C/C++
Supported file types, frameworks and CWEs:
Introduction to C/C++ Security: Why It Matters and How Mend SAST Helps
C and C++ are foundational programming languages that power a vast array of modern software—from embedded systems and automotive applications to high-performance computing and critical infrastructure. Their flexibility and performance make them the language of choice for systems where efficiency and control are paramount.
However, this power comes with complexity. C/C++ code is notoriously difficult to analyze for security vulnerabilities due to manual memory management, pointer arithmetic, and the lack of built-in safety features. As a result, C/C++ applications are frequent targets for security exploits, and vulnerabilities in these languages can have severe, far-reaching consequences.
Given the prevalence and risk profile of C/C++, it’s essential for organizations to have robust tools that can:
Accurately detect vulnerabilities in C/C++ codebases, including those specific to embedded and automotive domains.
Provide actionable remediation suggestions to help developers fix issues quickly and efficiently.
Scale to large codebases (up to 10 million lines of code) and deliver results rapidly, supporting modern development workflows.
How Mend SAST Helps
Coverage: Mend.io’s new generation C/C++ detection engine (Gen 2) offers significantly broader coverage of Common Weakness Enumerations (CWEs) and frameworks, including glibc, STL, Boost, QT, FreeRTOS, libcurl, libuv, and Mongoose. This ensures that your scans are both comprehensive and relevant to real-world C/C++ projects.
High Precision: Mend SAST is designed to minimize noise and maximize accuracy, providing high-precision memory analysis and reducing false positives.
Memory Analysis: The most relevant CWEs for C/C++ are related to memory corruption (Buffer Overflows/Underflows, Use after Free etc.). Mend SAST can precisely track these situations and report findings whenever such a dangerous flow can be triggered from the outside.
Scalability: The engine is optimized for speed and scale, enabling scans of very large codebases with results delivered in hours, not days.
Developer-Centric Workflow: Remediation suggestions are integrated directly into developer workflows—whether in code repositories, via CLI, or through the Mend AppSec Platform. Developers can review, accept, or provide feedback on suggestions, and even auto-create pull requests for fixes. Essentially, developers spend less time fixing security findings and more time building features. Mend.io’s remediation suggestions are tailored to C/C++, reducing the learning curve and accelerating secure development.
Security Champion Enablement: Security teams and engineering managers can monitor remediation adoption, analyze impact, and generate tickets for unresolved issues, ensuring that security improvements are both measurable and actionable.