GitHub-Advanced-Security Sample Questions Answers

Validity checks, also calledsecret validation, allow GitHub to check if a detected secret isstill active. If verified as live, the alert is marked as"valid", allowing security teams to prioritize the most critical leaks.

Push protectionblockssecrets but does not check their validity. Custom patterns are user-defined and do not include live checks.

Whenmultiple instances of the same secret valueappear in a repository,only one alertis generated. Secret scanning works by identifying exposed credentials and token patterns, and it groups identical matches into asingle alertto reduce noise and avoid duplication.

This makes triaging easier and helps teams focus on remediating the actual exposed credential rather than reviewing multiple redundant alerts.

Validity checks— where GitHub verifies if a secret is still active — are available forpartner patternsonly. These are secrets issued by GitHub's trusted partners (like AWS, Slack, etc.) and have APIs for GitHub to validate token activity status.

Custom patterns and high entropy patterns donotsupport automated validity checks.

All results from CodeQL analysis appear under therepository’s code scanning alertstab. This section is part of theSecuritytab and provides a list of all current, fixed, and dismissed alerts found by CodeQL.

A CodeQL database is used internally during scanning but does not display results. Query packs contain rules, not results. Security advisories are for published vulnerabilities, not per-repo findings.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation:

When configuring Dependabot via the dependabot.yml file, the following fields are mandatory for each update configuration:

directory: Specifies the location of the package manifest within the repository. This tellsDependabot where to look for dependency files.​

package-ecosystem: Indicates the type of package manager (e.g., npm, pip, maven) used in the specified directory.​

schedule.interval: Defines how frequently Dependabot checks for updates (e.g., daily, weekly). This ensures regular scanning for outdated or vulnerable dependencies.​

The milestone field is optional and used for associating pull requests with milestones. The allow field is also optional and used to specify which dependencies to update.​

GitLab

These three features provide a complete layer of defense:

Code scanningidentifies security flaws in your source code

Secret scanningdetects exposed credentials

Dependency reviewshows the impact of package changes during a pull request

Together, they give developers actionable insight into risk and coverage throughout the SDLC.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation:

By default, users with write access to a repository have the ability to merge pull requests, including those created by Dependabot for security updates. This access level allows contributors to manage and integrate changes, ensuring that vulnerabilities are addressed promptly.​

Users with only read access cannot merge pull requests, and enterprise administrators do not automatically have merge rights unless they have write or higher permissions on the specific repository.​

In a dependabot.yml configuration file,package-ecosystemis arequired key. It defines the package manager being used in that update configuration (e.g., npm, pip, maven, etc.).

Without this key, Dependabot cannot determine how to analyze or update dependencies. Other keys like rebase-strategy or commit-message are optional and used for customizing behavior.

Bydefault,no repositoriesreceive Dependabot alerts unless configuration is explicitly enabled. GitHub doesnotenable Dependabot alerts automatically for any repositories unless:

The feature is turned on manually

It's configured at the organization or enterprise level via security policies

This includes public, private, and enterprise-owned repositories —manual activation is required.

When using a SARIF-compatible tool within GitHub Actions, it's necessary to explicitly add a step in your workflow to upload the analysis results. This is typically done using the upload-sarif action, which takes the SARIF file generated by your tool and uploads it to GitHub for processing and display in the Security tab. Without this step, the results won't be available in GitHub's code scanning interface.​

GitHub automatically closes a code scanning alert when the vulnerable code is fixedin the same branch where the alert was generated, usually via acommit inside a pull request. Simply clicking or triaging an alert does not resolve it. The alert is re-evaluated after each push to the branch, and if the issue no longer exists, it is marked as resolved.

When dealing with a data flow issue in a code scanning alert, clicking on "Show paths" provides a detailed view of the data's journey through the code. This includes the source of the data, the path it takes, and where it ends up (the sink). This information is crucial for understanding how untrusted data might reach sensitive parts of your application and helps in identifying where to implement proper validation or sanitization.​

Dependabot security updatesareautomated pull requeststriggered when GitHub detects avulnerabilityin a dependency listed in your manifest or lockfile. These PRs upgrade the dependency to theminimum safe versionthat fixes the vulnerability.

This is separate from regular updates (which keep versions current even if not vulnerable).

You shoulddismissa code scanning alert if the flagged code isnot a true security concern, such as:

Code in test files

Code paths that are unreachable or safe by design

False positives from the scanner

Fixing the code would automaticallyresolvethe alert — not dismiss it. Dismissing is for valid exceptions or noise reduction.

To create or modify acode scanning workflow file(typically under .github/workflows/codeql-analysis.yml), you must haveWriteaccess to the repository.

Write permission allows you to commit the workflow file, which is required to run or configure code scanning using GitHub Actions.

If a secret isintentionally used in a test environmentandposes no real-world security risk, you may close the alert with the reason"used in tests". This helps reduce noise and clarify that the alert was reviewed and accepted as non-critical.

Just being in a test file isn't enough unless itspurpose is purely for testing.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation:

A CodeQL database contains a representation of your codebase, including the build of the code and extracted data. This database is used to run CodeQL queries to analyze your code for potential vulnerabilities and errors.​

GitHub Docs

By default,users with Write, Maintain, or Admin permissionswill receive notifications for newDependabot alerts. However,Write permissionis theminimum levelneeded to be automatically notified. Users with only Read access do not receive alerts unless added explicitly.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation:

Before defining a custom pattern for secret scanning in a repository, you must enable secretscanning for that repository. Secret scanning must be active to utilize custom patterns, which allow you to define specific formats (using regular expressions) for secrets unique to your organization.​

Once secret scanning is enabled, you can add custom patterns to detect and prevent the exposure of sensitive information tailored to your needs.​