integrating-sast-into-github-actions-pipeline

This skill covers integrating Static Application Security Testing (SAST) tools—CodeQL and Semgrep—into GitHub Actions CI/CD pipelines. It addresses configuring automated code scanning on pull requests and pushes, tuning rules to reduce false positives, uploading SARIF results to GitHub Advanced Security, and establishing quality gates that block merges when high-severity vulnerabilities are detected.

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Repository: autohandai/community-skills
Last source activity: March 16, 2026 at 00:59
Detected SKILL.md language: English
Stars: 10
Forks: 3

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name	integrating-sast-into-github-actions-pipeline
description	This skill covers integrating Static Application Security Testing (SAST) tools—CodeQL and Semgrep—into GitHub Actions CI/CD pipelines. It addresses configuring automated code scanning on pull requests and pushes, tuning rules to reduce false positives, uploading SARIF results to GitHub Advanced Security, and establishing quality gates that block merges when high-severity vulnerabilities are detected.
domain	cybersecurity
subdomain	devsecops
tags	["devsecops","cicd","sast","codeql","semgrep","secure-sdlc"]
version	1.0.0
author	mahipal
license	Apache-2.0

Integrating SAST into GitHub Actions Pipeline

When to Use

When development teams need automated code-level vulnerability detection on every pull request
When security teams require consistent SAST enforcement across all repositories in an organization
When migrating from manual or periodic security reviews to continuous security testing
When compliance frameworks (SOC 2, PCI DSS, NIST SSDF) require evidence of automated code analysis
When multiple languages coexist in a monorepo and need unified scanning under one workflow

Do not use for runtime vulnerability detection (use DAST instead), for scanning third-party dependencies (use SCA tools like Snyk), or for infrastructure-as-code scanning (use Checkov or tfsec).

Prerequisites

GitHub repository with GitHub Actions enabled
GitHub Advanced Security license (required for CodeQL on private repos; free for public repos)
Semgrep account for managed rules and Semgrep App dashboard (free tier available)
Repository code in a supported language: Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, Java, C/C++, C#, Go, Ruby, Swift, Kotlin

Workflow

Step 1: Configure CodeQL Analysis Workflow

Create a CodeQL workflow that runs on pull requests and on a weekly schedule to catch vulnerabilities in existing code.

# .github/workflows/codeql-analysis.yml
name: "CodeQL Analysis"

on:
  push:
    branches: [main, develop]
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]
  schedule:
    - cron: '30 2 * * 1'  # Weekly Monday 2:30 AM

jobs:
  analyze:
    name: Analyze (${{ matrix.language }})
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
       
       
       

    
       
      
         [, ]

# .github/workflows/semgrep.yml
name: "Semgrep SAST Scan"

on:
  pull_request:
    branches: [main, develop]
  push:
    branches: [main]

jobs:
  semgrep:
    name: Semgrep Scan
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    permissions:
      security-events: write
      contents: read

    container:
      image: semgrep/semgrep:latest

    steps:
      - name: Checkout
        uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Run Semgrep
        run: |
          semgrep ci \
            --config auto \
            --config p/owasp-top-ten \
            --config p/cwe-top-25 \
            --sarif --output semgrep-results.sarif \
            --severity ERROR \
            --error
        env:
          SEMGREP_APP_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.SEMGREP_APP_TOKEN }}

      - name: Upload SARIF
        if: always()
        uses: github/codeql-action/upload-sarif@v3
        with:
          sarif_file: semgrep-results.sarif
          category: semgrep

# .semgrep/custom-rules.yml
rules:
  - id: hardcoded-database-url
    patterns:
      - pattern: |
          $DB_URL = "...$PROTO://...:...$PASS@..."
    message: |
      Hardcoded database connection string with credentials detected.
      Use environment variables or a secrets manager instead.
    languages: [python, javascript, typescript]
    severity: ERROR
    metadata:
      cwe: "CWE-798: Use of Hard-coded Credentials"
      owasp: "A07:2021 - Identification and Authentication Failures"

  - id: unsafe-deserialization
    patterns:
      - pattern-either:
          - pattern: pickle.loads(...)
          - pattern: yaml.load(..., Loader=yaml.Loader)
          - pattern: yaml.load(..., Loader=yaml.FullLoader)
    message: |
      Unsafe deserialization detected. Use safe alternatives to prevent
      remote code execution vulnerabilities.
    languages: [python]
    severity: ERROR
    metadata:
      cwe: "CWE-502: Deserialization of Untrusted Data"

  - id: missing-csrf-protection
    patterns:
      - pattern: |
          @app.route("...", methods=["POST"])
          def $FUNC(...):
              ...
      - pattern-not-inside: |
          @csrf.exempt
          ...
    message: "POST endpoint may lack CSRF protection."
    languages: [python]
    severity: WARNING

# Use GitHub CLI to set branch protection requiring SAST checks
gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/branches/main/protection \
  --method PUT \
  --field required_status_checks='{"strict":true,"contexts":["Analyze (javascript)","Analyze (python)","Semgrep Scan"]}' \
  --field enforce_admins=true \
  --field required_pull_request_reviews='{"required_approving_review_count":1}'

# codeql-config.yml - Custom CodeQL configuration
name: "Custom CodeQL Config"
queries:
  - uses: security-extended
  - uses: security-and-quality
  - excludes:
      id: js/unused-local-variable
paths-ignore:
  - '**/test/**'
  - '**/tests/**'
  - '**/vendor/**'
  - '**/node_modules/**'
  - '**/*.test.js'
  - '**/*.spec.py'

# Example: Suppressing a known false positive in Semgrep
import subprocess

def run_safe_command(cmd_list):
    # nosemgrep: python.lang.security.audit.dangerous-subprocess-use
    result = subprocess.run(cmd_list, capture_output=True, text=True, shell=False)
    return result.stdout

# Query SARIF results via GitHub API for reporting
gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/code-scanning/alerts \
  --jq '.[] | select(.state=="open") | {rule: .rule.id, severity: .rule.security_severity_level, file: .most_recent_instance.location.path, line: .most_recent_instance.location.start_line}'

# Count open alerts by severity
gh api repos/{owner}/{repo}/code-scanning/alerts \
  --jq '[.[] | select(.state=="open")] | group_by(.rule.security_severity_level) | map({severity: .[0].rule.security_severity_level, count: length})'

Term	Definition
SAST	Static Application Security Testing — analyzes source code without executing it to find security vulnerabilities
SARIF	Static Analysis Results Interchange Format — standardized JSON format for expressing results from static analysis tools
CodeQL	GitHub's semantic code analysis engine that treats code as data and queries it for vulnerability patterns
Semgrep	Lightweight static analysis tool using pattern matching to find bugs and security issues across many languages
Security Extended	CodeQL query suite that includes additional security queries beyond the default set for deeper analysis
Quality Gate	Automated checkpoint that blocks code from progressing through the pipeline unless security criteria are met
False Positive	A scan finding that incorrectly identifies secure code as vulnerable, requiring suppression or tuning

SAST Pipeline Scan Report
==========================
Repository: org/web-application
Branch: feature/user-auth-refactor
Scan Date: 2026-02-23
Commit: a1b2c3d4

CodeQL Results:
  Language    Queries Run   Findings   Critical   High   Medium
  javascript  312           4          1          2      1
  python      287           2          0          1      1

Semgrep Results:
  Ruleset          Rules Matched   Findings   Errors   Warnings
  auto             1,847           3          1        2
  owasp-top-ten    186             2          1        1
  custom-rules     12              1          0        1

QUALITY GATE: FAILED
  Blocking findings: 2 Critical/High severity issues
  - [CRITICAL] CWE-89: SQL Injection in src/api/users.py:47
  - [HIGH] CWE-79: Cross-site Scripting in src/components/Search.tsx:123

Action Required: Fix blocking findings before merge is permitted.