RIPS

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RIPS
Developer(s)RIPS Technologies
Operating systemCross-platform
TypeStatic code analysis

RIPS (Research and Innovation to Promote Security) is a static code analysis software, designed for automated detection of security vulnerabilities in PHP and Java applications. The initial tool was written by Johannes Dahse and released during the Month of PHP Security[1] in May 2010 as open-source software.[2] The open-source version is released under the Lesser GNU General Public License and was maintained until 2013.

In 2016, RIPS Technologies, a company based in Bochum, Germany, released a rewritten version of RIPS.[3] The new RIPS product addresses some of the limitations of the original, open-source tool[4] and is more focused on industrial customers. Its analysis techniques were awarded, amongst others, the Internet Defense Prize[5] by Facebook.

In 2020, RIPS Technologies was acquired by SonarSource.[6] The RIPS tool is no longer available as a stand-alone product.

Open-Source Version (PHP)[edit]

The open-source version tokenizes PHP code (lexical analysis) based on PHP's tokenizer extension and performs semantic analysis to build a programme model. Based on previously analyzed variable assignments, it performs backwards-directed inter-procedural taint analysis of sensitive sinks. This version or RIPS had the ability to scan PHP applications very fast for PHP-specific vulnerabilities. It supports the detection of 15 different vulnerability types, including Cross-Site Scripting, SQL Injection, Local File Inclusion, and others. Detected vulnerabilities are presented in a web interface with the minimum set of affected code lines as well as a vulnerability summary. For each vulnerability, an integrated code viewer can be opened in order to highlight the affected code lines in the original source code, which aids in easier remediation. Furthermore, aid is offered to understand the vulnerability and exploits can be generated automatically. The interface also offers a list of scanned PHP files, user-defined functions, and detected sources. The open-source version also bears some weaknesses, such as false positives due to the lack of an abstract syntax tree or control-flow graph. The lack of support for object-oriented PHP code can lead to false negatives. The latest stable release version is 0.54.

Commercial Version (Java, PHP)[edit]

The commercial version supports the analysis of PHP and Java code. It was built from scratch and utilizes new code analysis techniques that are specifically tailored to the intricacies of either programming language and its features. In order to identify security vulnerabilities that are based on second-order data flows or misplaced security mechanisms, it uses abstract syntax trees, control-flow graphs, and context-sensitive taint analysis [7] Further, it simulates each language's built-in features, libraries, and frameworks to minimize false positives. It can automatically detect 200 different vulnerability types, code quality issues and misconfiguration weaknesses. Contrarily to the open-source version, the commercial version supports all versions of Java (up to 11), PHP (up to 7) and Node.js, industry standards such as OWASP Top 10, ASVS, CWE, SANS 25, and PCI-DSS, and can be integrated into the software development life cycle. RIPS is available as on-premises software and as Software-as-a-Service.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "MOPS Submission 09: RIPS – A static source code analyser for vulnerabilities in PHP scripts « the Month of PHP Security". Php-security.org. 2010-05-24. Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  2. ^ "RIPS open-source download". SourceForge.net. Retrieved 2016-08-10.
  3. ^ "RIPS - The Technology Leader in Static Application Security Testing". ripstech.com. 2019-05-07. Retrieved 2019-05-07.
  4. ^ "RIPS Feature Comparison". SourceForge.net. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
  5. ^ "Internet Defense Prize". internetdefenseprize.org. Retrieved 2017-03-19.
  6. ^ "Twitter announcement of acquisition".
  7. ^ "RIPS - Our Static Application Security Testing Approach". ripstech.com. Retrieved 2019-05-07.