What is Software Composition Analysis (SCA) ?

Software Composition Analysis (SCA) is security process to identifies and manage risks in third-party libraries used within application.

Modern application recently heavily rely on open-source library, third-party component or frameworks. Vulnerabilities on these dependencies can exposed whole application to attackers

SCA tools scan dependencies to find vulnerabilities, outdated packages and license risks.

Why SCA Matters in Cybersecurity

Application today built with third-party components and open-source libraries. The attackers often attack this component to exploit vulnerabilities, as seen in high-profile cases like the Log4j vulnerability.

Benefit of SCA

Software Composition Analysis (SCA) help organization to :

• Detect vulnerabilities in libraries in use before reach to porduction
• Track open-source linceses libraries to avoid legal risks
• Reduce the risk of supply chain attacks
• Compliance with security frameworks such as PCI DSS and NIST

How SCA Works

• Scan application’s dependencies tree
• Compare component against database of known vulnerabilities (e.g, NVD)
• Flag outdated or risky packages, and suggest developer to update or patches
• Provides visibility into open-source license usage

Common Issues Detected by SCA

• Vulnerable open-souces libraries (e.g Log4J)
• Outdated dependencies with security flaws
• License conflicts (GPL, Apache, etc)
• Risk of malicious package in public repositories

Example

Developer team build web application use outdated version of logging library. SCA tools scan and find that this version is vulnerable to remote code execution (RCE) attack. The team updates the dependency to secure library before the application going to production

Related Terms

• Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST)
• Static Application Security Testing (SAST)
• Interactive Application Security Testing (IAST)
• Application Security
• Application Security Testing
• SBOM (Software Bill of Materials)
• Supply Chain Attack