Upgrading to DefectDojo Version 3.3.x

Deduplication identity changes

Three scan types gain HASHCODE_FIELDS_PER_SCANNER registrations in this release. A registration changes how hash_code is computed, so findings imported by these parsers before the upgrade carry a hash that no longer matches what an import computes after it. Left alone, the next re-import of an unchanged report would treat every affected finding as new, close the stored one as absent, and recreate it, detaching false positive history and risk acceptances along the way.

Scan typeNew hash fieldsWhy
Xeol Parsertitle, component_name, component_versionIts severity is derived from the current date against the component’s EOL date, and the legacy hash meant finding identity moved on its own as time passed. Severity still escalates as an EOL date recedes; it just no longer decides what the finding is.
Checkmarx One Scanunique_id_from_toolThe parser already deduplicates on the vendor id. The stored hash previously fell through to the legacy field set, whose title and description are the same volatile text for every result family, so the stored identity moved whenever Checkmarx reworded a finding even though matching did not.
Checkmarx Scan detailedvuln_id_from_tool, file_path, lineThe same three fields as its sibling Checkmarx CxFlow SAST, which the parser populates on every detailed-mode finding. None of them carries scan text.

DefectDojo Pro

Pro 3.2.300 and later record identity signatures by default (identity_signature_dual_write), and the nightly drift watch will notice these definition changes and notify. The notification is a report, not a repair: recompute the stored hashes with the same three commands below, or accept the definition change in the Tuner, which runs the equivalent scoped rehash.

Two Pro-specific notes:

  • If your instance has a signature ledger worth keeping (it has been recording for a while, or you ran a backfill), run python manage.py identity_signatures_backfill in a maintenance window before this upgrade. The backfill records the identities findings currently have, and a rehash replaces them; done in this order, the previous identities stay in the ledger and remain matchable during the transition on instances where signature matching is enabled.
  • identity_signature_matching remains opt-in per instance. Where it is enabled, imports still carrying the old identity bridge through the ledger during the transition.

Open source, and Pro instances that skip the rehash

Rehash the affected scan types after upgrading so stored hashes match what imports now compute:

docker compose exec uwsgi /bin/bash -c "python manage.py dedupe --parser 'Xeol Parser' --hash_code_only"
docker compose exec uwsgi /bin/bash -c "python manage.py dedupe --parser 'Checkmarx One Scan' --hash_code_only"
docker compose exec uwsgi /bin/bash -c "python manage.py dedupe --parser 'Checkmarx Scan detailed' --hash_code_only"

Installs that never imported these scan types are unaffected. Check the Release Notes for the full contents of the release.