security-scanning-security-dependencies

Dependency Vulnerability Scanning

Skills Overview

This is a security expert skill focused on dependency vulnerability analysis, SBOM generation, and supply chain security. It can scan project dependencies across multiple ecosystems, identify vulnerabilities, and assess risk.

Use Cases

Dependency Security Audits

When you need to audit security vulnerabilities or license risks in your project dependencies, this skill can comprehensively analyze third-party components—identifying known CVE vulnerabilities, outdated dependencies, and license compliance issues.

Supply Chain Compliance and Visibility

When you need to meet compliance requirements or improve supply chain transparency, this skill can generate a standard SBOM (Software Bill of Materials) to help track component sources and version information, supporting standards such as SPDX and CycloneDX.

Unified Scanning Across Ecosystems

When a project uses multiple package managers (e.g., npm, pip, maven, go modules, etc.), this skill provides a unified scanning approach, avoiding the complexity of using multiple tools and enabling standardized security checks.

Core Capabilities

Multi-Ecosystem Vulnerability Scanning

Supports dependency scanning for popular ecosystems such as JavaScript/TypeScript (npm/yarn), Python (pip/poetry), Java (Maven/Gradle), Go, Rust, and others. It automatically detects configuration files such as package.json, requirements.txt, and go.mod.

Automatic SBOM Generation

Generates SPDX or CycloneDX formatted Software Bill of Materials based on the project’s dependency tree. It includes metadata such as component name, version, license, and vendor, supporting supply chain security traceability.

Risk Assessment and Remediation Recommendations

In addition to identifying vulnerabilities, it evaluates severity (CVSS scores), exploitability difficulty, and real-world impact. It provides prioritized remediation recommendations, including secure version upgrade guidance and mitigation measures.

Frequently Asked Questions

What types of security issues can dependency vulnerability scanning detect?

It can detect known CVE security vulnerabilities in dependency packages, outdated dependency versions, license compliance risks, and potential supply chain attack risks. Scan results include CVSS scores, affected version ranges, and recommended fixed versions.

How should I remediate vulnerabilities after they are detected?

Recommended remediation process: first assess the vulnerability’s severity and exploitability; next check for available secure update versions. For cases where an immediate upgrade is not possible, the skill provides temporary mitigation measures (e.g., configuring WAF rules, isolating affected components, etc.). Any dependency changes should be fully tested before deployment.

Which package managers and programming languages are supported?

Supported ecosystems include: JavaScript/TypeScript (npm, yarn, pnpm), Python (pip, pipenv, poetry), Java (Maven, Gradle), Go (go modules), Rust (Cargo), .NET (NuGet), Ruby (Bundler), and others. If the project uses a mixed technology stack, it can scan all dependencies in a unified manner.