Dependency Scanner

What This Dependency Scanner Checks

How to Scan Your Dependencies

1. Open your project and find the package.json file in the root directory.
2. Copy the full contents of package.json.
3. Paste it above and click Scan Dependencies.
4. Review findings — each vulnerable package shows severity, the CVE description, and the fix.
5. Apply fixes — run the suggested npm install commands to update vulnerable packages.

Click Load Sample package.json to see the scanner in action with a pre-built example containing multiple vulnerabilities.

Why Dependency Scanning Matters

• Third-party code is the #1 attack surface — over 80% of application code in modern projects is open source dependencies
• CVEs are disclosed constantly — a package that was safe last month may have a critical CVE today
• Transitive vulnerabilities are invisible — your direct dependencies may pull in vulnerable sub-dependencies you never installed directly
• Compliance requirements — SOC 2, PCI-DSS, and ISO 27001 require regular dependency auditing
• Supply chain attacks — compromised npm packages can introduce malicious code into your builds

Dependency Scanning in CI/CD Pipelines

Integrating dependency scanning into your CI/CD pipeline ensures vulnerabilities are caught before code reaches production. Common approaches include running npm audit --audit-level=high in your pipeline to fail builds with high or critical vulnerabilities, using Snyk or OWASP Dependency-Check as a pipeline step, and setting up GitHub Dependabot to automatically open PRs for vulnerable packages.

npm audit vs Snyk vs OWASP Dependency-Check

npm audit is built into npm and checks your full dependency tree against the npm advisory database — fast and free, but limited to the npm ecosystem. Snyk has a larger CVE database, supports more languages, and offers GitHub integration, but requires an account. OWASP Dependency-Check is open source and supports Java, .NET, Python, and more, making it better for polyglot projects.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between dependency scanning and SAST?

Dependency scanning (also called SCA — Software Composition Analysis) checks your third-party libraries for known CVEs. SAST (Static Application Security Testing) analyzes your own source code for security flaws like SQL injection or XSS. Both are complementary and should be used together in a secure development lifecycle.

How often should I run dependency scanning?

At minimum, run dependency scanning before every production release. Ideally, run it on every pull request via CI/CD. Subscribe to npm security advisories or use a tool like Dependabot for continuous monitoring — new CVEs are disclosed daily and a package that was clean this morning may be vulnerable by afternoon.

Can this tool detect transitive dependency vulnerabilities?

This tool scans only the packages listed directly in your package.json (direct dependencies). Transitive vulnerabilities — those in packages your dependencies depend on — require a full npm install and lock file analysis. Use npm audit or Snyk for comprehensive transitive dependency scanning.

What should I do if I can't update a vulnerable package?

If a direct upgrade is not possible due to breaking changes: use npm's overrides field in package.json to force a safe version of a transitive dependency, check if a security patch release exists on the current major version, consider forking and patching the package yourself, or evaluate alternative packages that provide the same functionality without the vulnerability.