Software development services (Германия - Тендер #42828551)

libxml2

libxml2 is a software library for parsing XML and other XML-related technologies.

libxml2 is a software library for parsing XML and other XML-related technologies. An XML parser is a software component that is designed to read and interpret XML documents, which are used to store and exchange data. The parser identifies the structure of the document and extracts the data, making it available for use by other software components, making it a popular dependency for any piece of software that uses XML and related technologies.

Th scope of this project is:

. Fix algorithmic complexity issues: Some parts of the core parser still exhibit quadratic behavior which makes it trivial to mount denial-of-service attacks. Many other parts of the code base are plagued by similar inefficiencies.

. Improvements to fuzz testing: Fuzz testing is crucial to find and avoid security issues. Many of the 1,000+ public API functions are untested and fuzz coverage is still below 60%. It would also be helpful to employ more sophisticated techniques like structure-aware fuzzing.

. General bug fixes: There are about 100 open Gitlab issues for libxml2 and libxslt. The old Bugzilla database contained about open 500 issues. While many of these issues are requests for enhancements, there"s still a number of long-standing bugs.

. Improvements to thread safety: Some work in this direction was started long ago but never finished. Several API additions are still needed and some parts of the API should be deprecated. Some C11 features could be leveraged to simplify parts of the code base.

. HTML5 support: The HTML parser is based on the underspecified HTML 4.01 standard. It would take a huge effort to implement complete support for HTML5 but gradual improvements are possible.

. Ongoing maintenance: Mostly portability issues and addressing changes in compiler tool chains.

As a research and development service, the contract is excluded from the scope of application of public procurement law (cf. Section 116 (1) No. 2 Act against Restraints on Competition).