Contrast Assess vs DongTai IAST

Contrast Assess is an Interactive Application Security Testing tool that analyzes application code while the software runs. An agent instruments the application with sensors and examines libraries, frameworks, custom code, configuration, runtime control and data flow, HTTP traffic, and back-end connections. Its approach combines static, dynamic, and interactive testing. Assess can identify vulnerabilities in custom code, open-source libraries, frameworks, and application configurations, including SQL injection, cross-site scripting, and insecure configurations. It continuously monitors applications and APIs, and presents vulnerability lists with remediation guidance, application scores, route coverage, flow maps, and compliance and policy reports. It is designed for developers and AppSec teams to use in IDE, test, and QA environments. Integration with Contrast SCA can identify vulnerable third-party libraries and determine whether their vulnerable methods are called by the running application. Supported languages include Java, Kotlin, Scala, .NET Framework, .NET Core, C#, VB.NET, Node.js, Python, Go, and PHP. Contrast states that source code and binaries stay on customer servers. Assess supports API, Linux, macOS, self-hosted, web, and Windows environments; pricing is on request, and hosted and on-premises customers require application licenses.

DongTai IAST is an open-source tool for finding vulnerabilities in running Java applications and their third-party components. It examines application traffic as it runs, using method-call data and taint tracking across HTTP, HTTPS, and RPC requests; it does not rely on dedicated attack tests. The project lists Java, Python, PHP, and Go for detection, though the Python, PHP, and Go agents are beta and community-maintained beta agents may not deploy successfully. DongTai can analyze runtime data flows, prioritize verified findings by risk, and provide vulnerability tracing and reports. Its server also offers project and user management, notifications, a Web API, and custom vulnerability rules. Deployment options include SaaS, localized installation, Docker Compose, and Kubernetes. An IntelliJ IDEA plugin can run the Java probe and detect vulnerabilities in the IDE. The open-source self-hosted plan costs nothing. The project lists web runtime support and an Apache-2.0 license.