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Code scanningis a static analysis feature that examines your source code to identifysecurityvulnerabilitiesandcoding errors. It runs either on every push, pull request, or a scheduled time depending on the workflow configuration.

It doesnotautomatically contact maintainers, scan full Git history, or block pushes unless explicitly configured to do so.

After generating an alert for a vulnerable dependency, Dependabot automatically attempts to create a pull request to upgrade that dependency to theminimum required secure version—if a fix is available and compatible with your project.

This automated PR helps teams fix vulnerabilities quickly with minimal manual intervention. You can also configure update behaviors using dependabot.yml, but in the default state, PR creation is automatic.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation:

To generate a dependency graph for a private repository, GitHub requires:​

Dependency graph enabled: The repository must have the dependency graph feature enabled. This can be configured at the organization level to apply to all new private repositories.​

Access to manifest and lock files: GitHub needs read-only access to the repository's dependency manifest and lock files (e.g., package.json, requirements.txt) to identify and map dependencies.​

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.

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.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation:

To receive Dependabot alert notifications for a repository, you can utilize the following Watch settings:

Custom setting: Allows you to tailor your notifications, enabling you to subscribe specifically to security alerts, including those from Dependabot.​

All Activity setting: Subscribes you to all notifications for the repository, encompassing issues, pull requests, and security alerts like those from Dependabot.​

The Participating and @mentions setting limits notifications to conversations you're directly involved in or mentioned, which may not include security alerts. The Ignore setting unsubscribes you from all notifications, including critical security alerts.​

GitHub Docs

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GitHub Docs

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Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation:

Push protection for secret scanning custom patterns is an opt-in feature. This means that for each custom pattern defined in a repository, maintainers can choose to enable or disable push protectionindividually. This provides flexibility, allowing teams to enforce push protection on sensitive patterns while leaving it disabled for others.​

When integrating CodeQL outside of GitHub Actions (e.g., in Jenkins, CircleCI):

Install the CLI: Needed to run CodeQL commands.

Analyze code: Perform the CodeQL analysis on your project with the CLI.

Upload scan results: Export the results in SARIF format and use GitHub’s API to upload them to your repo’s security tab.

You don’t need to write custom queries unless extending functionality. “Processing alerts” happens after GitHub receives the results.

Dependabot alerts utilize standardized identifiers to describe vulnerabilities:​

CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures):A widely recognized identifier for publicly known cybersecurity vulnerabilities.​

CWE (Common Weakness Enumeration):A category system for software weaknesses and vulnerabilities.​

These identifiers help developers understand the nature of the vulnerabilities and facilitate the search for more information or remediation strategies.​

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.