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AppScan® Source trace
With AppScan® Source trace, you can verify input validation and encoding that meets your software security policies. You can look at the findings that produce input/output traces and mark methods as validation and encoding routines, sources or sinks, callbacks, or taint propagators.
Validation and encoding scope
From the Trace view, you can specify custom validation and encoding routines that, once stored in the AppScan® Source Security Knowledgebase, marks data as checked instead of tainted. With the Custom Rules Wizard, you define these routines based on their scope.

Developing
Learn how to develop by using the product.
- Scanning source code and managing assessments
  This section explains how to scan your source code and manage assessments.
- Triage and analysis
  Grouping similar findings allows security analysts or IT auditors to segment and triage source code problems. This section explains how to triage AppScan® Source assessments and analyze results.
- AppScan® Source trace
  With AppScan® Source trace, you can verify input validation and encoding that meets your software security policies. You can look at the findings that produce input/output traces and mark methods as validation and encoding routines, sources or sinks, callbacks, or taint propagators.
  - AppScan® Source trace scan results
    Scan results may include traces identified by AppScan® Source trace. The icon in the Trace column indicates the existence of a trace of the call graph.
  - Input/output tracing
    An input/output trace is generated when AppScan® Source for Analysis can track the data from a known source to a sink or lost sink.
  - Using the Trace view
  - Validation and encoding scope
    From the Trace view, you can specify custom validation and encoding routines that, once stored in the AppScan® Source Security Knowledgebase, marks data as checked instead of tainted. With the Custom Rules Wizard, you define these routines based on their scope.
  - Creating custom rules from an AppScan® Source trace
    You can create custom rules from the Trace view that allow you to filter out findings with traces that are taint propagators, not susceptible to taint, or sinks. You can also mark methods in the trace as validation/encoding routines (or indicate that they are not validation/encoding routines).
  - Code examples for tracing
    This section provides code examples which illustrate tracking tainted data from a source to a sink - and how to create a validation and encoding routine.
- AppScan® Source for Analysis and defect tracking
  AppScan® Source for Analysis integrates with defect tracking systemsIBM® Rational Team Concert™ to deliver confirmed software vulnerabilities directly to the developer desktop. Defect submission to a defect tracking system contains a textual description of the bug and a file that contains only the findings submitted with the defect.
- Findings reports and audit reports
  Security analysts and risk managers can access reports of select findings or a series of audit reports that measure compliance with software security best practices and regulatory requirements. This section explains how to create reports of aggregate finding data.
- Creating custom reports
  In the Report Editor, you create report templates used to generate custom reports.

Validation and encoding scope

From the Trace view, you can specify custom validation and encoding routines that, once stored in the AppScan® Source Security Knowledgebase, marks data as checked instead of tainted. With the Custom Rules Wizard, you define these routines based on their scope.

See Example 4: Validation in depth for the procedure to create validation and encoding routines.

Validation or encoding routines are based upon their scope and are defined as:

API specific
Call site specific

API specific

API specific validation and encoding routines may be associated with a single project or multiple projects.

API specific routines will untaint any data coming from all instances of a specific source API. For example, you could specify a validation routine for any input from the API:

javax.servlet.ServletRequest.getParameter
(java.lang.string):java.lang.string

API specific routines are stored on the server. API specific routines for a project are stored in the project.

Call site specific

Call site specific routines are always associated with a single project.

Call site specific routines will untaint data coming from a specific location in the code. When you create a call site specific validation or encoding routine, you specify that the routine applies to a particular input call site. Call site specific routines are always stored in the project.

Note: Call site specific applies to any call to the validation routine within the same method.