timeline |
| Testability | Testable via OpenSSF's published data, Scorecard project documentation, and academic analyses of Scorecard distributions. |
Vocabulary Map¶
Primary Terms: OpenSSF Scorecard, Scorecard score, critical open source projects, security scorecard
Domain Variants: OSSF Scorecard, Open Source Security Foundation Scorecard, security posture score, supply chain security score
Related Concepts: OpenSSF criticality score, software supply chain security, SLSA framework, open source security metrics, Scorecard checks, security best practices score