Software Composite Analysis (SCA): How secured are the dependencies?

Developers are no longer building everything from scratch. Instead, much of the code in modern applications comes from open-source libraries, third-party dependencies, and pre-built components. This reliance on external sources can drastically speed up development, but it introduces a new challenge: How secure are the building blocks of your software?

This is where Software Composition Analysis (SCA) comes into play. SCA is a crucial type of security test that ensures the external dependencies in your application are free from vulnerabilities and are compliant with licensing requirements. While other security tests like SAST and DAST focus on your code and its behavior, SCA zooms in on the components that you didn’t write, ensuring that your dependencies are as secure as the rest of your application.

What Would SCA Result In?

When performing an SCA scan, the primary goal is to uncover potential risks hiding in the external components of your software. An SCA scan typically results in a detailed report that includes:

1. Vulnerability Information: A list of known vulnerabilities in the libraries and dependencies that are part of your project. These vulnerabilities are often categorized by severity (e.g., critical, high, medium, low) to help prioritize responses.
2. Licensing Issues: Not all open-source software is free to use without restrictions. SCA will also flag any dependencies that might have restrictive or incompatible licenses, ensuring compliance with intellectual property laws.
3. Versioning Issues: SCA reports may also highlight outdated or deprecated versions of dependencies. It will recommend newer versions that have addressed security flaws or bugs.

In short, an SCA scan provides you with a thorough breakdown of the external components in your software, ensuring you know exactly where potential risks might lie and where updates are needed.

What Actions Can Be Taken Based on SCA?

After reviewing the results of an SCA report, several actions can be taken to reduce the risks posed by insecure or outdated dependencies:

1. Upgrade Vulnerable Dependencies: The most straightforward response is to upgrade any libraries or frameworks that have known vulnerabilities. SCA tools will usually recommend newer, safer versions of the affected components.
2. Remove or Replace Risky Components: In cases where upgrading isn’t an option, you may need to replace the insecure library with an alternative or even remove the dependency altogether if it’s no longer essential.
3. Patch Vulnerabilities: In some cases, you may need to patch a vulnerable dependency manually if an update or replacement isn’t immediately available. Patching, though less ideal, can mitigate risks temporarily while waiting for an official fix.
4. Monitor Continuously: Finally, even after resolving the immediate vulnerabilities, continuous monitoring is crucial. Open-source vulnerabilities can emerge over time, so regularly running SCA as part of your CI/CD pipeline ensures ongoing security.

In conclusion, Software Composition Analysis (SCA) plays an essential role in modern software development by ensuring that the external components your project relies on are secure, compliant, and up to date. By integrating SCA into your security testing process, you can gain a clearer understanding of the risks posed by third-party dependencies and take swift action to mitigate them.