SCA (Software Composition Analysis)

What is Software Composition Analysis (SCA)?

Software Composition Analysis (SCA) is a category of security tools and practices that identify and analyze open source components, third-party libraries, and their dependencies within a software application. SCA tools help organizations track what components are being used, detect known vulnerabilities, identify potential license compliance issues, and manage risk throughout the software development lifecycle.

As modern applications can include hundreds or thousands of open source dependencies, SCA has become essential for maintaining security and compliance in software development.

Key Functions of SCA Tools

Dependency Discovery

SCA tools scan codebases, package manifests, and build files to create a comprehensive inventory of all components, including both direct and transitive dependencies.

Vulnerability Detection

SCA solutions check identified components against databases of known vulnerabilities (e.g., the National Vulnerability Database) to identify security issues.

License Identification and Compliance

SCA tools detect and analyze the licenses associated with each component, alerting teams to potential license compliance issues or conflicts.

Policy Enforcement

Many SCA solutions allow organizations to define and enforce policies regarding component usage, such as blocking components with specific licenses or high-severity vulnerabilities.

Continuous Monitoring

SCA tools continuously monitor for newly discovered vulnerabilities in existing components, alerting teams when new issues are found.

SBOM Generation

Modern SCA tools can generate Software Bills of Materials (SBOMs) in standard formats like SPDX or CycloneDX.

Why SCA is Important

Security Risk Management

Open source components can introduce security vulnerabilities. The 2022 Open Source Security and Risk Analysis report found that 81% of codebases contained at least one vulnerability, with an average of 110 vulnerabilities per application.

License Compliance

Using open source software requires compliance with its licensing terms. Failure to comply can lead to intellectual property issues, legal disputes, and potential litigation.

Operational Efficiency

SCA tools automate the otherwise manual and time-consuming process of tracking dependencies, checking for vulnerabilities, and ensuring license compliance.

Regulatory Requirements

Many regulations and industry standards now require organizations to maintain an accurate inventory of software components and address known vulnerabilities.

SCA Implementation Best Practices

1. Shift Left - Integrate SCA early in the development lifecycle, including developer IDEs and pre-commit hooks

2. CI/CD Integration - Automate SCA scans within continuous integration pipelines

3. Policy Definition - Create clear policies for acceptable components based on license types, vulnerability severity, and maintainer activity

4. Remediation Planning - Establish processes for addressing identified issues, with clear prioritization guidelines

5. Developer Education - Train developers on the importance of secure component selection and the risks of introducing unvetted dependencies

6. Continuous Monitoring - Implement ongoing monitoring for new vulnerabilities in existing components

7. SBOM Maintenance - Generate and maintain accurate Software Bills of Materials

Popular SCA Tools

• Snyk - SCA with IDE integrations and automated fix suggestions
• FOSSA - License compliance and vulnerability management platform
• WhiteSource (now Mend) - Comprehensive open source security and management
• Black Duck - Component detection and license compliance
• OWASP Dependency-Check - Open source SCA focusing on vulnerabilities
• Sonatype Nexus Lifecycle - Component lifecycle management with policy enforcement