What is CI/CD Vulnerability Scanning?

CI/CD, or continuous integration and continuous deployment, is the automation of software development workflows to keep it smooth and efficient. CI/CD vulnerability scanning refers to practices that ensure the integrity and security of these pipelines and processes remain robust.

Using professional tools, and with help from experts such as VikingCloud, software developers can rest easy knowing their often complex product flows are meticulously tested to help avoid data leakage and hacking.

Understanding CI/CD in a Security Context

To understand CI/CD in a security context, we need to consider some potential security risks in these types of pipelines, and key steps developers can take to secure them.

Typical risks facing CI/CD pipelines may include pipeline misconfigurations such as lax access controls and unprotected credentials, insecure build environments that allow attackers to insert malicious code, and poorly written source code.

All three of these vulnerabilities can lead to the collapse of software development pipelines, resulting in sensitive data loss, revenue loss, project delays (and even cancellations), and reputational damage.

We always advise our clients to consult expert advice from guides, such as the OWASP Top Ten CI/CD Security Risks, to ensure they are up to speed on the latest emerging threats affecting these pipelines. For example, at the time of writing, OWASP suggests that insufficient flow control mechanisms make up the foremost security concern for CI/CD developers:

“Insufficient flow control mechanisms refer to the ability of an attacker that has obtained permissions to a system within the CI/CD process (SCM, CI, Artifact repository, etc.) to single handedly push malicious code or artifacts down the pipeline, due to a lack in mechanisms that enforce additional approval or review.”

OWASP CICD-SEC-1

Some typical security steps CI/CD developers may take include:

• Using different vulnerability scanning methods to sweep pipelines
• Applying additional reviews and scrutiny to processes
• Securing sensitive access keys, application programming interfaces (APIs), development secrets, and other credentials more proactively
• Improving container security and analyzing scripts for misconfigurations

CI/CD is already highly vulnerable thanks to its centralized position in software development and, due to the fact much of it is automated, it can be appealing to hackers looking for simple mistakes to exploit that have otherwise gone unnoticed.

Therefore, we always advise clients to prioritize CI/CD security even if it forms a small part of their operations—simply because it may be the weakest link in the chain.

What is CI/CD Vulnerability Scanning?

CI/CD vulnerability scanning refers to the automation of security checks across your development pipeline, checking for potential issues that bad actors could use to disrupt flows, steal data, and cause damage.

CI/CD scanning perpetually runs through your pipeline, checking for misconfigurations, container weaknesses, code breaks and errors, server dependency issues, and other in-roads that hackers may use. Like penetration testing, vulnerability scans pinpoint hidden flaws and advise potential remediations.

However, scanning is different from penetration testing in this scenario because it is perpetual and automated, though both processes are important to run together for the most secure operations.

Running CI/CD scans is important because:

• It’s easy for weaknesses to emerge without manual review thanks to the sheer number of integrations and amount of code added autonomously
• It allows pipelines to continue running at speed without the need for constant stops and starts
• It’s a cost-effective alternative to what you may incur for fixing data leaks and project disruption

However, do remember that it’s just one piece of the larger cybersecurity puzzle, which VikingCloud can help you put together!

Our latest report shows that cybercrime costs are escalating, and that’s largely thanks to threats becoming more sophisticated and businesses being inadequately prepared. There’s no excuse not to tighten up your CI/CD processes.

Key Types of Scanning Used in CI/CD

The most common types of scanning used in CI/CD include DAST, SAST, SCA, secret scanning, and container scanning. Let’s explore each of these in detail.

• DAST, or Dynamic Application Security Testing, scans your CI/CD pipelines from the outside once code is live, checking for exploitable points that attackers may use in real-world applications. These tests check CI/CD vulnerabilities in real-time, mimicking typical bad actor strategies, and often at the end of development.
• SAST, or Static Application Security Testing, takes place internally, and assesses source code strength before an application goes live. SAST scans essentially review your code to ensure that it’s robust against common threats such as code injections.
• SCA, or Software Composition Analysis, essentially checks the libraries and components you rely on (such as open-source and external builds), and looks for known vulnerabilities compared to a database that’s updated on a rolling basis. These scans are highly beneficial in ensuring that you’re using vendors and applications you know you can trust.
• Secret Scanning applications dive deep to look for sensitive data that could be potentially exposed, such as development secrets and APIs you can’t afford to share.
• Container Scanning, or Infrastructure Scanning, refers to automated reviews of your containers and infrastructure definitions. These scans are useful in pinpointing potential weaknesses in your ports and code, and can even help ensure you stay compliant with regulators.

How CI/CD Vulnerability Scanning Works

CI/CD vulnerability scanning refers to a series of automated processes that keep reviewing your pipeline’s security posture across the whole development lifecycle. That means scanning routinely leaps into action when changes are made to code or to the broader pipeline.

Once triggered, vulnerability scanning tools work to analyze your source code, external entry points, ports, and third-party dependencies (and more). That means you can expect a mix of the scanning types above to work together to cover the whole of your pipelines.

Scanners assess risk based on your parameters and on threat libraries, raising the alarm when areas of concern are detected. Ultimately, whether midway through development or at the end of the cycle, vulnerability scanners will tell you whether or not there are CI/CD failing findings.

From there, you can use the data produced by these scanners to remedy issues they have raised, before establishing an ongoing monitoring schedule—something the VikingCloud team frequently helps clients to draw up and manage.

Benefits and Implementation Tips

The key benefits of CI/CD vulnerability scanning are that you can keep development running efficiently, reduce the costs of manual reviews and fixes, and ensure your process maintains complete compliance with applicable regulations.

To affected businesses such as online merchants, we always recommend running a PCI compliance scan schedule alongside CI/CD checks to completely ensure compliance—otherwise, you risk losing more revenue through penalties and reputation damage.

Here are some general implementation tips we recommend to clients to help them access these benefits as quickly and as much as possible:

• Use the different scanning types listed above for a more complete, comprehensive coverage of your pipeline.
• Never delay security scanning, and wherever possible, be proactive and review measures manually on top of automating scans. Why? You can simply never be too careful!
• Follow suggestions raised by scanners to the letter. If they appear to be false positives or don’t make sense, ask for help from cybersecurity experts to break down their analyses.
• Incorporate automated vulnerability scanning as part of your broader cybersecurity and vulnerability management process—set up regular penetration tests and manually review after each major change at the very least.
• Ensure your scanners follow a standardized process and policies across the whole of your pipeline network and organization—and embed them as part of your accessible security policy so everyone knows what’s at stake, and what to expect.
• Don’t be afraid to reassess your software dependencies regularly. If your scanners suggest they may pose broader threats than you can handle, don’t cling to these assets for the sake of doing what you’ve always done in the past.

Remember, too, that there may be challenges in implementing CI/CD scanning, both initially and on an ongoing basis. For example, there is always the chance for false positives, meaning you must take reports and analyses with a pinch of salt—and to ask experts to break down reports for you if you are unsure of the implications.

And, while scanning can improve your pipeline security and speed to release, if set up ineffectively, it can also slow things down. Therefore, it’s wise to look carefully at how often you run full scans, to what extent, and to consider which scans are entirely necessary over time. Be prepared to review and adjust.

FAQs

Let’s close our guide with some quick, final frequently asked questions.

Does CI/CD scanning slow down pipelines?

Not necessarily—if it is implemented effectively, with the help of cybersecurity experts, CI/CD scanning can actually speed up pipelines and development cycles. While it may seem as though adding extra tools to the process will slow development down, their efficiency benefits are far-reaching.

How is SAST different from DAST?

SAST scans run on inactive or static source code from an internal viewpoint, while DAST scans run from an external viewpoint once an application goes live. The aim of SAST is to spot weaknesses before go-live, and DAST serves to spot weaknesses attackers could use after publishing.

VikingCloud offers CI/CD vulnerability scanning alongside a broad range of cybersecurity tools and processes that tighten up and harden your operation against the nastiest of emerging threats. Learn more about how we can be your perfect partner against cybercrime by calling or booking a consultation with us today.