SCA Reachability and the War on False Positives

SCA Reachability and the War on False Positives

ScanDog Team
June 2, 2025
02 Mins read
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Software Composition Analysis (SCA) is a critical layer in any AppSec strategy. It scans open-source dependencies to detect known vulnerabilities โ€” but its effectiveness is often undermined by noise.

That noise? False positives.

And the weapon against it? Reachability analysis.


What is SCA Reachability?

Reachability analysis determines whether a vulnerable function in a dependency is actually invoked by your code.

Think of it this way:

  • ๐Ÿ“ฆ SCA finds a vulnerable library in your codebase.
  • ๐Ÿ”ฌ Reachability checks if your application ever calls the vulnerable code path.

If not, the risk is much lower โ€” and the finding may be deprioritized or even suppressed.

๐Ÿšจ Without reachability, teams waste time triaging vulnerabilities that pose no real threat.


The False Positive Problem in SCA

False positives are the Achillesโ€™ heel of traditional SCA tools. They flag vulnerabilities without considering whether those vulnerable functions are even used.

๐Ÿ“Š Key Statistics:

  • Up to 95% of SCA alerts are not exploitable because the vulnerable code paths are never invoked (Coana).
  • 72% of security professionals say false positives hurt team productivity.
  • 62% would rather reduce false positives than find more vulnerabilities.
  • 59% say false positives take longer to triage than true positives (Finite State Report).

The conclusion? False positives arenโ€™t just a nuisance โ€” theyโ€™re a blocker to effective AppSec at scale.


How Reachability Improves SCA Accuracy

Reachability provides contextual assurance that helps teams act on real threats.

Without ReachabilityWith Reachability
All vulnerabilities flaggedOnly exploitable CVEs flagged
No prioritizationSorted by actual code usage
Developer frictionActionable, relevant findings

Benefits:

โœ… Fewer false positives
โœ… Better signal-to-noise ratio
โœ… Faster remediation
โœ… Greater trust between AppSec and engineering


How Scandog Enhances SCA with Reachability

At Scandog, we take SCA to the next level by:

  • ๐Ÿง  Correlating SCA findings with real code paths
  • ๐Ÿ” Detecting reachable vulnerable methods
  • ๐Ÿ“Š Visualizing usage paths across services
  • โš™๏ธ Generating auto-remediation tickets only for exploitable issues
  • ๐Ÿ”— Integrating SCA insights into your overall ASPM view

Our platform supports:

  • GitHub, GitLab and Azure DevOps workflows
  • JavaScript, Go, Rust, Java, Python, Node.js, C, C++, C# ecosystems
  • Tools like Snyk, Trivy, OWASP depscan, Grype, cdxgen, syft

โœจ With Scandog, you secure what matters โ€” and ignore what doesnโ€™t.


Final Thoughts

SCA without reachability is like a smoke detector that beeps constantly โ€” eventually, everyone ignores it.

With reachability analysis, security becomes clear, credible, and contextual. You can reduce false positives, focus remediation, and build trust between AppSec and engineering.

Ready to cut through the noise?
๐Ÿ‘‰ Book a demo


FAQs

What is reachability in SCA?
Reachability determines whether vulnerable code is actually called by your application, helping to filter out non-exploitable findings.

Does reachability remove all false positives?
It dramatically reduces them, especially in complex dependency chains, but should be part of a broader context-aware strategy.

How does Scandog implement reachability?
Scandog combines static analysis, call graph tracing, and SCA metadata to enrich findings with usage information.

ScanDog Team

ScanDog Team

Content writer at Scandog with expertise in technology and security.