SAST (Static Application Security Testing)
SAST analyses application source code (or compiled bytecode) for security flaws without executing the application.
Definition
Static Application Security Testing (SAST) is the analysis of an application's source code, bytecode, or binary — without running it — to identify security flaws. SAST tools parse the codebase, build a control-flow graph, and look for taint flows from sources (HTTP inputs, file reads) to sinks (SQL execution, `exec` calls, template renders) without intervening sanitisation.
SAST excels at catching local-reasoning bug classes: hardcoded secrets, missing input validation in a specific function, weak cryptographic primitives. It struggles with bugs whose existence depends on system-wide state (authorisation policy mismatches, race conditions across services).
Mitigation
Not applicable.