A risk graph is a map of relationships between assets, findings, and dependencies. In application security, it connects things like code repositories, cloud workloads, vulnerabilities, exposed services, identities, and third-party components so analysts can see how a weakness in one place may affect others. Instead of treating every alert as isolated, the graph shows context: which asset is critical, which issue is reachable, and whether another dependency increases the impact.
This matters because attackers rarely exploit findings in isolation. They chain misconfigurations, weak credentials, and vulnerable components to move from a low-value system to a more sensitive one. Defenders use risk graphs to prioritize remediation, reduce false urgency, and focus on issues that create the biggest exposure. In ASPM and other security platforms, a strong risk graph helps teams answer practical questions faster: what is connected, what is reachable, and what should be fixed first.