Reducing SAST False Positives: A Guide to Efficient Vulnerability Management

Hello, it's Dan Chernov with DerScanner. In this blog post, I will discuss ways to reduce noise and alert fatigue when working with the results of Static Application Security Testing (SAST) scanning. While getting some false positives is inevitable, it is important to minimize them. To address this, DerScanner offers Confi AI — a patented AI-powered technology that helps add confidence to the results of your scanning, leaving you with a digestible, prioritized list of findings that are critical for your application. Let's dive in to learn more.

The Challenge of SAST

Static Application Security Testing (SAST) is a crucial tool in the arsenal of any security-conscious development team. However, one of the significant challenges with SAST tools is that they do not guarantee 100% accuracy in their findings. This often results in a deluge of vulnerabilities, many of which may be false positives. This can lead to alert fatigue, where the sheer volume of alerts makes it difficult to focus on the vulnerabilities that truly matter.

Introducing Confi AI

To combat this issue, DerScanner offers Confi AI, an AI-powered technology designed to help you prioritize findings and reduce noise. Confi AI provides a more manageable list of results by filtering out less critical vulnerabilities and focusing on those that are more likely to be true positives.

Modes of Operation

Confi AI comes with several preset modes to cater to different needs and preferences. Let's explore these modes:

1. Only True

In this default mode, Confi AI will only display vulnerabilities that it has a high level of confidence are true positives. This mode disregards the severity level of the vulnerabilities, ensuring that only the most reliable findings are presented.

2. Only Important

In this mode, Confi AI adjusts its filtering criteria to include critical-level vulnerabilities, even if it is not 100% certain that they can be exploited in the given context. This mode ensures that potential high-impact issues are not overlooked.

3. Dynamic Mode

Dynamic Mode allows you to customize the filtering criteria by setting a percentile of vulnerabilities of each severity level to be displayed in the results. This mode offers flexibility, enabling you to tailor the results to your specific needs and risk tolerance.

4. Custom Mode

For those who prefer complete control, Custom Mode allows you to define your own filtering criteria. For example, you can choose to display only vulnerabilities with the highest level of confidence, regardless of their severity. This mode provides the ultimate flexibility in managing your SAST results.

Practical Benefits

Using Confi AI can significantly improve your workflow by reducing the number of false positives and allowing you to focus on the most critical vulnerabilities. For instance, by applying a filter to show only the highest confidence vulnerabilities, you can eliminate a substantial portion of the findings, saving both time and effort.

Moreover, since Confi AI is just a filter setting, you can always reset it to review the vulnerabilities that were previously filtered out. This ensures that you have the option to double-check and revisit any findings as needed.

See DerScanner's Confi AI engine in action by Valerie.

Conclusion

Reducing false positives in SAST is essential for maintaining an efficient and effective security workflow. Confi AI by DerScanner offers a powerful solution to this problem, providing various modes to prioritize and filter vulnerabilities according to your needs. By leveraging Confi AI, you can minimize alert fatigue and focus on the vulnerabilities that truly matter, enhancing the security of your application.

Shift left, stay safe, and happy scanning!

By Dan Chernov