CI/CD Security Gates

Add automated security scanning to your CI/CD pipeline. Blocks deployment if code vulnerabilities, leaked secrets, or dangerous dependencies are detected.

Why This Matters

Finding #6 from Malaysian court cases: "No evidence the system went through testing or vulnerability scanning before go-live."

Under PDPA 2024, shipping untested code with known vulnerabilities is criminal negligence.

The Three Gates

GitHub Actions Implementation

Full Security Pipeline

name: Deploy

on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  security:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      contents: read
      security-events: write
    steps:
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683 # v4.2.2

      - name: Initialize CodeQL
        uses: github/codeql-action/init@v3
        with:
          languages: javascript-typescript
          queries: security-and-quality

      - name: Perform CodeQL Analysis
        uses: github/codeql-action/analyze@v3
        with:
          category: /language:javascript-typescript

      - name: Run Gitleaks secret scanning
        uses: gitleaks/gitleaks-action@44c470fbc1e0e0de7e9ddc8d76cd120e42694ebb # v2.3.8
        env:
          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

  deploy:
    needs: security  # BLOCKS deploy if security fails
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683 # v4.2.2

      - name: Setup Node
        uses: actions/setup-node@49933ea5288caeca8642195f572a2b2b8a0a4b0e # v4.4.0
        with:
          node-version: 22
          cache: npm

      - name: Install dependencies
        run: npm ci

      - name: Run tests
        run: npm run test

      - name: Dependency security audit
        run: npm audit --audit-level=high

      - name: Build
        run: npm run build

      - name: Deploy
        run: npm run deploy

Key Principles

1. Pin actions to commit SHAs -- prevents supply-chain attacks via tag mutation
2. Security job runs BEFORE deploy -- needs: security blocks deployment
3. Use npm ci -- installs from lockfile deterministically
4. Audit at high level -- blocks on high/critical CVEs, reports moderate

SHA Pinning

Never use mutable tags like @v4. Always pin to commit SHA:

# BAD -- tag can be moved to malicious commit
uses: actions/checkout@v4

# GOOD -- immutable reference
uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683 # v4.2.2

How to find the SHA:

1. Go to the action's GitHub releases page
2. Find the version tag (e.g., v4.2.2)
3. Click the commit hash
4. Copy the full 40-character SHA

CodeQL Configuration

CodeQL catches:

• SQL injection patterns
• Cross-site scripting (XSS)
• Path traversal
• Insecure randomness
• Hard-coded credentials
• Prototype pollution
• Command injection

Supported languages: javascript-typescript, python, java, go, ruby, csharp, cpp

Gitleaks Configuration

Gitleaks catches:

• AWS access keys
• Google Cloud keys
• Stripe/Xendit/payment API keys
• Database connection strings
• Private keys (RSA, EC)
• JWT secrets
• Generic high-entropy strings

Custom Rules (.gitleaks.toml)

[extend]
useDefault = true

[[rules]]
id = "clerk-secret-key"
description = "Clerk Secret Key"
regex = '''sk_(test|live)_[A-Za-z0-9]+'''
tags = ["key", "clerk"]

[[rules]]
id = "xendit-secret-key"
description = "Xendit Secret Key"
regex = '''xnd_(development|production)_[A-Za-z0-9]+'''
tags = ["key", "xendit"]

[allowlist]
paths = [
  '''.env.example''',
  '''.*test.*''',
]

Dependency Audit

Node.js

# In CI -- fail on high/critical
npm audit --audit-level=high

# Local -- see everything
npm audit

# Fix what's safe to fix
npm audit fix

Python

pip audit --fix --dry-run
pip audit --desc

Package.json Scripts

{
  "scripts": {
    "security:audit": "npm audit --audit-level=high",
    "security:test": "npm run test && npm run security:audit",
    "verify": "npm run test && npm run security:audit && npm run build"
  }
}

GitLab CI Equivalent

stages:
  - security
  - test
  - deploy

sast:
  stage: security
  image: returntocorp/semgrep
  script:
    - semgrep --config=auto --error .
  allow_failure: false

secret-detection:
  stage: security
  image: zricethezav/gitleaks
  script:
    - gitleaks detect --source . --verbose
  allow_failure: false

test:
  stage: test
  needs: [sast, secret-detection]
  script:
    - npm ci
    - npm run test
    - npm audit --audit-level=high

deploy:
  stage: deploy
  needs: [test]
  script:
    - npm run deploy
  only:
    - main

What Happens When Gates Fail

PDPA 2024 Compliance

This satisfies:

• Evidence of due diligence -- automated scanning proves you checked before shipping
• Continuous monitoring -- runs on every push, not just once
• Proportionate security measures -- SAST + secret scanning + dependency audit covers the major vectors
• Audit trail -- GitHub Actions logs provide timestamped evidence of every security check

If JPDP asks "did you test for vulnerabilities before go-live?", you can point to the CI pipeline history showing every commit was scanned.