Secure Code Review
Manual and automated code review to identify security flaws at the source level.
Secure Code Review
Automated scanners catch patterns — skilled reviewers catch intent. Intelliroot's secure code review combines SAST tooling with deep manual analysis to surface the vulnerabilities that static tools routinely miss: business logic flaws, insecure cryptographic usage, race conditions, deserialization weaknesses, and hardcoded secrets buried within complex codebases. Reviews are conducted by CREST-certified analysts following the OWASP Code Review Guide and your organisation's own Security Development Lifecycle (SDL) policies.
We support all major application languages — Java, Python, Go, Node.js, PHP, C#, Ruby, and Kotlin — across monolithic, microservice, and serverless architectures. Findings are contextualised to your stack, triaged by exploitability and business impact, and delivered with concrete, developer-ready remediation guidance. Every engagement concludes with a developer debrief so fixes happen faster and the same class of vulnerability does not reappear in the next sprint.
Why Manual Code Review Is Irreplaceable
Logic Flaws Are Invisible to Scanners
Business logic vulnerabilities — price manipulation, privilege escalation through workflow abuse, and broken authorisation flows — require a human analyst who understands application intent, not just syntax patterns.
Shift-Left Saves Remediation Cost
Finding a vulnerability in code review costs a fraction of fixing it post-deployment. Integrating review into your SDL prevents security debt from accumulating sprint after sprint.
Secrets & Crypto Misuse Are Pervasive
Hardcoded API keys, weak ciphers, broken random number generation, and insecure TLS configurations are common in production codebases and rarely flagged accurately by automated tools.
Compliance Demands Source-Level Evidence
PCI DSS Requirement 6, ISO 27001 Annex A.8.28, and SOC 2 CC8.1 all require secure development practices. A formal code review report from a CREST-certified firm satisfies audit evidence requirements.
What We Review
Injection & Input Handling
- SQL, NoSQL, LDAP, and OS command injection
- XSS sinks and unsafe DOM manipulation
- Template injection in server-side rendering
- Path traversal and file inclusion flaws
- Unsafe deserialisation of untrusted data
Cryptography & Secrets
- Weak or deprecated cipher suites (MD5, SHA1, DES, RC4)
- Insecure random number generation
- Hardcoded credentials, API keys, and tokens
- Insecure key storage and certificate validation
- Improper TLS configuration and certificate pinning
Authorisation & Business Logic
- Missing or broken function-level access control
- Insecure direct object references (IDOR)
- Privilege escalation through parameter tampering
- Race conditions in shared resource access
- Business logic bypass and workflow abuse
Language-Specific & Framework Flaws
- Java: unsafe reflection, XXE, Log4Shell patterns
- Python: pickle deserialisation, SSTI, subprocess misuse
- Go: goroutine race conditions, unsafe pointer usage
- Node.js: prototype pollution, ReDoS, eval misuse
- PHP: file inclusion, type juggling, open redirects
Our Review Process
Scoping & Codebase Orientation
Define review scope, agree on repository access method (Git, archive, or source code portal), identify critical modules, threat model assumptions, and any prior audit history. Establish a shared understanding of the application's business purpose and trust boundaries.
Automated SAST Baseline
Run calibrated SAST tools (Semgrep, CodeQL, SonarQube) against the target codebase to generate an initial finding baseline. Rules are tuned to the language and framework stack to minimise false positives before manual triage begins.
Manual Deep-Dive Review
Analysts trace data flows from untrusted input sources to sensitive sinks, review authentication and authorisation logic, inspect cryptographic implementations, and search for hardcoded secrets and insecure configurations — all guided by the OWASP Code Review Guide.
Business Logic & Architecture Analysis
Review application architecture, inter-service communication, trust boundary enforcement, and session management design. Identify logic-level vulnerabilities that only emerge when understanding the system's intended behaviour end-to-end.
Triage, Deduplication & Risk Rating
Consolidate automated and manual findings, remove duplicates and false positives, and assign CVSS 3.1 scores with contextual business-impact ratings. Prioritise findings by exploitability and potential blast radius within your environment.
Reporting & Developer Debrief
Deliver a detailed technical report with annotated code snippets, remediation guidance, and secure coding examples. Host a developer walkthrough session to ensure the engineering team understands findings and can implement durable fixes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Deliverables
Executive Summary Report
Risk posture overview, critical finding highlights, and strategic recommendations suitable for engineering leadership and audit committees.
Technical Findings Report
Full technical detail for each vulnerability with annotated code snippets, root cause analysis, CVSS score, and step-by-step remediation guidance.
Risk-Rated Vulnerability Register
Spreadsheet of all findings sorted by severity with status tracking columns, making it suitable as a living remediation tracker through to closure.
Secure Coding Guidelines
Language-specific secure coding guidance document tailored to your technology stack — a durable reference for developers addressing current and future code.
Retest & Closure Certificate
Post-remediation verification of critical and high findings with a signed closure certificate accepted by regulators and third-party auditors.
Developer Debrief Session
Live walkthrough of findings and remediation patterns with your engineering team — includes Q&A and secure coding examples for the most impactful vulnerability classes found.
Request a Security Assessment
Tell us about your environment and security objectives. We'll design a bespoke assessment and deliver a detailed proposal within 48 hours.