# DDS **slug:** `dds` · **URL:** `/knowledge/glossary/dds/` · **category:** Robotics Security · **reviewer:** Tatiana ### Definition DDS (Data Distribution Service) is the OMG-standardized publish-subscribe middleware specification used in real-time and embedded systems including robotics ([ROS2](/knowledge/glossary/ros2/)), defense, aerospace, and industrial control. It defines the data-centric model, Quality-of-Service contracts, and discovery semantics above the wire-level [RTPS](/knowledge/glossary/rtps/) protocol. ### What it means DDS is best understood as a contract framework rather than a single product. Multiple vendor implementations exist — RTI Connext, Eclipse CycloneDDS, eProsima Fast DDS, OCI OpenDDS, ADLINK Vortex — each with implementation-specific behaviors at the security and operational layers. ROS 2 abstracts DDS behind a vendor-agnostic API and supports several implementations; the default has changed across ROS 2 releases. For security testing, DDS implementation choice matters: each implementation has its own history of CVEs, its own default-configuration security posture, and its own SROS2 / DDS-Security integration completeness. A ROS 2 system running Fast DDS in 2026 has a different attack surface than the same logical system running CycloneDDS. ### Related terms - [RTPS](/knowledge/glossary/rtps/) - [SROS2](/knowledge/glossary/sros2/) - [ROS2](/knowledge/glossary/ros2/) - [MQTT](/knowledge/glossary/mqtt/) ### Authoritative sources - [DDS specification (OMG)](https://www.omg.org/spec/DDS/) - [DDS Security specification (OMG)](https://www.omg.org/spec/DDS-SECURITY/) ---