Black Duck Polaris
Unified SaaS application security platform integrating SAST, SCA, DAST, IaC scanning, and secrets detection. Features concurrent scanning engines, SCM-driven automation, and AI-powered remediation.
About Black Duck Polaris
Black Duck Polaris is a cloud-native application security platform designed to unify static analysis, software composition analysis, and dynamic testing within a single orchestrated environment. The platform represents Black Duck's strategic evolution from point solutions to an integrated SaaS offering that addresses the fragmentation common in enterprise AppSec programs. Following Black Duck's independence from Synopsys in October 2024, Polaris serves as the flagship platform for organizations seeking consolidated visibility across their software security posture.
The Polaris architecture centers on three concurrent scanning engines: fAST Static for code analysis, fAST SCA for supply chain security, and fAST Dynamic for runtime testing. These engines operate simultaneously rather than sequentially, reducing overall scan times and enabling comprehensive security assessment without pipeline delays. The platform integrates Infrastructure as Code scanning and secrets detection, creating coverage across the modern software stack from development through deployment.
Polaris differentiates through SCM-driven automation that discovers and onboard repositories automatically from GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, and Azure DevOps. Event-based scanning triggers rapid analysis on pull requests and comprehensive scans on merges, posting results directly as pull request comments. This workflow-centric approach aims to embed security feedback at the exact moment developers require it, reducing context switching and accelerating remediation cycles.
Key Features
- Concurrent Scanning: Runs SAST, SCA, and DAST analyses simultaneously without sequential delays, improving pipeline efficiency and reducing overall testing time.
- SCM-Driven Onboarding: Automatically discovers new repositories and branches from connected source control systems, maintaining synchronized project inventories without manual registration.
- Event-Based Automation: Triggers rapid scans on pull requests and full scans on merge events, with results posted as PR comments for immediate developer feedback.
- fAST Static Engine: Performs static analysis of proprietary code across 20+ languages including Java, C/C++, C#, Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, and Go.
- fAST SCA Engine: Analyzes open-source dependencies with access to the Black Duck KnowledgeBase containing 8.7 million+ projects and 247,000+ vulnerabilities.
- fAST Dynamic Engine: Provides on-demand DAST scanning for web applications and APIs, supporting OpenAPI specs, Postman collections, HAR files, and GraphQL SDL.
- Black Duck Assist: AI-powered remediation providing real-time issue summaries, code analysis, and fix suggestions directly within IDE environments.
- Unified Policy Management: Single policy engine enforcing security and license standards across SAST, SCA, and DAST with automated build breaks and notifications.
- Risk Scoring Dashboard: Aggregates findings into unified risk scores with filtering capabilities to prioritize exploitable vulnerabilities over theoretical risks.
- Expert Triage Option: Human security analysts review SAST results to remove false positives and prioritize critical findings for teams lacking dedicated AppSec resources.
Pricing
Black Duck Polaris offers flexible packaging options with custom enterprise pricing. Specific pricing requires direct sales engagement based on scanning volume, application count, and selected modules.
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Standard Package: Includes Polaris fAST Static (security scans, IaC analysis, secrets detection), Polaris fAST SCA (dependency scanning, SBOM generation, license identification), Polaris fAST Dynamic (vulnerability and API scanning), DevOps integrations (IDE, SCM, CI/CD), and Application Security Posture Management (policy configuration, dashboards, reporting).
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Build Your Own: Flexible à la carte configuration allowing organizations to select specific engines and capabilities. Options include individual SAST, SCA, or DAST subscriptions, or combined packages with expert triage services and enhanced support.
Note: Pricing scales based on concurrent scan capacity, number of applications, and additional services such as expert verification and managed triage.
Pricing last updated: March 8, 2026 at 12:00 AM
Use Cases
- Enterprise DevSecOps transformation requiring unified SAST, SCA, and DAST capabilities
- Large-scale application portfolio management with automated SCM discovery and onboarding
- High-velocity development teams requiring concurrent scanning to avoid pipeline delays
- Organizations seeking AI-augmented remediation to reduce developer security burden
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Concurrent scanning architecture reduces overall testing time compared to sequential tools
- Automatic SCM onboarding eliminates manual project registration and maintains repository synchronization
- Expert triage option provides human verification of findings for teams with limited security expertise
- Eight consecutive years as Gartner Magic Quadrant Leader for Application Security Testing (through 2025)
- Unified policy engine enforces consistent standards across all testing types
Cons:
- Enterprise-focused pricing may present barriers for smaller organizations
- Platform complexity requires dedicated implementation resources for initial setup
- On-premises deployments demand substantial infrastructure investment
- User interface and reporting capabilities described as less intuitive compared to modern alternatives
Integrations
GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Azure DevOps, Jenkins, Jira, ServiceNow, Visual Studio, IntelliJ IDEA, Eclipse, VS Code, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Docker, Kubernetes, AWS, Azure, GCP, Coverity, Black Duck SCA
FAQ
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March 8, 2026 at 11:23 AM by Venkatraman C
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