We’re excited to announce Cycode’s reachability analysis, a new feature now available as part of our Software Composition Analysis (SCA) solution.
Understanding Reachability Analysis
Cycode’s reachability analysis determines whether vulnerable functions from referenced packages are actively used within project codebases. It identifies whether an application’s execution path actually reaches the vulnerability in a way that could be exploited at run time. This functionality is pivotal in identifying and prioritizing vulnerabilities for remediation.
The Importance of Reachability Analysis
While traditional software composition analysis provides valuable insights into vulnerable packages referenced within code projects, it often inundates users with extensive lists of potential vulnerabilities. With so many alerts, prioritization becomes extremely important to identify which flaws to fix first.
Various criteria, such as vulnerability severity and exploitability, are typically employed to rank SCA violations. However, the mere presence of referenced vulnerable packages doesn’t mean that the application is vulnerable. Many packages expose numerous functions and methods, with only a fraction posing actual security risks. Reachability analysis addresses this gap by scrutinizing project source code and correlating invoked functions with those known to harbor vulnerabilities.
Identified violations that are reachable are elevated in priority because they represent a greater risk to the organization. Furthermore, by providing concrete examples of function usage, Cycode empowers CISOs and security professionals to effectively engage developers in remediation efforts, reducing manual vulnerability research and prioritizing the most impactful risks.
How Reachability Analysis Is Displayed in Cycode
Within the “Vulnerability found in dependency” violation group, users can opt to filter results to exclusively display reachable vulnerabilities.
Upon selecting a specific reachable violation, users receive detailed information indicating the violation’s reachability status and the number of files implicated.
Clicking the relevant information opens a dedicated tab displaying previews of files containing reachable vulnerabilities.
Users can conveniently navigate through code files to pinpoint vulnerable function calls and streamline the remediation process.
The Benefits of Reachability Analysis
Reachability analysis makes SCA more effective and efficient. It reduces the noise sometimes generated by SCA scanners. Excessive noise can cause alert fatigue, resulting in missed or ignored violations.
Because reachability analysis tracks the exact portion of the code in a dependency that is being reused by your application, scan results are significantly improved and prioritization is more accurate. Organizations can identify the top 1% of vulnerabilities that represent real risk, which helps focus remediation efforts. This saves time for both security and development teams. Plus it improves collaboration between teams so that organizations can deliver secure code faster.
Peace of Mind with Cycode
Cycode’s reachability analysis gives you a significant advantage when identifying, prioritizing, and remediating vulnerable dependencies. With this new feature, businesses can identify and mitigate risks more effectively, ultimately enhancing their overall security posture.
Cycode SCA is just one small part of Cycode’s complete Application Security Posture Management (ASPM) solution.
Cycode is the leading ASPM and Software Supply Chain Security platform, providing peace of mind to its customers. Our complete ASPM platform scales and standardizes developer security without slowing down the business, delivering safe code, faster. Cycode delivers cyber resiliency through unmatched visibility, risk-driven prioritization and just-in-time remediation of code vulnerabilities at scale. Cycode’s Risk Intelligence Graph (RIG), the brain behind the platform, provides traceability across the entire SDLC through natural language.
As a purpose-built platform for developer security, Cycode delivers visibility, prioritization, and remediation of vulnerabilities across the entire SDLC.
To learn more about Cycode, book a demo now.
