Streamline SCA with Sonatype's build-safe automation
4 minute read time
As open source adoption accelerates across the enterprise, so too does its complexity. Development teams are building software with hundreds of components, each carrying its own risks, release cycles, and dependencies.
Navigating this complexity is one of the biggest challenges in modern software development. But it does not have to be.
That's why Sonatype recently introduced new build-safe automation capabilities in Sonatype Lifecycle — purpose-built to help teams manage open source complexity at scale, reduce security risk, and ship software faster.
Why intelligent automation matters in SCA
Traditional software composition analysis (SCA) tools surface open source vulnerabilities, but they often leave the burden of triage and remediation to already overextended teams.
The result? High volumes of noise, bottlenecks in delivery, and backlogs that never seem to shrink.
Sonatype Lifecycle takes a different approach. Backed by proprietary security research and enriched data, these new capabilities move beyond alerts to action, streamlining high-effort tasks into low-effort or even zero-effort workflows.
By automating key steps in the vulnerability management lifecycle, teams can focus on what matters: building great software.
What's new: Build-safe automation features
The latest enhancements to Sonatype Lifecycle include three key features designed to cut down manual work, reduce developer friction, and boost mean time to remediate (MTTR) by up to 30%.
Automated waivers
Security exceptions are inevitable, especially for vulnerabilities that are unexploitable or have no known fix.
Automated waivers allow teams to define rules for auto-approving these cases, so developers are not stuck in triage loops for issues that don't require immediate attention.
Reachability analysis
Vulnerabilities don't impact every application the same way. Reachability analysis determines whether a given vulnerability is actually exploitable in your codebase. This information adds context to your prioritization beyond just security risk.
This insight helps teams prioritize real threats over theoretical ones, dramatically reducing noise and improving remediation efficiency.
Zero-effort fixes
Manually upgrading dependencies is one of the most common causes of toil in software development. Every upgrade carries the risk of breaking changes, making teams hesitant to act, even when vulnerabilities are known.
That's why golden pull requests in Sonatype Lifecycle are such a game changer.
These automatically generated, non-breaking dependency updates flow directly into developer workflows, enabling zero-effort fixes with zero disruption to delivery. They are not just smart — they're safe.
In a recent analysis of over 30,000 software components, with Sonatype's zero-effort fix capabilities:
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17.5% of total vulnerable components could be completely eliminated from risk through automated, non-breaking upgrades.
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An additional 20% saw risk reduced, thanks to improved zero-effort fixes.
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That's a total risk reduction of 37.5% — with zero manual intervention.
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And 31% of all components were upgraded hygienically — meaning teams could stay current and secure without introducing instability.
This level of automation is unmatched in the industry. Sonatype is the only solution capable of materially shrinking security backlogs at enterprise scale, giving teams the confidence to upgrade safely and the tools to do it automatically.
Bringing order to open source complexity
Modern development is fueled by open source. But with that speed and innovation comes significant risk, especially when security teams are overwhelmed and automation is lacking.
According to our State of the Software Supply Chain® Report, 96% of open source downloads with known vulnerabilities could have been avoided simply by choosing a better version.
Sonatype's automation capabilities aim to close this gap, making it easier to stay secure by default, not by exception.
"Enterprises aren't just consuming open source — they're assembling vast, living ecosystems with immense speed and scale," said Tyler Warden, Senior Vice President of Product at Sonatype. "Our mission is to bring order to that chaos. With reliable automation embedded directly into the developer workflow, Sonatype Lifecycle eliminates toil, automates risk reduction, and accelerates secure innovation by keeping teams focused on building while the software focuses on remediation."
Ready to modernize your SCA strategy?
These new automation capabilities mark a shift in how enterprises can approach software composition analysis. By moving beyond manual triage and toward intelligent, proactive action, Sonatype Lifecycle helps reduce backlog, enhance security posture, and keep development velocity high.
To see how Sonatype Lifecycle works and how to put these features to use, visit the product page.
Aaron is a technical writer on Sonatype's Marketing team. He works at a crossroads of technical writing, developer advocacy, software development, and open source. He aims to get developers and non-technical collaborators to work well together via experimentation, feedback, and iteration so they ...
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