macOS
Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install ratslocal Homebrew formula metadata
MacPortsverified · 94%
sudo port install ratsMacPorts ports tree · security/rats/Portfile · source: api.github.com
brew
Install rats with Homebrew, dnf, MacPorts
Rough auditing tool for security. Version 2.4 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. Also installable with dnf: sudo dnf install rats.
install
Additional install commands
Linux
Fedora dnfverified · 92%
sudo dnf install ratsFedora Rawhide package metadata · rats · source: dl.fedoraproject.org
overview
Package summary
Rough auditing tool for security
Project links
Commands and aliases
- rats
history
Project history and usage
RATS, the Rough Auditing Tool for Security, is a command-line static analysis scanner for finding common security-sensitive programming patterns in source code.
Project history
The official README says RATS was developed, maintained, and distributed by Secure Software, Inc. The 2.4 source archive describes it as a scanner for C, C++, Perl, PHP, Python, and Ruby source that flags issues such as buffer overflows and TOCTOU race conditions.
Adoption history
RATS circulated as a small Unix security-auditing utility through source archives and package managers. Homebrew, Debian-derived manpage packaging, Fedora, MacPorts, and other Unix package collections carried it as a lightweight source-code auditing tool.
How it is used
Users run rats against files or directories and can select vulnerability databases with -d, force a language with -l, choose warning levels, recurse through directories, and emit text, XML, or HTML reports.
Why package nerds care
Package maintainers care about RATS because it is an old-style security CLI: small C code, autoconf build, XML vulnerability databases, and a package surface that exposes static-analysis behavior without a large framework.
Timeline
- 2001: The bundled manpage date records RATS documentation in September 2001.
- 2.4: Homebrew packages the Google Code archive release as the stable version.
Related projects
- The README notes Expat as a build/runtime requirement and credits Ben Laurie for OpenSSL-specific database contributions.
Sources
- Google Code Archive: official rough-auditing-tool-for-security project and source download.
- Homebrew formula metadata for rats stable 2.4.
- RATS 2.4 README and rats.1 from the official Google Code archive tarball.
security posture
Risk level: green
narrow executable package without higher-risk signals.
Risk classifier
green risk · low confidence · appliance
Why
- narrow executable package without higher-risk signals
Signals
- metadata:no-higher-risk-signals
Install behavior
- No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
- Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 13 platform targets.
Recommended review
Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.
executables
Installed executables
| Command | Kind | Exposure | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
rats | cli | global executable |
freshness
Version and freshness
These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.
page generated2026-07-25
manager version2.4
manager updated
local dataok
upstreamnot checked
latest detectednot detected
https://security.web.cern.ch/security/recommendations/en/codetools/rats.shtml
- infoNo package-manager update timestamp was available.low confidence
- infoRelease/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories.https://security.web.cern.ch/security/recommendations/en/codetools/rats.shtmlnone confidence
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:rats |
|---|---|
| Version | 2.4 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Package manager page | https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/rats |
| Homepage | https://security.web.cern.ch/security/recommendations/en/codetools/rats.shtml |
| Repository | https://code.google.com/archive/p/rough-auditing-tool-for-security/source/default/source |
| Upstream docs | https://security.web.cern.ch/security/recommendations/en/codetools/rats.shtml |
| License | GPL-2.0-or-later |
| Source archive | https://storage.googleapis.com/google-code-archive-downloads/v2/code.google.com/rough-auditing-tool-for-security/rats-2.4.tgz |
| Uses from macOS | expat |
| Bottle | available (on arm64_big_sur, arm64_linux, arm64_monterey, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, arm64_ventura, big_sur, catalina, monterey, sonoma, ventura, x86_64_linux) |
| Homebrew post-install | not defined |
| Service | none declared |
registry facts
Source database details
| Source Database | Homebrew formula API |
|---|---|
| Tap | homebrew/core |
| Full Name | rats |
| Version Scheme | 0 |
| Revision | 0 |
| Bottle Stable Root URL | https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core |
| Deprecated | no |
| Disabled | no |
| Keg Only | no |
| URL Keys |
|
source database matches
Other package-manager records
Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.
dnf95%
rats 2.4-31.fc44
Rough Auditing Tool for Security
https://code.google.com/p/rough-auditing-tool-for-security/
sudo dnf install rats- License: GPL-2.0-only
- Category: Unspecified
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: rats
- 3 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Rats
MacPorts95%
rats
sudo port install rats- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Rats
source trail
Generated from repository data
This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.
Combined YAML source
View the package source record on GitHub.
Used sources
- Geiger risk classifier
- Nucleus package database
- av.db category and tag curation
- cross-ecosystem install command graph
- curated package history
- external package-manager database matches
- package relationship graph
- package version freshness
- package-page enrichment