With research showing that 29,065 vulnerabilities were reported in 2023 alone, Static application security testing (SAST) has become a secure coding best practice for DevSecOps workflows. 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. To further support secure coding practices, consider reviewing cheat sheets tailored for secure development.
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.
What is SAST?
Static application security testing (SAST) is an automated code scanning method that analyzes source code for security vulnerabilities without executing the program. SAST tools integrate directly into developer IDEs and CI/CD pipelines, making them the first line of defense against potential security threats. This early detection capability allows developers to identify and fix vulnerabilities while the code context is still fresh in their minds.
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.
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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?
Effective SAST tools share eight essential capabilities that determine their success in identifying vulnerabilities and integrating with development workflows. These features directly impact detection accuracy, development speed, and long-term security posture:
Language and framework support
Language compatibility determines which SAST tools you can use for your projects. SAST tools must parse and understand your specific programming languages and frameworks to identify vulnerabilities effectively.
This creates the primary limitation: niche or newly released programming languages often lack SAST support, forcing teams to use alternative testing methods. However, popular languages like Java, C#, JavaScript, and Python have extensive SAST tool options available.
Integration capabilities with IDEs and CI/CD pipelines
Integration capabilities determine how smoothly SAST tools fit into existing development workflows. Most SAST solutions support popular development environments like Visual Studio, VS Code, and JetBrains IDEs.
CI/CD pipeline integration is typically straightforward since most tools provide CLI interfaces that work with standard automation platforms. Teams using specialized or uncommon development environments may face compatibility challenges when selecting SAST tools.
Accuracy and efficiency
Accuracy and efficiency vary significantly across SAST tools based on two critical factors: threat database quality and implementation performance.
Threat database coverage directly impacts vulnerability detection—tools with smaller or outdated databases miss security issues that comprehensive solutions catch. Execution efficiency affects development velocity, as poorly optimized SAST tools can slow CI/CD pipelines and developer productivity.
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.
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What are the top open-source SAST tools?
Nine open-source SAST tools lead the market for cost-effective code security scanning. These tools offer enterprise-grade vulnerability detection without licensing costs, making them ideal starting points for organizations building secure development practices.
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 fast meta-linter for Go that aggregates many linters to catch bugs, style issues, and some security smells. It integrates well with the Go toolchain and CI/CD, and its configuration options make it easy to adopt at scale.
For dedicated security scanning, pair it with gosec to detect common vulnerabilities in Go code (e.g., injection risks, insecure crypto, hardcoded secrets). Together, they provide broad code quality coverage with targeted security findings.
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. Semgrep
Semgrep is a popular open-source SAST engine that supports dozens of languages and frameworks. It scans source code for security issues, insecure patterns, and policy violations using community and custom rules.
Semgrep provides clear, actionable findings and integrates seamlessly with CI/CD and developer workflows. You can tune rules to your codebase, suppress noise, and enforce secure coding standards during pull requests without slowing developers down.
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.
For security-focused analysis, use Pysa (built on Pyre) to perform taint analysis and detect dataflow vulnerabilities such as injection and insecure deserialization. This pairing lets teams improve code correctness with types while catching security issues earlier in development.
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 a versatile static analyzer with rules for code quality, performance, and some security smells across many languages, and it integrates cleanly with Maven/Gradle and CI.
For deeper Java security coverage, pair PMD with SpotBugs plus the FindSecBugs plugin to detect OWASP-class risks (e.g., injection, insecure deserialization, weak crypto) during builds and pull requests. This combination provides broad quality checks with focused security findings.
What are the limitations of open-source SAST tools?
Open-source SAST tools provide valuable security scanning capabilities but come with four key limitations that teams should understand:
Limited vulnerability coverage: Most tools identify fewer vulnerabilities than commercial alternatives and may require additional services for comprehensive protection.
False positive challenges: Tools frequently flag vulnerabilities in code that isn't publicly accessible or exploitable, creating alert fatigue for development teams. This is supported by research suggesting that if a warning was not removed across many versions of a project, it was likely not considered important enough to fix.
Configuration blind spots: Traditional SAST focuses on application code while missing security issues in configuration files, infrastructure settings, and deployment scripts. According to Wiz's Code Security Report, 61% of organizations have secrets exposed in public repositories, highlighting the critical gap in configuration security.
Third-party dependency gaps: Many tools cannot analyze compiled code or detect vulnerabilities within external libraries and frameworks that applications depend on.
How Wiz Code complements SAST tools
Wiz Code enhances SAST tools by providing cloud-native context that traditional code scanners miss. While SAST tools excel at finding source code vulnerabilities, Wiz Code adds critical visibility into infrastructure misconfigurations, CI/CD pipeline risks, and cloud deployment security.
This integrated approach enables teams to prioritize vulnerabilities based on actual production exposure rather than isolated code analysis, reducing false positives and focusing remediation efforts on genuinely exploitable risks.
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
Contextual risk prioritization enables Wiz Code to enhance SAST findings with real-world deployment intelligence, helping teams focus on genuinely exploitable vulnerabilities.
Risk downgrading: When SAST identifies vulnerabilities in unused code paths or isolated containers without external exposure, Wiz Code automatically lowers their priority.
Risk escalation: When vulnerable functions operate in publicly accessible microservices or production Kubernetes clusters, Wiz Code elevates these findings for immediate attention.
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.
