Dependency-check requires access, by default, requires access to several externally hosted resources.
OWASP dependency-check maintains a local copy of the NVD CVE data hosted by NIST. By default, a local H2 database instance is used. As each instance maintains its own copy of the NVD the machine will need access to nvd.nist.gov in order to download the NVD data feeds. While the initial download of the NVD data feed is large, if after the initial download the tool is run at least once every seven days only two small XML files containing the recent modifications will need to be downloaded.
In some installations OpenJDK may not be able to download the NVD CVE data. Please see the TLS Failures article for more information.
If your build servers are using dependency-check and are unable to access the Internet you have a few options:
with version 8.0.0 access to the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog is required. If running on a system with limited network access there are three options:
https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/feeds/known_exploited_vulnerabilities.json
to the allow list.https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/feeds/known_exploited_vulnerabilities.json
locally.The RetireJS Analyzes must download the RetireJS Repository. If this is blocked users must either mirror the JS Repository or disable the Retire JS Analyzer.
For a faster roundtrip time (issue #4723) to get false-positive report solution out to the users dependency-check starting from version 8.0.0 is using an online hosted suppressions file. For environments with constraints to internet access this file can be locally mirrored by customizing the hostedsuppressions file URL. See the tool-specific configuration documentation on the github pages for the exact advanced configuration flag to specify the custom location. Failure to download the hosted suppressions file will result in only a warning from the tool, but may result in false positives being reported by your scan that have already been mitigated by the hosted suppressions file.
If the machine that is running dependency-check cannot reach the Central Repository the analysis may result in false negatives. This is because some POM files, that are not contained within the JAR file itself, contain evidence that is used to accurately identify a library. If using the Ant plugin or CLI and Central cannot be reached, it is highly recommended to setup a Nexus server within your organization and to configure dependency-check to use the local Nexus server. Notes:
OWASP dependency-check includes support to consult the Sonatype OSS Index to enrich the report with supplemental vulnerability information.
For more details on this integration see Sonatype OSS Index.