TL;DR: Bazel builds fast but made security a mess. No lockfiles, no visibility, lots of manual work. Aikido now scans Bazel projects automatically, flags risky dependencies, and saves you from custom scripts and CI hacks.
The Bazel Security Challenge
Bazel is great for big codebases and fast builds, but it doesn’t use standard lockfiles or manifests, which makes security scanning a pain. Most tools can’t see what libraries you’re using.
Teams worked around it with scripts or Bazel’s experimental modules, just to generate something scan-worthy. But this is messy, slow, and makes it easy to miss critical CVEs.
Securing Bazel builds shouldn’t be this hard. Now it isn’t.
How Aikido Automates Bazel Security
With Aikido’s new update, we’ve brought our “no bullsh*t” approach to Bazel users. Here’s what changes:
- Dependency Visibility: Aikido now understands Bazel’s dependency definitions, whether you use classic BUILD rules or Bazel modules. It automatically identifies the third-party libraries and versions your Bazel build pulls in. No lockfile? No problem. Aikido scans your Bazel files and extracts dependency info, so nothing falls through the cracks.
- Vulnerability Alerts: Once Aikido knows your dependencies, it checks them against our vulnerability database (and global CVE feeds). You get real-time alerts for any known CVEs. Using a vulnerable Log4j via Bazel? Aikido flags it instantly, just like we do for other ecosystems.
- Integrated SAST & Secrets: Aikido doesn’t stop at dependencies. We scan your Bazel-based projects for code issues, secrets, and misconfigs too. No need for separate config or workflows. It’s the same dev-friendly experience, just works out of the box.
From Manual to Effortless: What It Means for Devs
Every developer using Bazel can now be a secure developer without extra effort. Here’s how this feature makes your life easier:
- No more manual CVE hunting: You don’t need to track mailing lists or changelogs. Aikido monitors your Bazel dependencies and alerts you when something breaks. You’ll see CVEs directly in your Aikido dashboard, without digging.
- Fewer false alarms: Bazel projects often bundle a ton of generated code and indirect deps. Aikido’s AI triage cuts through the noise, flags what actually matters, and ignores the rest.
- CI/CD is optional, not required: Unlike other tools, you don’t need to run Bazel builds in CI just to get security insights. Aikido scans directly from your code - zero setup. Want CI integration anyway? Cool. Add our CLI to your pipeline and we’ll catch Bazel issues there too. Your call.
- Confidence to update: Bazel projects pin versions tightly. That’s great… until you need to upgrade. Aikido shows you exactly which deps are risky and whether a safe upgrade exists. No guesswork, no surprises. Just patch and move on.
Getting Started with Aikido + Bazel Security
Getting started is easy: Sign up for Aikido and ask us in the in-app chat to enable Bazel scanning - or book a quick call with our team to get a walkthrough.
Aikido currently supports Java via Maven, with GO, C, C++, Python, Scala,... coming soon.
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