LLM vs. SAST: A Technical Analysis on Detecting Coding Bugs of GPT4-Advanced Data Analysis

Abstract

With the rapid advancements in Natural Language Processing (NLP), large language models (LLMs) like GPT-4 have gained significant traction in diverse applications, including security vulnerability scanning. This paper investigates the efficacy of GPT-4 in identifying software vulnerabilities compared to traditional Static Application Security Testing (SAST) tools. Drawing from an array of security mistakes, our analysis underscores the potent capabilities of GPT-4 in LLM-enhanced vulnerability scanning. We unveiled that GPT-4 (Advanced Data Analysis) outperforms SAST by an accuracy of 94% in detecting 32 types of exploitable vulnerabilities. This study also addresses the potential security concerns surrounding LLMs, emphasising the imperative of security by design/default and other security best practices for AI.