Vulnerability Analysis

Vulnerability Analysis

Every vulnerability you miss is one an attacker finds first. Systematic source

auditing traces untrusted data from source to sink, evaluates every

sanitizer for bypass, and questions each trust-boundary assumption. This skill is

the router; depth lives in references/, and every technique cluster is backed

by a runnable tool in scripts/.

When to Activate

• Auditing any codebase (white/grey box) for security vulnerabilities
• Writing/driving CodeQL queries, Semgrep taint rules, or Joern CPGQL flows
• Tracing injection, deserialization, prototype-pollution, or memory-safety paths
• Reviewing auth/authorization (IDOR/BOLA), cryptography, or concurrency (TOCTOU)
• Triaging dependency CVEs and hunting malicious/compromised packages (SCA)
• Variant hunting — generalizing one finding into a codebase-wide pattern

Technique Map

| Technique | ATT&CK | CWE | Reference | Script |

|-----------|--------|-----|-----------|--------|

| Taint analysis (source/sink/sanitizer modeling) | T1190 | CWE-20 | references/taint-engines-static-analysis.md | scripts/taint_trace.py |

| CodeQL/Semgrep/Joern engine orchestration + merge | T1190 | CWE-20 | references/taint-engines-static-analysis.md | scripts/sast_runner.py, scripts/joern_taint.sc |

| SQL injection (raw/ORM/identifier/2nd-order/NoSQL) | T1190 | CWE-89 | references/injection-source-patterns.md | scripts/taint_trace.py |

| OS command / argument injection | T1059 | CWE-78 / CWE-88 | references/injection-source-patterns.md | scripts/taint_trace.py |

| Server-side template injection | T1190 | CWE-1336 | references/injection-source-patterns.md | scripts/taint_trace.py |

| Path traversal | T1083 | CWE-22 | references/injection-source-patterns.md | scripts/taint_trace.py |

| SSRF (tainted server-side URL) | T1190 | CWE-918 | references/injection-source-patterns.md | scripts/taint_trace.py |

| Integer overflow -> heap/stack overflow | T1203 | CWE-190 / CWE-787 | references/memory-safety-c-cpp.md | scripts/joern_taint.sc |

| Use-after-free / double-free | T1203 | CWE-416 / CWE-415 | references/memory-safety-c-cpp.md | scripts/joern_taint.sc |

| Unbounded copy / NULL deref | T1203 | CWE-120 / CWE-476 | references/memory-safety-c-cpp.md | scripts/joern_taint.sc |

| Insecure deserialization + gadget preconditions | T1059 | CWE-502 | references/deserialization-prototype-pollution.md | scripts/deser_gadget_scan.py |

| Prototype pollution -> gadget -> RCE | T1059.007 | CWE-1321 | references/deserialization-prototype-pollution.md | scripts/deser_gadget_scan.py |

| Hardcoded secrets / high-entropy literals | T1552.001 | CWE-798 / CWE-321 | references/secrets-crypto-authz-concurrency.md | scripts/secret_crypto_audit.py |

| Weak / misused cryptography | T1600 | CWE-327 / CWE-328 / CWE-330 / CWE-347 | references/secrets-crypto-authz-concurrency.md | scripts/secret_crypto_audit.py |

| Broken authorization / IDOR / BOLA | T1190 | CWE-639 / CWE-862 | references/secrets-crypto-authz-concurrency.md | scripts/secret_crypto_audit.py |

| TOCTOU / race condition | T1190 | CWE-367 / CWE-362 | references/secrets-crypto-authz-concurrency.md | scripts/secret_crypto_audit.py |

| Known-CVE dependency (SCA) | T1195.001 | CWE-1395 / CWE-1104 | references/supply-chain-dependency-audit.md | scripts/dep_audit.py |

| Malicious package / install worm / typosquat | T1195.002 | CWE-506 / CWE-829 / CWE-1357 | references/supply-chain-dependency-audit.md | scripts/dep_audit.py |

| Variant hunting — one finding -> all siblings, root-cause clustered | T1190 | CWE-20 | references/variant-hunting.md | scripts/variant_hunt.py |

| Path feasibility — branch guards -> tri-state SAT/UNSAT (Z3 optional) | T1190 | CWE-20 | references/taint-engines-static-analysis.md | scripts/path_conditions.py |

| Evidence grounding + FP gate (structured proof, EVD citations) | T1190 | CWE-20 | references/finding-validation-runtime.md | scripts/validate_findings.py, scripts/evidence_kit.py |

| Runtime reachability confirmation (Frida sink-executed) | T1190 | CWE-20 | references/dynamic-instrumentation.md | scripts/merge_runtime_evidence.py |

Quick Start

# 0. Intake from recon-osint: languages, frameworks, trust boundaries, entry points.

# 1. Fast triage — rank files by unsanitized source->sink flows (heuristic, multi-lang)
python3 scripts/taint_trace.py trace ./src --lang py,js,php,java --json triage.json
python3 scripts/taint_trace.py config --lang py > seed.semgrep.yml   # seed a real rule

# 2. Deep interprocedural — drive the real engines, then merge into one ranked list
python3 scripts/sast_runner.py semgrep --src ./src --config p/owasp-top-ten --pro --out sg.sarif
python3 scripts/sast_runner.py codeql  --src ./src --lang python \
    --suite codeql/python-queries:codeql-suites/python-security-extended.qls --out cq.sarif
python3 scripts/sast_runner.py joern   --src ./src --script scripts/joern_taint.sc --out joern.json
python3 scripts/sast_runner.py merge   sg.sarif cq.sarif joern.json --out merged.json --top 50

# 3. Class-specific deep passes
python3 scripts/deser_gadget_scan.py  all ./src --json deser.json     # deser sinks + gadget libs
python3 scripts/secret_crypto_audit.py all ./src --json sca.json      # secrets+crypto+authz+TOCTOU
python3 scripts/dep_audit.py          all ./repo --json dep.json      # CVE SCA + worm/typosquat
trufflehog filesystem ./src --only-verified                          # confirm LIVE secrets

# 4. Exploitability gate (per finding): reachable? controllable? real impact? sanitizer real?
#    -> write confirmed issues to templates/exploit/findings/ with
#       severity, CWE, CVSS, taint path, PoC, evidence, ATT&CK ID, remediation.
python3 scripts/evidence_kit.py verify --store evidence.json            # re-hash every artifact
python3 scripts/validate_findings.py --findings findings.json \
    --evidence ./evidence --evidence-store evidence.json --strict       # tier + EVD-citation gate

# 5. After a CONFIRMED finding: hunt every sibling, then prune false-positive paths
python3 scripts/variant_hunt.py ./src --seed-finding findings.json --lang py,js --json variants.json
python3 scripts/taint_trace.py trace ./src --lang py --json trace.json   # trace carries branch guards
python3 scripts/path_conditions.py --trace trace.json --json feasibility.json  # Z3 prune (tri-state)
python3 scripts/merge_runtime_evidence.py --events events.jsonl --findings findings.json --out merged.json

OPSEC & Detection (summary)

| Technique | Telemetry / IOC | Detection (Sigma/EDR) | OPSEC note |

|-----------|-----------------|------------------------|------------|

| SAST engine runs | codeql database create, semgrep --sarif, joern-parse process trees; large codeql-db//cpg.bin | CI process-creation Sigma (informational) | offline & silent; CodeQL --command runs target build -> sandbox hostile repos; purge DBs/SARIF on teardown |

| Injection (SQLi/cmdi/SSTI/SSRF) | SQL keywords/SLEEP, web svc spawning sh/curl, template engine errors, OOB DNS | webserver regex + EDR child-shell Sigma | source review is noiseless; validate with time-based/DNS-OOB, never --dump |

| Memory safety (C/C++) | SIGSEGV/SIGABRT, glibc corrupted/double free, ASan reports | auditd ANOM_ABEND Sigma; EDR RWX/W^X alerts | CPG review silent; fuzz a local copy in a container, purge cores (may hold secrets) |

| Deserialization / proto-pollution | Java rO0AB/.NET AAEAAAD///// in bodies; JVM->LDAP/RMI; POST / w/ Next-Action (CVE-2025-55182) | egress Sigma to 389/636/1099/1389; body-marker rules | prove gadget chain exists; id/DNS callback not reverse shell; proto-pollution is global -> revert |

| Secrets / crypto / authz / TOCTOU | AKIA*/ghp_* patterns; alg:none; sequential-id 200s; symlink-race auditd | secret-scanning push protection; symlink/PATH auditd | secret *verification* makes a logged provider API call -> only in scope; read one record for IDOR/TOCTOU evidence |

| Supply chain (SCA / worm) | install hook spawning shell/net; bundle.js/setup_bun.js; new public Shai-Hulud repo | install-script process-creation Sigma; agentless SBOM lookup | never npm install a suspect tree; --ignore-scripts in a disposable container; treat a compromised dep as full host compromise |

Deep Dives

• references/taint-engines-static-analysis.md — taint theory + propagation rules;

Semgrep (taint mode, Pro interfile, Opengrep), CodeQL modular dataflow API,

Joern CPG/reachableBy; engine orchestration + multi-tool merge; CPG+LLM (2025).

• references/injection-source-patterns.md — source-code shapes of SQLi (incl.

identifier/ORDER BY/2nd-order/NoSQL), OS command & argument injection, SSTI,

path traversal, SSRF; per-language safe/vuln pairs; Joern/Semgrep confirmation.

• references/memory-safety-c-cpp.md — integer overflow->overflow, UAF/double-free,

unbounded copy, NULL deref; the 2025 libxml2 CVE cluster; ASan/UBSan + fuzzing

confirmation; unsafe Rust surface.

• references/deserialization-prototype-pollution.md — CWE-502 sinks + gadget

preconditions (ysoserial/phpggc/ysoserial.net), JS prototype pollution->RCE;

React2Shell CVE-2025-55182, Tomcat CVE-2025-24813, lodash CVE-2025-13465, Silent

Spring.

• references/secrets-crypto-authz-concurrency.md — hardcoded secrets (gitleaks/

trufflehog/Kingfisher), weak crypto, IDOR/BOLA, TOCTOU/race; LLM-augmented

secret detection (2025).

• references/supply-chain-dependency-audit.md — OSV/SCA, malicious-package & install

worm heuristics, typosquats; Shai-Hulud 1.0/2.0/Mini (CVE-2026-45321), the SLSA

provenance-bypass lesson.

• references/variant-hunting.md — HUNT protocol: one confirmed finding -> tree-wide sibling

sweep, same-function taint qualification, root-cause clustering (copy-paste/shared-util/

framework-misuse) to decide one-fix-or-many; backed by variant_hunt.py. Pairs with

evidence_kit.py (re-verifiable EVD evidence), path_conditions.py (Z3 path-prune, tri-state),

and merge_runtime_evidence.py (Frida runtime sink confirmation).