Veracode SCA Solution Overview: Features, Limitations, and Tutorial

What is Veracode SCA?

Veracode SCA (Software Composition Analysis) is a tool that helps developers find and manage security vulnerabilities and license risks in the open-source and third-party components used in their applications. It integrates into the development pipeline for early detection through agent-based scanning or later via upload and scan methods. 

Veracode SCA identifies known vulnerabilities (CVEs) in open-source and third-party libraries while maintaining a complete inventory of all components used across applications. It supports agent-based scanning in local environments and CI/CD pipelines for early detection, as well as upload-and-scan workflows for analyzing compiled binaries. 

The platform maps direct and transitive dependencies to show where vulnerabilities exist in the dependency tree, provides automated remediation such as pull requests for safer library versions, and applies proprietary threat intelligence to detect emerging vulnerabilities before public disclosure.

Key features and functions of Veracode SCA

Veracode SCA offers a range of capabilities designed to help development teams manage open-source risk without slowing down delivery. The features below provide visibility, control, and automation across the software supply chain, enabling faster and more secure development.

• Vulnerability detection: Veracode SCA identifies known vulnerabilities in open source components using its proprietary database, enabling early detection of risks, including issues not yet reported in public databases like the NVD, and providing context to help teams prioritize remediation.
• Inventory management: The platform provides centralized visibility into all open source components used across applications, supporting usage policy enforcement, version tracking, and license compliance.
• Agent-based scanning: Veracode SCA supports deployment through lightweight agents that integrate into development environments and perform continuous scans without major workflow changes, enabling earlier risk detection.
• Upload and scan: Developers can manually upload software artifacts for scanning, allowing assessment of packages or applications outside automated pipelines and extending coverage across development and testing stages.
• Dependency mapping: The tool maps direct and transitive dependencies to show which libraries are used and how deeply they are embedded, supporting more precise risk assessment and faster remediation.
• Automated remediation: Veracode SCA provides fix suggestions directly in the development environment, designed to minimize breaking changes and reduce the time and effort required to remediate vulnerabilities.
• Threat intelligence: The platform augments vulnerability data with proprietary threat intelligence, including emerging risk insights and expert guidance, enabling faster response to newly discovered issues, including those not yet published in the NVD.

Key Veracode SCA limitations

While Veracode SCA offers extensive capabilities for managing open-source risk, several limitations can affect user experience, implementation, and efficiency. These limitations were reported by users on the G2 platform.

• Licensing complexity and cost: Veracode uses a complex licensing model that often requires a separate license per application. As usage scales, costs can increase significantly, and the value of add-on services like customer success packages can be hard to justify.
• Regional feature disparity: Feature delivery is inconsistent between regions. The US market often receives updates and capabilities that are delayed or missing entirely in the EU, which impacts global teams relying on uniform tooling.
• Scan reliability and performance: Scans can be slow to complete, with performance heavily influenced by internet speed. In some cases, flaws appear inconsistently across scans, making tracking and remediation unreliable.
• False positives and limited flaw mitigation: Veracode SCA reports a high number of false positives, especially in third-party libraries. Mitigating these often requires manual intervention from Veracode support, slowing down workflows.
• User interface and usability: The UI is outdated and not intuitive, making navigation and issue resolution more difficult for new users. Error messages also lack detail, adding to the learning curve.
• Limited feedback on upload failures: When scans fail—especially for uploaded packages like SDKs, IPAs, or JARs—users are not immediately notified. This can confuse users, particularly newcomers unfamiliar with the system.
• Weak backend and support experience: Users report that backend support is not responsive or sufficient. This lack of timely support adds friction when resolving scan or platform issues.
• Narrow dynamic scan compatibility: Veracode’s dynamic scanning is limited in browser support, working only with Firefox. This presents challenges for testing SaaS applications that rely on other browsers.
• Documentation gaps and delivery inconsistencies: There are inconsistencies between what is documented and what is actually delivered in the platform. This leads to mismatched expectations and setup difficulties.

Quick tutorial: Using Veracode SCA agent-based scan

This section walks through the basic steps for running a Veracode SCA agent-based scan using the SCA CLI and reviewing the results in the Veracode Platform. It uses a demo application (veracode/example-ruby) that contains both vulnerable libraries and license risks, allowing users to see realistic scan results.

1. Prepare your environment

Before running your first scan, ensure the following prerequisites are met:

• You have a Veracode human user account with an active SCA subscription.
• Your account includes the necessary roles: Workspace Administrator or Editor, Security Lead, and Submitter.
• You can access the demo repository: https://github.com/veracode/example-ruby.
• You’ve signed in to the Veracode Platform at your region-specific URL (e.g., analysiscenter.veracode.com).

2. Create and install the SCA agent

To perform a scan, you’ll create and activate an SCA agent within your workspace:

1. In the Veracode Platform, go to Scans & Analysis > Software Composition Analysis.
2. Under the Agent-Based Scan tab, choose My Workspace.
3. From the left pane, select Manage Workspace > Agents.
4. If this is your first agent, follow the Set Up Scanner instructions. Choose your operating system and follow the CLI commands provided.

Use the CLI to install and activate the agent. Verify the installation with:

srcclr test

This command confirms the agent is properly installed and ready for scanning.

3. Run the scan

Execute your first scan using the CLI:

srcclr scan --update-advisor --url 
https://github.com/veracode/example-ruby

This command scans the demo application and provides update suggestions for vulnerable libraries. Results are displayed directly in the command console and uploaded to the Veracode Platform.

4. Review the scan results

The CLI output includes:

• Scan summary: Number of libraries scanned (direct and transitive), vulnerabilities found, and third-party code percentage.
• Vulnerable methods: Highlights high-risk vulnerabilities that can be reached through the application’s call graph.
• Detailed vulnerabilities: Lists public vulnerabilities with CVEs and premium vulnerabilities identified by Veracode.
• License issues: Flags libraries with risky, multiple, or unrecognizable licenses.
• Issues list: Includes severity, description, and affected library for each issue.
• Update Advisor: Recommends safe versions for vulnerable libraries and indicates if the update may break builds.

5. Explore results in the Veracode platform

After scanning, results are available in the Platform for further review:

1. Navigate to Software Composition Analysis > Agent-Based Scan > My Workspace.
2. Use the Issues, Projects, Vulnerabilities, Libraries, and Licenses tabs to explore scan data.
3. View dependency graphs and fix guidance directly in the interface.
4. Select individual vulnerabilities or licenses for detailed context and remediation options.

Learn more in our detailed guide to SCA scan

Mend.io: Ultimate Veracode SCA alternative

Mend SCA identifies and neutralizes open-source vulnerabilities at their source, strengthening traditional and AI powered applications against evolving threats.  It provides instant feedback directly within the developer’s workflow with prioritized findings and actionable remediation guidance.

Key features include:

Supply chain transparency with automated SBOM generation (SPDX, CycloneDX) and VEX data support, providing the transparency required to meet modern government and customer security mandates.

Agentic SCA support for AI code assistants that autonomously finds and fixes open-source vulnerabilities pre-commit, directly within the AI workflow.

Reachability analysis that pinpoints vulnerabilities truly reachable in your application by showing whether your code interacts with vulnerable functions in both direct and transitive dependencies that pose a threat to your AI models.

Risk based prioritization that leverages CVSS 4.0 and EPSS exploitability data to assess the likelihood of attack, allowing developers to focus on the highest-impact risks first.

Automated license governance that gives legal teams real-time visibility and control, issuing alerts or blocking non-compliant components automatically to ensure innovation meets organizational standards.