Azul boosts Java security with improved runtime vulnerability detection

Azul has introduced enhanced vulnerability detection capabilities to its Intelligence Cloud that aim to reduce false positives and improve the accuracy of identifying Java application security risks.

The company's updated solution, called Azul Vulnerability Detection, now uses class-level production runtime data to detect known vulnerabilities within Java applications. This approach contrasts with conventional application security (AppSec) and application performance monitoring (APM) tools, which often flag vulnerabilities based on component file names or software bill of materials (SBOM) data. Such traditional practices can generate a large volume of false positives, which the company asserts unnecessarily divert DevOps teams' time and effort.

Based on findings from the Azul 2025 State of Java Survey & Report, a significant proportion of organisations are affected by this problem, with 33% indicating that more than half of their DevOps teams' time is spent addressing false positives related to Java Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) alerts. The broad-brush flagging approach, which does not distinguish between components actually used in production and those simply present, can result in alerts for unused or non-critical vulnerabilities.

Azul's approach leverages data from Java application production environments to establish whether vulnerable classes in a component are executed, rather than simply existing as part of a packaged file. The company claims this refinement enables the solution to eliminate up to 99% of false positives, translating to a potential 100 to 1,000 times reduction compared to earlier detection methods.

The technical approach

The solution operates by applying a curated knowledge base that maps CVEs to individual Java classes used at runtime. By examining actual code paths executed in live environments, the system can determine whether a flagged vulnerability is relevant and warrants action.One example cited is CVE-2024-1597, which affects specific versions of the PostgreSQL Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) driver.

This high-severity vulnerability, which scores 9.8 out of 10 on the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS), can only be exploited when the driver is used in a particular non-default configuration. Conventional tools issue alerts if the driver is present in the application package, regardless of how it is used, contributing to unnecessary remediation efforts. Azul's detection mechanism discerns whether any of the 11 susceptible classes out of 470 in the component are used, thereby reducing irrelevant alerts.

Key benefits

According to Azul, the Intelliigence Cloud's Vulnerability Detection capability provides several benefits to enterprises managing extensive Java estates. These include continuous, real-time detection of vulnerabilities in production environments, which helps teams rapidly triage and prioritise critical issues in high-stakes scenarios like the Log4j vulnerability event. The platform retains both real-time and historical data on component and code use, using AI methods to focus forensic investigations on vulnerabilities actively exploited prior to their discovery.

Azul's vulnerability team updates the system's knowledge base with newly identified CVEs, using AI to monitor sources such as the National Vulnerabilities Database (NVD) and other repositories. The runtime data collection works across Oracle JDK as well as any OpenJDK-based Java Virtual Machine (JVM), providing flexibility for organisations using a range of Java distributions, including those from Amazon, Temurin, Microsoft, and Red Hat. Azul states that this data-gathering incurs no impact on production system performance, as it leverages information already generated by the JVM during application execution.

"The improved Vulnerability Detection features strengthen the proposition of Azul's Intelligence Cloud analytics SaaS offering as a way to increase DevOps productivity and recover developer capacity by reducing the need for full-time employee time spent wasted on security false positives and inefficient triage," said William Fellows, research director at 451 Research, part of S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Company statement

"Our mission is to help enterprises focus their security efforts on what matters - real risk, not noise," said Scott Sellers, co-founder and CEO of Azul. "By eliminating up to 99% of false positives and pinpointing vulnerabilities in Java applications with 100x – 1000x greater accuracy than traditional tools, Azul Intelligence Cloud enables capacity recovery across DevOps and security teams. As a result, teams can dramatically reduce noise, prioritise real risk and accelerate remediation - all with zero impact to performance and without slowing innovation."

Azul's enhancements to its Intelligence Cloud are positioned to address long-standing productivity challenges faced by DevOps teams handling Java application security, particularly the time lost to managing irrelevant or inaccurate alerts.