Bandit
Bandit is a tool designed to find common security issues in Python code.
| Category | Vulnerability Management |
|---|---|
| Community Stars | 6627 |
| Last Commit | last week |
| Last page update | 19 days ago |
| Pricing Details | Free and open-source |
| Target Audience | Developers and security professionals looking to enhance Python code security. |
Bandit is designed for identifying common vulnerabilities in Python code by leveraging the Python ast module to parse source code into an Abstract Syntax Tree (AST). This approach allows Bandit to run targeted plugins against specific AST nodes, enabling a detailed analysis of the code for potential security issues.
Technically, Bandit processes each file by building an AST and then executing appropriate plugins against the AST nodes. This method provides comprehensive visibility into the codebase, allowing for the detection of a wide range of security issues, from import and call vulnerabilities to string and function misuse. The tool generates a report at the end of the scan, highlighting identified security issues along with context lines to facilitate quick identification and remediation.
Operationally, Bandit can be integrated into various workflows, including CI/CD pipelines using GitHub Actions or pre-commit hooks. It supports customizable profiles and config files, allowing users to select specific tests, exclude certain directories, and override default plugin settings. For example, you can run Bandit with a specific profile like ShellInjection or exclude certain paths using glob patterns.
However, there are some operational considerations. Bandit's performance can be affected by the complexity and size of the codebase being scanned. Large codebases may require more resources and time to complete the scan. Additionally, managing baseline reports is crucial for ignoring known vulnerabilities and focusing on new issues. This involves generating and comparing against JSON-formatted baseline reports to filter out existing findings.
In terms of specific technical details, Bandit supports various command-line arguments for customizing the scan, such as setting the maximum number of code lines to output for each issue, specifying the severity and confidence levels of reported issues, and using different output formats like SARIF. The tool is also available as a container image for easy deployment across different architectures.