ISC2 CISSP Practice Question

The correct answer is To identify and manage vulnerabilities in third-party and open-source components. Software Composition Analysis (SCA) tools specifically focus on identifying vulnerabilities and license compliance issues in third-party and open-source components used in an application. This is critical as many modern applications consist largely of these components, which can introduce security vulnerabilities. SCA provides visibility into the open-source supply chain, helping teams track known vulnerabilities, outdated components, and license issues that could pose security or legal risks.

To analyze code dependencies and their interactions within the application is incorrect because while SCA does identify dependencies, its primary security purpose is specifically focused on identifying vulnerabilities in those dependencies rather than analyzing how they interact functionally. Dependency interaction analysis is more often addressed by architectural analysis tools or application testing.

**To verify secure coding practices across the application codebase **is incorrect because SCA focuses specifically on third-party and open-source components rather than custom code written by the development team. Verifying secure coding practices in custom code would typically be handled by static application security testing (SAST) tools or manual code reviews.

To validate the integrity of software component supply chains is incorrect because while SCA contributes to supply chain security, its focus is specifically on identifying known vulnerabilities in components rather than validating the integrity of the entire supply chain. Supply chain integrity validation typically involves additional processes such as verifying component sources, checking digital signatures, and validating build processes.