Bandit
A tool designed to find common security issues in Python code.
Overview
Bandit is a static analysis tool for Python that processes each file, builds an Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) from it, and runs appropriate plugins against the AST nodes. Once Bandit has scanned all the files it generates a report. It is focused on identifying security issues and is a common part of the security toolchain for Python developers.
✨ Key Features
- Focus on Python security vulnerabilities
- Plugin-based architecture for checks
- Flexible configuration files
- Multiple output formats (JSON, CSV, HTML)
- CI/CD integration
🎯 Key Differentiators
- Purely focused on Python security
- Simple to set up and run
- Maintained by the Python Code Quality Authority (PyCQA)
Unique Value: Provides a simple, fast, and free way to find common security vulnerabilities in Python code, making basic security scanning accessible to every developer.
🎯 Use Cases (3)
✅ Best For
- Running as a pre-commit hook to prevent insecure code from being committed
- Integrating into a CI pipeline to fail builds on high-severity security findings
- Auditing a Python codebase for common security flaws
💡 Check With Vendor
Verify these considerations match your specific requirements:
- General code quality or style checking (use Flake8 or Pylint)
- Analysis of non-Python code
🏆 Alternatives
While tools like Snyk and Semgrep are more powerful and support more languages, Bandit is a lightweight, Python-specific tool that is extremely easy to drop into any project for immediate value.
💻 Platforms
✅ Offline Mode Available
🔌 Integrations
💰 Pricing
Free tier: Completely free and open-source.
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