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Malware analysis is available for free. No API key is required to query SafeDep’s known malicious packages database. See pricing for SafeDep Cloud features.
Check your open source dependencies against SafeDep’s continuously updated database of known malicious packages using Vet. Vet queries SafeDep’s threat intelligence service, which is populated through continuous static and dynamic analysis of packages from public registries.
This page covers the fast path: a free lookup against SafeDep’s database of known malicious packages, built into Vet, PMG, and the SafeDep MCP server. It answers in milliseconds but only covers packages SafeDep has already analyzed. To run a new analysis of a specific component (any package version, an IDE extension, or a GitHub repository), use On-Demand Package Scanning, an independent paid feature. Vet itself no longer submits packages for analysis. On-demand scanning moved to safedep package scan.

Supported Ecosystems

npm

JavaScript and TypeScript packages

PyPI

Python packages and wheels

Go Modules

Go language modules

RubyGems

Ruby packages and gems

GitHub Actions

GitHub Action workflows

VS Code Extensions

Visual Studio Code extensions

Requirements

Install the latest version of Vet.
No API key is required. Querying known malicious packages works out of the box, with no SafeDep Cloud onboarding. A SafeDep Cloud account is optional and enables cloud features such as report sync and higher rate limits. See the SafeDep Cloud Quickstart.

Repository Scanning

Basic Malware Scanning

Enable malware analysis with the --malware-query flag:
Because Vet performs a lookup against known malicious packages, results are returned quickly, which works well for pull requests and CI/CD pipelines.
The --malware flag is a deprecated alias for --malware-query and behaves identically. It will be removed in a future release.

Specific Manifest Scanning

Scan individual package manifest files:

PURL-Based Scanning

Scan specific packages using Package URLs:
Malware analysis results for llm-oracle package

Visual Studio Code Extensions

Scan locally installed VS Code extensions:
VS Code extension scanning is supported only for local developer machines, not in CI/CD environments.

GitHub Actions Integration

vet-action

Enable malicious package protection in GitHub repositories using vet-action:
Known malicious package detection does not require an API key. SafeDep Cloud configuration (cloud, cloud-key, cloud-tenant) is optional and only enables cloud reporting and sync. See the vet-action documentation for cloud mode.

Pull Request Integration

When enabled, Vet scans changed packages for malware and provides results directly in pull requests: vet malware analysis in GitHub PR Expand comments to view detailed package analysis results: Detailed malware analysis results in PR

Understanding Results

Classification Levels

  • SAFE: No malicious behavior detected
  • SUSPICIOUS: Potentially risky patterns identified
  • MALICIOUS: Confirmed malicious behavior found

How Packages Are Analyzed

SafeDep continuously analyzes packages from public registries and records the results in its known malicious packages database. Vet queries this database during a scan. The analysis behind these records combines:
  • Code pattern analysis
  • Suspicious function detection
  • Obfuscation identification
  • Network communication patterns
  • File system access patterns
  • Process execution analysis
  • Package metadata anomalies
  • Publisher reputation analysis
  • Distribution pattern analysis

CI/CD Integration Examples

GitLab CI

Jenkins Pipeline

Troubleshooting

  • Review the analysis details
  • Contact SafeDep support with the package details
  • Use exceptions management for temporary overrides
  • Only packages already present in SafeDep’s known malicious packages database are reported. Packages not yet analyzed are not flagged.
  • Ensure you are using the latest version of Vet
  • Check network connectivity to SafeDep Cloud

On-Demand Package Scanning

Run an on-demand analysis of a package, IDE extension, or GitHub repository not yet in the database

vet-action Documentation

Complete GitHub Actions integration guide

SafeDep Cloud Setup

Optional cloud features such as report sync and higher rate limits

Report Issues

Report bugs or request features for malware analysis