Page 257 - Cyber Defense eMagazine September 2025

They’re also adaptive. As your code changes, as you add features, refactor modules, or swap
dependencies, previously unreachable vulnerabilities may become reachable. Continuous reachability
analysis means those changes are caught in real time, not during an annual review.

Perhaps most importantly, this approach aligns security work with business priorities. Not every
vulnerability affects core services or sensitive data. By ranking vulnerabilities based on both technical
exploitability and business impact, teams can focus on protecting what matters most first.

Moving Beyond the Numbers

The security industry has long leaned on numbers, CVSS scores, severity ratings, and vulnerability
counts to guide decision-making. But these numbers, while useful, can be misleading in isolation.

A high CVSS score might indicate a dangerous vulnerability in theory, but if that code isn’t reachable in
your application, it’s not an urgent fix. Conversely, a low-severity vulnerability might be the easiest path
for an attacker to compromise your most critical service.

SCA Reachability and exploitability bring a layer of reality to these numbers. They tell you not just what
could go wrong in some hypothetical worst case, but what can go wrong in your application today.

As a Takeaway…

Traditional SCA tools tell you what vulnerabilities exist in your code and dependencies. SCA Reachability
analysis tells you whether those vulnerabilities can be executed. Exploitability analysis tells you whether
an attacker can realistically take advantage of them. Together, these approaches cut through the noise,
focus developer effort where it counts, and dramatically improve both security posture and team morale.

Software moves faster than ever, and the attack surface is constantly shifting; it’s no longer enough to
know what’s broken. You have to know whether it’s reachable, whether it’s exploitable, and whether it
matters right now. That’s the difference between chasing vulnerabilities endlessly and securing your
applications!

Deep dive here

Learn more about reachability-focused security

Cyber Defense eMagazine – September 2025 Edition 257
Copyright © 2025, Cyber Defense Magazine. All rights reserved worldwide.