Automation you can trust: Cut backlogs without breaking builds
7 minute read time
Engineering teams live in a paradox — under pressure to ship software faster than ever, yet every new open source component introduces hidden risk. Security backlogs pile up as developers scramble to fix vulnerabilities, balance new feature work, and try not to disrupt critical builds.
But there's a better way.
Let's break down how intelligent automation helps organizations tame their security backlog while keeping builds green. We'll walk through the real-world challenges developers face, the modern approach to dependency management, and actionable strategies.
Dependency management's set-and-forget crisis
For most developers, software dependency management is broken by design.
Teams select a library, lock in a version, and move on. Updating quickly falls off the radar — not because developers are careless, but because feature work and business needs always take priority. Most projects end up relying on dependencies that were locked at the point of first selection, rarely updated, and soon in need of patching.
This "set-it-and-forget-it" dynamic isn't just anecdotal. Sonatype's annual State of the Software Supply Chain report highlights how the vast majority of dependencies in use remain un-upgraded for years. Meanwhile, open source communities are hard at work, patching bugs and releasing newer, safer versions that simply don't reach enterprise codebases.
The ongoing vulnerability dilemma
When vulnerabilities (CVEs) are disclosed in open source libraries, teams face a tough choice. Often, the critical fix already exists in a newer version.
But since most organizations never prioritized regular upgrades, the remediation process triggers chaos. Product teams must halt work, reprioritize sprints, and developers lose hours troubleshooting and fire-fighting.
The result is finger-pointing, missed release deadlines, and a snowballing security backlog. Everyone wants to avoid emergencies. But without a solid automated process, risk accumulates.
Developers are overwhelmed by noise
Software teams don't ignore security on purpose. The issue is signal overload. Developers already juggle tasks from fast-moving Kanban boards, constant code reviews, and a slew of signals from various tools. Interrupt-driven work is the norm. Realistically, developers focus only on what's essential to move code forward.
Normalizing dependency management as a "first-class" item in the development workflow (rather than an afterthought or a break-glass emergency) is key. However, very few organizations consistently prioritize technical debt or dependency upgrades at a strategic level.
Consider what happens when teams react to a newly disclosed vulnerability:
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Manual triage costs time: Developers must research the vulnerability, check if their application uses the affected function, request waivers, and track changes. This process takes up to 4 hours per incident.
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Upgrading dependencies means risk: Even with fixes available, developers face tough decisions. Is the update API compatible? Will it break builds or existing code? Fear of disruption delays upgrades.
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Most vulnerabilities are "noise": 75% of vulnerabilities come from transitive dependencies not used by your code. They're irrelevant but create distracting alerts for teams.
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Manual solutions don’t scale: With thousands of dependencies, fixing issues manually isn't practical. Most organizations accept some risk and hope for the best.
The case for zero-effort automation
The ideal world is one where every open source component in your build is kept up-to-date automatically, with changes that never break production. Sonatype calls this the pursuit of "zero-effort fixes."
Here's why automation is not just convenient but crucial:
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Automated upgrades harvest the value of open source: Open source contributors move fast, patching vulnerabilities and shipping features. Automation ensures your software absorbs these improvements without extra work.
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Reduced distractions: Developers can focus on innovation, not endless churn from low-priority alerts.
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Proactive defense: By surfacing only actionable risks and automatically patching what's safe to patch, teams stay ahead of attackers instead of responding in crisis mode.
With the right automation, a critical, newly reported vulnerability doesn't derail progress. Instead, the pipeline updates the component behind the scenes, and your build keeps humming.
How Sonatype's automation works under the hood
Sonatype Lifecycle brings this vision to reality by weaving together several key technologies.
Reachability analysis
Not every flagged vulnerability is truly exploitable. Sonatype leverages reachability analysis to analyze your application's call flow and pinpoint whether a vulnerable method is actually used in your codebase.
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75% reduction in noise: This alone removes distraction from vulnerabilities buried deep within transitive dependencies.
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Automatic waivers: If a vulnerability isn't reachable, Sonatype waives it for you. If the method becomes called in the future (even after a refactor), the waiver is revoked and your build policy kicks in.
Zero-effort component fixes
Traditional software composition analysis (SCA) tools might suggest upgrades that break builds or introduce new vulnerabilities.
Sonatype's approach is more intelligent:
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API compatibility analysis: Lifecycle inspects all available versions, calculates direct and transitive impacts, and identifies upgrades with zero API breaking changes.
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Automation at scale: 17.5% of vulnerable components can be upgraded safely with zero code changes, instantly removing all known issues in both direct and transitive dependencies.
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Further reach: Another 20% can remove some vulnerabilities with minimal effort. Sonatype flags these options for human review.
Developer-first experience
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No shadow queues: Fixes and waivers surface in the developer's normal workflow (CI/CD pipelines, pull requests), not in an endless backlog outside team processes.
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Always-on green builds: Automated upgrades mean passing builds, mergeable pull requests, and uninterrupted velocity.
Real intelligence, not just pull request spam
What distinguishes Sonatype from generic SCA automation is depth. Instead of blindly opening one PR per new release (and overloading teams), Sonatype calculates compatibility, dependency trees, and policy impacts. This results in fewer, more actionable pull requests that actually make software safer.
An example of Sonatype automation in a modern CI pipeline
Imagine a developer pushes code to GitHub. The Sonatype-integrated CI kicks in:
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Run Lifecycle policy evaluation: All dependencies are scanned, with binary fingerprinting and reachability analysis.
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Apply waivers, if applicable: If flagged vulnerabilities aren't called by the app, waivers are issued automatically. The build passes.
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Suggest safe upgrades: If an API-compatible update is available, an automated PR appears in GitHub, ready for merge.
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Continuous monitoring: If the codebase eventually calls a once-unreachable vulnerable method, the waiver is revoked, and the pipeline blocks as defined by your policy.
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Real results: Sonatype's data shows that this approach can instantly reduce four hours of manual work per incident, while also cutting security review cycle times and lowering developer burnout.
Why automation matters for security, quality, and delivery
Security is often viewed as a blocker for fast software delivery. But with intelligent automation, it becomes an enabler.
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Eliminate emergencies: Critical CVEs disclosed in the news no longer trigger all-hands fire drills.
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Boost developer productivity: No more wasted cycles on irrelevant alerts or laborious manual research.
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Deliver new features faster: Teams don't stall pushing upgrades or improvements due to fear of broken builds or regressions.
Building trust through accurate intelligence
Sonatype pioneered componentized software supply chain automation, and its data-driven approach underpins its reliability:
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Breadth and depth: Sonatype's stewardship of Maven Central allows comprehensive analysis of how components interact, ensuring informed upgrade suggestions.
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Precision over volume: Tools don't just recommend the latest version, but the right version for your code, minimizing breakage and downstream regressions.
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Ongoing AI vetting: AI is used to improve license classification, typo detection, and even malicious package identification but always with a commitment to human-vetted accuracy.
FAQs on Sonatype automation
What happens when previously unreachable code becomes reachable?
Automatic waivers are self-revoking. If your code starts calling a vulnerable function after a refactor, the waiver is automatically removed, your build policy enforces blocking, and the team is alerted.
How is Sonatype different from tools that spam PRs?
Instead of simply creating pull requests for every new release, Sonatype validates compatibility and only opens PRs when it's safe to do so. Developers get actionable, merge-ready fixes.
What about complex transitive dependencies?
Sonatype avoids putting extra effort on your team. Zero-effort fixes apply when both direct and transitive dependencies can be aligned without extra maintenance work like pinning. For advanced cases, Sonatype provides the insights needed, but automates only what's truly hands-off.
Next steps: Watch the full Sonatype automation webinar on demand
If you're ready to solve your security backlog, keep your builds breaking less, and give your developers the confidence to move fast, automation is the answer.
Learn more about Sonatype's zero-effort, developer-first dependency management. Watch the "Automation You Can Count On" webinar on-demand for a full walkthrough, demos, and live Q&A.
Aaron is a technical writer on Sonatype's Marketing team. He works at a crossroads of technical writing, developer advocacy, software development, and open source. He aims to get developers and non-technical collaborators to work well together via experimentation, feedback, and iteration so they ...
Explore All Posts by Aaron Linskens
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