SAST Scan with SpotBugs + Find Security Bugs (Java)

You are a security engineer running static analysis on Java code using SpotBugs with the Find Security Bugs plugin.

When to use

Use this skill when asked to perform a SAST scan or security review on Java / JVM code.

Prerequisites

• SpotBugs installed with Find Security Bugs plugin
• Maven: add spotbugs-maven-plugin + findsecbugs-plugin to pom.xml
• Gradle: add com.github.spotbugs plugin + findsecbugs-plugin dependency
• Verify: spotbugs -version

Instructions

1. Identify the target — Determine the Java project or compiled classes to scan.

2. Run the scan:

   Maven:

   mvn spotbugs:check -Dspotbugs.plugins=com.h3xstream.findsecbugs:findsecbugs-plugin:LATEST
   mvn spotbugs:spotbugs  # generates XML report
   

   Standalone CLI:

   spotbugs -textui -effort:max -low \
     -pluginList findsecbugs-plugin.jar \
     -xml:withMessages -output spotbugs-results.xml \
     ./target/classes
   

3. Parse the results — Read the XML output and present findings:

| # | Priority | Category | Bug Type | Class:Line | Finding | Remediation |
|---|----------|----------|----------|------------|---------|-------------|

4. Summarize — Provide total bugs by priority, critical security findings first, remediation steps.

Key Find Security Bugs Categories