owasp-depscan 6.3.0

Fully open-source security audit for project dependencies based on known vulnerabilities and advisories.

Introduction

OWASP dep-scan is a next-generation security and risk audit tool based on known vulnerabilities, advisories, and license limitations for project dependencies. Both local repositories and container images are supported as the input, and the tool is ideal for integration with ASPM/VM platforms and in CI environments.

Contents

• Features
  • Precise reachable data-flows
  • Reachability matrix
  • Rust reachability (via rusi)
  • Go reachability (via golem)
  • .NET reachability (via dosai)
  • JVM, JavaScript, Python, and PHP reachability (via atom)
  • Vulnerability Data sources
  • Linux distros
• Quick Start
  • Scanning projects locally (Python version)
  • Standalone binaries (no Python or Node.js required)
  • Scanning containers locally (Python version)
  • Scanning projects locally (Docker container)
  • Server mode
• Local development
• Documentation (depscan.readthedocs.io)
• License

Features

• Scan most application code (local repos, Linux container images, Kubernetes manifests, and OS) to identify known CVEs with prioritization
• Perform advanced reachability analysis for multiple languages (see the reachability matrix below)
• Package vulnerability scanning is performed locally and is quite fast. No server is used
• Generate Software Bill-of-Materials (SBOM) with Vulnerability Disclosure Report (VDR) information
• Generate a Common Security Advisory Framework (CSAF) 2.0/2.1 VEX document (check out the CSAF Readme)
• Perform deep packages risk audit for dependency confusion attacks and maintenance risks (see the risk audit docs)

Precise Reachable data-flows

Detailed data flows to identify both reachable and non-reachable paths in your application based on the full context.

Reachability matrix

dep-scan computes reachability for seven language ecosystems through four slicers. A vulnerable package whose code is actually on an executed path is marked Reachable, while a package that is merely declared in the BOM but never called is not. Every slicer feeds the same shared, purl-keyed reachability engine, so the behavior is uniform across languages. Reachability is on by default (--reachability-analyzer FrameworkReachability); SemanticReachability additionally attributes reached services, endpoints, and post-build (binary/container) reachability.

Language / ecosystem	Reachability engine	Default analyzer
Java / JVM (Groovy, Kotlin, Scala)	atom	FrameworkReachability
JavaScript / TypeScript	atom	FrameworkReachability
Python	atom	FrameworkReachability
PHP	atom	FrameworkReachability
Rust	rusi	FrameworkReachability
Go	golem	FrameworkReachability
.NET (C#, VB, F#, R)	dosai	FrameworkReachability

For the concepts behind reachability and prioritization, read the reachability model and prioritization chapters. For per-language worked examples, see the Language Guides. For the compliance story (VDR and CSAF VEX), see the VDR guide and the CSAF VEX guide.

Reachability is on by default under --profile research, which is what dep-scan uses when reachability is on. The commands below are enough to get started; the per-language guides cover binary resolution, backend and network safety, restore requirements, and worked examples on the in-repo fixtures.

Rust (rusi). cdxgen runs rusi and persists its report, which dep-scan converts into the shared pipeline, so a crate that is actually called (for example time::now() for RUSTSEC-2020-0071) is Reachable while one merely present is not. See the Rust reachability guide.

depscan -i ./my-rust-app -o ./reports --profile research

Go (golem). dep-scan invokes golem directly for Go projects (needs go on PATH), marking a module Reachable when its functions are on a traced path. Use --go-analyzer-network offline for untrusted repos with a warm module cache. See the Go reachability guide.

depscan -i ./my-go-app -o ./reports -t go

.NET (dosai). cdxgen runs dosai, which emits an explicit per-package reachability verdict (PackageReachability with ReachabilityKind and Confidence) that dep-scan treats as authoritative, so a NuGet package actually called (for example JsonConvert.DeserializeObject on a controlled input) is Reachable. Scan a restored tree for versioned purls. See the .NET reachability guide.

depscan -i ./my-dotnet-app -o ./reports -t dotnet

JVM, JavaScript/TypeScript, Python, and PHP (atom). These four ecosystems share the atom slicer, which builds a language-agnostic intermediate representation and performs static slicing. See the JVM, JS, Python, and PHP reachability guide.

depscan --profile research -t java -i ./my-java-app -o ./reports --explain

To move beyond framework-forward reachability to endpoint, service, and post-build tiers, pass --reachability-analyzer SemanticReachability with a --bom-dir of lifecycle BOMs. See the semantic reachability guide.

Clear insights about CVEs

Understand CVEs clearly without having to read through the description.

Automatic prioritization

Only focus on CVEs that need your attention.

Stay proactive

Always stay a step ahead with advanced vulnerability and exploit prediction.

Vulnerability Data sources

• OSV
• NVD
• GitHub
• NPM
• Linux vuln-list

Linux distros

• AlmaLinux
• Debian
• Alpine
• Amazon Linux
• Arch Linux
• RHEL/CentOS
• Rocky Linux
• Ubuntu
• OpenSUSE/SLES
• Photon
• Chainguard
• Wolfi OS

Quick Start

dep-scan is ideal for use during continuous integration (CI) and as a local development tool.

Scanning projects locally (Python version)

sudo npm install -g @cyclonedx/cdxgen
# Normal version recommended for most users (MIT)
pip install owasp-depscan

# For a full version with all extensions and server mode (Multiple Licenses)
pip install owasp-depscan[all]

This would install two commands called cdxgen and depscan.

You can invoke the scan command directly with the various options.

cd <project to scan>
depscan --src $PWD --reports-dir $PWD/reports

The full list of options is below:

usage: depscan [-h] [--config CONFIG] [--no-banner] [-i SRC_DIR_IMAGE] [-o REPORTS_DIR] [--csaf]
               [--profile {appsec,research,operational,threat-modeling,license-compliance,generic,machine-learning,ml,deep-learning,ml-deep,ml-tiny}]
               [--lifecycle {pre-build,build,post-build} [{pre-build,build,post-build} ...]]
               [--technique {auto,source-code-analysis,binary-analysis,manifest-analysis,hash-comparison,instrumentation,filename} [{auto,source-code-analysis,binary-analysis,manifest-analysis,hash-comparison,instrumentation,filename} ...]]
               [--bom-engine {auto,CdxgenGenerator,CdxgenServerGenerator,CdxgenImageBasedGenerator,BlintGenerator} |
               --vulnerability-analyzer {auto,VDRAnalyzer,LifecycleAnalyzer}] [--reachability-analyzer {off,FrameworkReachability,SemanticReachability}] [--no-suggest]
               [--risk-audit] [--cdxgen-args CDXGEN_ARGS] [--private-ns PRIVATE_NS] [-t PROJECT_TYPE [PROJECT_TYPE ...]] [--bom BOM | --bom-dir BOM_DIR | --purl SEARCH_PURL]
               [--report-template REPORT_TEMPLATE] [--report-name REPORT_NAME] [--deep] [--fuzzy-search] [--search-order {purl,pcu,cpe,cpu,url}] [--no-universal]
               [--no-vuln-table] [--server] [--server-host SERVER_HOST] [--server-port SERVER_PORT] [--cdxgen-server CDXGEN_SERVER] [--debug] [-q | --explain] [-v]

Fully open-source security and license audit for application dependencies and container images based on known vulnerabilities and advisories.

options:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  --config CONFIG       Path to the configuration file. Default: $PWD/.config/depscan.toml
  --no-banner           Do not display the logo and donation banner. Please make a donation to OWASP before using this argument.
  -i, --src SRC_DIR_IMAGE
                        Source directory or container image or binary file
  -o, --reports-dir REPORTS_DIR
                        Reports directory
  --csaf                Generate a OASIS CSAF VEX document
  --profile {appsec,research,operational,threat-modeling,license-compliance,generic,machine-learning,ml,deep-learning,ml-deep,ml-tiny}
                        Profile to use while generating the BOM. For granular control, use the arguments --bom-engine, --vulnerability-analyzer, or --reachability-analyzer.
  --lifecycle {pre-build,build,post-build} [{pre-build,build,post-build} ...]
                        Product lifecycle for the generated BOM. Multiple values allowed.
  --technique {auto,source-code-analysis,binary-analysis,manifest-analysis,hash-comparison,instrumentation,filename} [{auto,source-code-analysis,binary-analysis,manifest-analysis,hash-comparison,instrumentation,filename} ...]
                        Analysis technique to use for BOM generation. Multiple values allowed.
  --bom-engine {auto,CdxgenGenerator,CdxgenServerGenerator,CdxgenImageBasedGenerator,BlintGenerator}
                        BOM generation engine to use. Defaults to automatic selection based on project type and lifecycle.
  --vulnerability-analyzer {auto,VDRAnalyzer,LifecycleAnalyzer}
                        Vulnerability analyzer to use. Defaults to automatic selection based on bom_dir argument.
  --reachability-analyzer {off,FrameworkReachability,SemanticReachability}
                        Reachability analyzer to use. Default FrameworkReachability.
  --no-suggest          Disable suggest mode
  --risk-audit          Perform package risk audit (slow operation). Npm only.
  --cdxgen-args CDXGEN_ARGS
                        Additional arguments to pass to cdxgen
  --private-ns PRIVATE_NS
                        Private namespace to use while performing oss risk audit. Private packages should not be available in public registries by default. Comma separated
                        values accepted.
  -t, --type PROJECT_TYPE [PROJECT_TYPE ...]
                        Override project types if auto-detection is incorrect. Multiple values supported.
  --bom BOM             Examine using the given Software Bill-of-Materials (SBOM) file in CycloneDX format. Use cdxgen command to produce one.
  --bom-dir BOM_DIR     Examine all the Bill-of-Materials (BOM) files in the given directory.
  --purl SEARCH_PURL    Scan a single package url.
  --custom-data CUSTOM_DATA
                        Path to directory containing custom vulnerability data (JSON/YAML/TOML) to override/augment results.
  --report-template REPORT_TEMPLATE
                        Jinja template file used for rendering a custom report
  --report-name REPORT_NAME
                        Filename of the custom report written to the --reports-dir
  --deep                Perform deep scan by passing this --deep argument to cdxgen. Useful while scanning docker images and OS packages.
  --fuzzy-search        Perform fuzzy search by creating variations of package names. Use this when the input SBOM lacks a PURL.
  --search-order {purl,pcu,cpe,cpu,url}
                        Attributes to use while searching for vulnerabilities. Default: PURL, CPE, URL (pcu).
  --no-universal        Depscan would attempt to perform a single universal scan instead of individual scans per language type.
  --no-vuln-table       Do not print the table with the full list of vulnerabilities. This can help reduce console output.
  --server              Run depscan as a server
  --server-host SERVER_HOST
                        depscan server host
  --server-port SERVER_PORT
                        depscan server port
  --server-allowed-hosts [SERVER_ALLOWED_HOSTS ...]
                        List of allowed hostnames or IPs that can access the server (e.g., 'localhost 192.168.1.10'). If unspecified, no host allowlist is
                        enforced.
  --server-allowed-paths [SERVER_ALLOWED_PATHS ...]
                        List of allowed filesystem paths that can be scanned by the server. Restricts `path` parameter in /scan requests.
  --cdxgen-server CDXGEN_SERVER
                        cdxgen server url. Eg: http://cdxgen:9090
  --debug               Run depscan in debug mode.
  -q, --quiet           Makes depscan quiet.
  --explain             Makes depscan to explain the various analysis. Useful for creating detailed reports.
  --explanation-mode {Endpoints,EndpointsAndReachables,NonReachables,LLMPrompts}
                        Style of explanation needed. Defaults to Endpoints and Reachables.
  --annotate            Include the generated text VDR report as an annotation. Defaults to true when explain is enabled; false otherwise.
  -v, --version         Display the version

Standalone binaries (no Python or Node.js required)

Pre-built single-file executables are attached to each GitHub release. They bundle a matching cdxgen SEA binary, so BOM generation works out of the box without installing Python, Node.js, or cdxgen.

Platform	Architecture	Asset
Linux (glibc)	x86_64	depscan-linux-amd64
Linux (glibc)	arm64	depscan-linux-arm64
Linux (musl / Alpine)	x86_64	depscan-linux-amd64-musl
Linux (musl / Alpine)	arm64	depscan-linux-arm64-musl
macOS	Apple silicon	depscan-darwin-arm64
macOS	Intel	depscan-darwin-amd64
Windows	x86_64	depscan-windows-amd64.exe

Each asset has a matching .sha256 file for verification.

# Example: Linux x86_64
curl -LO https://github.com/owasp-dep-scan/dep-scan/releases/latest/download/depscan-linux-amd64
curl -LO https://github.com/owasp-dep-scan/dep-scan/releases/latest/download/depscan-linux-amd64.sha256
sha256sum -c depscan-linux-amd64.sha256
chmod +x depscan-linux-amd64
./depscan-linux-amd64 --src $PWD --reports-dir $PWD/reports

[!NOTE] The macOS binaries are currently unsigned. On first run macOS Gatekeeper may block them; clear the quarantine attribute with xattr -d com.apple.quarantine ./depscan-darwin-arm64 (or allow the binary under System Settings, Privacy & Security).

[!NOTE] The vulnerability database is still downloaded on first run. Only cdxgen is bundled, not the vuln DB. Use the depscan-vdb command to select a specific database variant, for example depscan-vdb download --scope app for a smaller app-only database. See the vulnerability database guide for the full image matrix.

All standalone binaries bundle blint, but not its optional nyxstone disassembly backend (which has no wheels and no Windows support). Deep disassembly-based binary analysis is therefore unavailable in the standalone binaries; use the Python package (pip install owasp-depscan[all]) if you need it.

Scanning containers locally (Python version)

Scan a Java project.

depscan --src <path> -o containertests -t java

Scan latest tag of the container shiftleft/scan-slim

depscan --src shiftleft/scan-slim -o containertests -t docker

Include license to the type to perform the license audit.

depscan --src shiftleft/scan-slim -o containertests -t docker license

You can also specify the image using the sha256 digest

depscan --src redmine@sha256:a5c5f8a64a0d9a436a0a6941bc3fb156be0c89996add834fe33b66ebeed2439e -o containertests -t docker

You can also save container images using docker or podman save command and pass the archive to depscan for scanning.

docker save -o /tmp/scanslim.tar shiftleft/scan-slim:latest
# podman save --format oci-archive -o /tmp/scanslim.tar shiftleft/scan-slim:latest
depscan --src /tmp/scanslim.tar -o reports -t docker

Refer to the docker tests under the GitHub action workflow for this repo for more examples.

Scanning projects locally (Docker container)

ghcr.io/owasp-dep-scan/dep-scan container image can be used to perform the scan.

To scan with default settings

docker run --rm -v $PWD:/app ghcr.io/owasp-dep-scan/dep-scan depscan --src /app --reports-dir /app/reports

To scan with custom environment variables based configuration

docker run --rm \
    -e VDB_HOME=/db \
    -e GITHUB_TOKEN=<token> \
    -v /tmp:/db \
    -v $PWD:/app ghcr.io/owasp-dep-scan/dep-scan depscan --src /app --reports-dir /app/reports

In the above example, /tmp is mounted as /db into the container. This directory is then specified as VDB_HOME for caching the vulnerability information. This way the database can be cached and reused to improve performance.

Server mode

dep-scan and cdxgen could be run in server mode. Use the included docker-compose file to get started.

git clone https://github.com/owasp-dep-scan/dep-scan
docker compose up

The bundled compose file sets DEPSCAN_SERVER_API_KEY to a development placeholder by default so the dep-scan service can bind to 0.0.0.0. Override this value before exposing the service outside a local lab.

depscan --server --server-host 127.0.0.1 --server-port 7070

If you need to bind dep-scan to a non-local address, set an API key first:

export DEPSCAN_SERVER_API_KEY="change-this-before-production"
depscan --server --server-host 0.0.0.0 --server-port 7070

[!IMPORTANT] dep-scan refuses to bind to a non-local address without either DEPSCAN_SERVER_API_KEY or an explicit opt-in via DEPSCAN_SERVER_ALLOW_UNAUTHENTICATED_BIND=true.

Use the /scan endpoint to perform scans.

[!NOTE] The type parameter is mandatory in server mode. When API key authentication is enabled, send the key using X-API-Key or Authorization: Bearer <key>.

• Scanning a local directory. Scanning an SBOM file (present locally).

curl \
  -H 'X-API-Key: dev-only-change-me' \
  --json '{"path": "/tmp/vulnerable-aws-koa-app/sbom_file.json", "type": "js"}' \
  http://127.0.0.1:7070/scan

• Scanning a GitHub repo.

curl \
  -H 'Authorization: Bearer dev-only-change-me' \
  --json '{"url": "https://github.com/HooliCorp/vulnerable-aws-koa-app", "type": "js"}' \
  http://127.0.0.1:7070/scan \
  -o app.vdr.json

• Uploading an SBOM file and generating results based on it.

curl -X POST \
  -H 'X-API-Key: dev-only-change-me' \
  -H 'Content-Type: multipart/form-data' \
  -F 'file=@/tmp/app/sbom_file.json' \
  http://127.0.0.1:7070/scan?type=js

Local development

Setup uv by following the official documentation.

uv sync --all-extras --all-packages
uv run depscan --help
uv run pytest

Local VDB setup

vdb --clean
vdb --download-image
# To scan containers and OS images
# vdb --download-full-image

Scan local depscan

uv run depscan --config .config/depscan-dev.toml

This would automatically use the configuration specified in the local config file.

Documentation

Full documentation is at depscan.readthedocs.io. Key pages:

• Supported languages and reachability matrix
• Reachability analysis (hub)
  • The reachability model
  • How dep-scan prioritizes
  • SBOM and evidence
  • Language guides: Rust, Go, .NET, JVM/JS/Python/PHP
  • Analyzers: Framework reachability, Semantic reachability
• Output and compliance: VDR guide, CSAF VEX guide
• Customization through environment variables
• Advanced usage: GitHub Security Advisory, Suggest mode, Package Risk audit, Live OS scan, License scan, Custom reports

License

MIT License

This project was donated to the OWASP Foundation in August 2023 by AppThreat Ltd.

Funding

This project is funded through NGI Zero Core, a fund established by NLnet with financial support from the European Commission's Next Generation Internet program. Learn more at the NLnet project page.