Static application security testing (SAST) has become a secure coding best practice for DevSecOps workflows because it enables developers to find and remediate vulnerabilities early in the development pipeline—without needing to execute code.
While all SAST tools help make your code base more secure, there might be tools that fit your workflow better than others. When you start your SAST journey with open-source tools, you can see what’s a good fit without spending money on licensing costs.
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at how you can leverage SAST for code security. We’ll also explore key features of open-source SAST tools, such as language support, integration capabilities, and reporting functionalities. Let’s get started.
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What is SAST?
Simply put, SAST is a code scanning method that tests code for security vulnerabilities. It can run directly in the IDE while a developer writes the code (when they still remember their intentions for said code!) and at the beginning of a CI/CD pipeline. It’s usually the first line of defense against potential security threats.
SAST scans code without requiring its execution or compilation, which is why it can run in an IDE right when the code is written. Executing code poses risks, so having a method that can catch vulnerabilities without execution is safer.
Remember: The later you find an issue, the harder it is to fix. Running a SAST tool is crucial.
SAST vs. DAST
So, how is SAST different from DAST? Dynamic application security testing (DAST) requires compilation and execution of the code being tested, which is more involved than SAST. Since DAST is much slower, there can be huge differences in the time it takes to complete the testing when compared with SAST.
Another difference? DAST is a black-box testing method, meaning it only sends inputs to the app and checks the responses. Because it doesn’t scan or even understand the code in any way, DAST is more flexible than SAST—it’s not limited to specific programming languages.
TL;DR: SAST’s major upside is its scanning speed, but as a white-box testing method, this speed comes at the cost of flexibility. SAST needs to scan code, so the SAST tool must understand that code; if your programming language isn’t supported, DAST might be your only option.
What are the key features of SAST tools?
When selecting a SAST tool, you’ll want to keep the following capabilities in mind:
Language and framework support
As we’ve seen, SAST has to understand the programming languages and frameworks you use in your project, which is its biggest limitation. (There won’t be support for niche or very new programming languages, and you’ll have to pick a different testing method.) That said, if you’re using a popular programming language like Java, C#, JavaScript, or Python, you’ll find many SAST tools to choose from.
Integration capabilities with IDEs and CI/CD pipelines
The next consideration is how a given SAST solution will integrate with the tools you and your team use. Again, popular tools like Visual Studio, VS Code, or JetBrains IDEs are often well-supported. And CI/CD pipelines can usually execute all kinds of CLI tools, so there shouldn’t be a problem integrating the SAST tool of your choice. But if you’re into esoteric IDEs and operating systems, you might have trouble finding a SAST tool that suits your needs.
Accuracy and efficiency
As with any software, SAST tools differ in quality. Each uses a different threat database and programming language. SAST tools with a smaller or outdated threat database might miss vulnerabilities. Another consideration? If they aren’t implemented efficiently, SAST might take too long to execute, slowing your development process.
Customization options
If you’re working on a project that has grown over the years or decades, you might have very specific requirements for integrating new tools, so you should check if the SAST tool you want to use supports those customization requirements.
Reporting and analytics
Reporting and analytics make or break a software project; if you don’t know how much of an improvement the SAST tool brings, you can’t evaluate if it's worth the effort. Ensure that your tool gives you reasonable outputs you can track over time.
Compliance support
Many enterprises are subject to national or international regulations. SAST tools can help conform to some of them, either because the regulation explicitly requires using SAST tools in the development process or because the tool can identify issues that could jeopardize compliance.
Scalability
As your codebase grows, your tools must grow with it. If you have millions of lines of code, a faster SAST tool could translate to hours saved on a scan of the whole system.
Open standards support
Last but not least, you don’t want to get locked into a tool that uses proprietary interfaces. Open standards give you flexibility and allow you to switch tools and threat databases.
What are the top open-source SAST tools?
Now that you understand SAST and what features to look for, let’s look at the most popular open-source SAST tools.
1.Mobile Security Framework
MobSF is the most popular open-source SAST tool for iOS and Android development. As its name implies, it’s geared toward mobile platforms. MobSF can scan programming languages like Java, Kotlin, Objective-C, and Swift. It can also scan binaries and packages like APK, IPA, and APPX files. While this article is about SAST tools, it’s worth mentioning that MobSF also comes with a DAST scanner, making it a full-service application security scanner.
The major downside of MobSF is that it doesn’t come with any IDE integrations.
2. GolangCI-Lint
GolangCI-Lint is a SAST tool for Go projects that uses multiple linters and provides a comprehensive suite for identifying code issues, potential bugs, and stylistic errors. It helps developers maintain high-quality code by seamlessly integrating into the Go toolchain, which supports fast execution. It can also be easily added to CI/CD pipelines.
GolangCI-Lint has detailed reporting features that help track code quality over time. Better yet? Its sophisticated configuration features allow it to adapt to different workflows.
3. PHPStan
PHPStan is the most popular open-source PHP code analyzer. The CLI tool can run in your CI/CD pipeline and produces outputs compatible with GitHub Actions.
PHPStan lets you set different levels of strictness for the applied rules, so it’s very flexible, and you can adopt it gradually into your codebase.
A nice extra: While the tool runs on PHP7, it can scan code written for older PHP versions.
4. Grype
If you mainly work with container images, try Grype. Its focus on Linux packages makes it a crucial tool for all DevSecOps practices.
Grype provides detailed vulnerability reports, including information on severity and remediation advice. Its integration capabilities with CI/CD pipelines ensure that security checks are seamlessly incorporated into the development process.
5. Brakeman
Brakeman is a static analyzer for Ruby on Rails that can detect common issues like SQL injections or cross-site scripting. It also scans your configuration files for vulnerabilities. The CLI can generate detailed reports in JSON or XML (for ingestion in CI/CD tools like Jenkins) or HTML (for reading in a browser). Because it uses Docker for deployment, it’s easy to set up in different environments.
Similar to PHPStan, it allows you to configure different notification levels.
6. Pyre
Facebook created Pyre, a static type checker for Python. This syntax extension allows the definition of variables with static types and compiles them to regular Python. Static types help manage complexity in large code bases, and since Pyre has incremental analysis features, it scales well with a project's size.
In addition to the CLI for CI/CD integration, Pyre also has a VS Code extension that lets developers view real-time errors.
7. Bandit
Bandit is a code analyzer for Python that checks for common security issues, such as hardcoded passwords, SQL injections, and unsafe function use. Then, the CLI generates detailed reports that help with remediation. That said, you can configure it to ignore vulnerabilities you know aren’t an issue, which helps prevent alert fatigue.
Like other tools, you can configure the output format to be HTML for humans or JSON, XML, CSV, or another format for programmatical ingestion by CI/CD tools.
8. Psalm
Psalm is another SAST tool for PHP that integrates with an IDE for real-time feedback while programming. It can catch type errors, unreachable code, and other logic issues in your codebase. One great feature is that it comes with another tool called Psalter, which can automatically fix issues Psalm finds.
Psalm is ideal for big codebases, where repeated issues can pop up dozens of times.
9. PMD
PMD is an “extensive cross-language static code analyzer” that supports more than 15 languages. It comes with over 400 rules, as well as letting you define your own. Want to integrate with build tools like Maven, Ant, and Gradle? PMD has you covered. And by supporting various output formats, PMD makes it easy to read or import reports.
Another great feature? PMD includes a copy-and-paste detector that finds duplicate code.
What are the limitations of open-source SAST tools?
Open-source tools are a great start for your SAST journey, but they have limits:
They identify a relatively small number of vulnerabilities and require external, sometimes commercial, services to turn them into a complete solution.
They suffer from many false positives, meaning they display vulnerabilities that aren’t risky in practice because the code they identified isn’t run in a public setting.
Most SAST tools focus on programming languages, so they’re missing issues in configuration files. Your code can be perfectly secure, but the application can still be vulnerable because you defined the wrong IP range in a config file.
Many SAST tools ignore compiled code and can’t catch vulnerabilities inside third-party libraries or frameworks.
How Wiz Code complements SAST tools
Wiz Code and SAST tools complement each other, enabling a more comprehensive approach to code security. While SAST tools focus on traditional source code vulnerability detection, Wiz Code provides context-aware security insights by integrating code scanning with cloud-native risks, Infrastructure as Code (IaC), and CI/CD pipeline security.
1. Integrate Wiz Code and SAST in CI/CD Pipelines
Both Wiz Code and SAST tools can be embedded into the CI/CD pipeline to provide security checks at different stages.
SAST scans the codebase for vulnerabilities like injection flaws, insecure APIs, and coding errors.
Wiz Code simultaneously scans for misconfigurations, hardcoded secrets, and risks in IaC, Kubernetes manifests, and cloud configurations.
2. Correlate and Prioritize Vulnerabilities
Wiz Code can contextualize SAST findings by combining code-level vulnerabilities with runtime and cloud context.
Example: SAST may flag a vulnerable function, but Wiz Code identifies that it’s in an unused part of the codebase or in a container with no external exposure—downgrading its priority.
On the other hand, if Wiz Code detects that the same function is part of an exposed microservice in a production Kubernetes cluster, it can elevate the risk level.
3. Secure IaC and Application Code Together
SAST tools don’t cover IaC templates, Kubernetes configurations, or secrets detection—but these are critical in modern cloud environments.
Wiz Code can fill that gap while running alongside SAST to provide IaC security and ensure cloud environments are configured securely before deployment.
4. Continuous Monitoring and Post-Deployment Validation
SAST tools are typically used during development, but they stop providing value after code is deployed. Wiz Code offers post-deployment validation by continuously monitoring code repositories and pipelines for new risks.
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