CheckOps
Joern
Joern is an Apache-2.0 code analysis platform that builds code property graphs for C/C++, Java, JavaScript, Python, Kotlin, binaries and more, queried with a Scala-based DSL.
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Introduction
Joern, “the bug hunter’s workbench”, analyses source code, bytecode and binary executables. It generates code property graphs (CPGs), a graph representation of code for cross-language analysis, stored in a custom graph database and mined with queries in a Scala-based domain-specific language.
The source code is at joernio/joern on GitHub under the Apache-2.0 licence, with about 3,600 stars; the most recent commit was on 10 November 2026.
Features
- Code property graphs: Combine AST, control flow and data flow.
- Many languages: C/C++, Java, JavaScript, Python, Kotlin, binaries and more.
- Interactive shell: Explore code interactively.
- Scripting: Automate queries.
- Taint analysis: Find data flows from sources to sinks.
Pros
- Free to use: Open source under Apache-2.0.
- Maintained: Commits as recent as 10 November 2026.
- Community: About 3,600 GitHub stars.
Cons
- Expert tool: Best for security researchers comfortable with queries.
- Scala DSL: Learning curve for queries.
Usage and Links (Example)
joern
joern> importCode("path/to/project")
joern> cpg.call.name("strcpy").l
Resources:
Pricing
Joern is free and open source under the Apache-2.0 licence.
Recommended for?
- Security researchers hunting bugs.
- Teams building custom analyses.
- Not a fit for plug-and-play CI scanning.
Conclusion
Joern is a powerful, research-grade code analysis workbench.
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