security

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CodeQL 2.17.0: Support for Java 22, Swift 5.10, TS 5.4, C# 12

CodeQL is the static analysis engine that powers GitHub code scanning. CodeQL version 2.17.0 has been released and has now been rolled out to code scanning users on GitHub.com.

Important changes in this release include:

For a full list of changes, please refer to the complete changelog for version 2.17.0. All new functionality will also be included in GHES 3.13. Users of GHES 3.12 or older can upgrade their CodeQL version.

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What’s new for GitHub Actions hosted runners

Today we are announcing exciting updates for GitHub Actions hosted runners, the cloud-based service that provides powerful virtual machines to developers and teams to integrate their automation and CI/CD workflows within GitHub. These updates mark a significant leap towards enhancing enterprise readiness for GitHub Actions and a testament to our commitment to simplifying the adoption of GitHub Actions hosted runners across all project sizes and complexities.

  • Azure private networking functionality, that was previously in public beta, is now generally available. This feature allows you to run your Actions workflows on GitHub-hosted runners that are connected to your Azure virtual network, without compromising on security or performance.
  • We are introducing additional runner SKUs to our hosted runner fleet including a 2 vCPU Linux runner and a 4 vCPU Windows runner, both equipped with auto-scaling and private networking functionalities. Both these SKUs are generally available starting today and are geared to support scenarios where smaller machine sizes suffice yet the demand for heightened security and performance persists.
  • Apple silicon (M1) hosted runners, specifically macOS L (12-core Intel) and macOS XL (M1 w/GPU hardware acceleration) which were previously in public beta, are now generally available.
  • We are also unveiling a GPU hosted runner (4 vCPUs, 1 T4 GPU) available in public beta. The GPU runners are available on Linux and Windows, and are enabled with auto-scaling and private networking functionalities. These runners empower teams working with machine learning models such as large language models (LLMs) or those requiring GPU graphic cards for game development to run their tests more efficiently as part of their automation or CI/CD process.

Get Started

  • Azure private networking for GitHub-hosted runners is available across Team and Enterprise plans. To get started, navigate to the ‘Hosted Compute Networking’ section within your Enterprise or Organization settings. For more details, consult our documentation. To request support for additional Azure regions, please fill out this form. As a note, Azure private networking for GitHub Codespaces continues to remain in beta.
  • The newly added 2 vCPU Linux and 4 vCPU Windows SKUs are generally available starting today across Team and Enterprise plans. To use these runners, create a GitHub-hosted runner by selecting the ‘2-core’ or ‘4-core’ size options in the runner creation flow.
  • macOS L and macOS XL runners are generally available across Free, Team and Enterprise plans, and can be used by updating the runs-on key to use one of the GitHub-defined macOS runner labels. To learn more about pricing for these SKUs, refer to our documentation.
  • GPU runners are available starting today in public beta across Team and Enterprise plans. To learn more about how to setup the runner, images, and pricing, refer to our documentation. To share your feedback and help us find the right additional GPU SKUs to support, please fill out this form.

We’re eager to hear your feedback on any and all of these functionalities. Share your thoughts on our GitHub Community Discussion.

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Dependabot grouped security updates generally available

Dependabot grouped security updates are now generally available. This feature automatically groups Dependabot pull requests, lets you specify several additional options to fine tune your groupings.

You can enable grouped security updates for Dependabot at the repository or organization-level. To enable this feature, go to your repository or organization settings page, then go to the Code security and analysis tab, and click “Enable” for grouped security updates (this also requires each affected repository to enable Dependency graph, Dependabot alerts, and Dependabot security updates). When you enable this feature, Dependabot will collect all available security updates in a repository and attempt to open one pull request with all of them, per ecosystem, across directories.

If you would like more granular control over Dependabot’s grouping, you can also configure the dependabot.yml file in a repository to group by any of the following:

  • Package name
  • Dependency type (production vs development)
  • Semver update level (patch, minor, major)

For additional information, check out the Dependabot configuration file documentation.

For GitHub Enterprise Server users, grouped security updates will be available in Version 3.14.

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CodeQL can scan Java projects without a build

With the 2.16.5 release of CodeQL, we’re introducing a new mechanism for creating a CodeQL database for Java codebases, without relying on a build. This enables organizations to more easily adopt CodeQL for Java projects at scale. Note: this release announcement contains details for users of the CodeQL CLI and advanced setup for code scanning. If you’re using GitHub code scanning default setup (which is powered by the CodeQL engine), this related release announcement will likely contain the information you’re looking for.

Previously, CodeQL required a working build to analyze Java projects. This could either be automatically detected or manually specified. Starting with CodeQL 2.16.5, you can now scan Java code without the need for a build. Our large-scale testing has shown that CodeQL can be successfully enabled for over 90% of Java repos without manual intervention.

This feature is currently in public beta and is accessible to all GitHub.com advanced setup for code scanning and CodeQL CLI users scanning Java code:

  • Repositories using advanced setup for code scanning via workflow files will have the option to choose a build-mode. The default value for newly configured Java repos will be build-mode: none.

  • CodeQL CLI users will not experience any change in the default behaviour, for compatibility with existing workflows. Users that want to enable this feature can now use the --build-mode none option. Generally, we also recommend users set the --build-mode option when using the CLI to make it easier to debug and persist the configuration should default behaviour change at any point in the future.
    codeql database create test_no_build_db --language java --build-mode none

  • Repositories containing a mix of Kotlin and Java code still require a working build for CodeQL analysis.

The new mechanism for scanning Java is available on GitHub.com and in CodeQL CLI 2.16.5. While in public beta, this feature will not be available on GitHub Enterprise Server for default setup or advanced setup for code scanning. As we continue to work on scanning Java projects without the need for working builds, send us your feedback.

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Java projects no longer require a build when using code scanning via default setup

CodeQL, the static analysis engine that powers GitHub code scanning, can now analyze Java projects without needing a build. This enables organizations to more easily roll out CodeQL at scale. This new way of analyzing Java codebases is now enabled by default for GitHub.com users setting up new repositories with default setup for code scanning.

Previously, CodeQL required a working build to analyze Java projects. This could either be automatically detected or manually specified. By removing that requirement, our large-scale testing has shown that CodeQL can be successfully enabled for over 90% of Java repos without manual intervention.

This feature is currently in public beta and is accessible to all users scanning Java code using default setup for code scanning on GitHub.com:

  • Anyone setting up their repo using code scanning default setup will automatically benefit from this new analysis approach.
  • Repositories containing a mix of Kotlin and Java code still require a working build for CodeQL analysis. CodeQL will default to the autobuild build mode to automatically try and detect the right build command.
  • Repositories with an existing code scanning setup will not experience any changes. If code scanning is working for you today it will continue to work as-is, and there is no need to change your configuration.

GitHub.com users using advanced setup for code scanning and users of the CodeQL CLI will be able to analyze Java projects without needing a working build as part of CodeQL CLI version 2.16.5. While in public beta, this feature will not be available for GitHub Enterprise Server. As we continue to work on scanning Java projects without needing a working build, send us your feedback.

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OpenSSF Scorecard info is now available in the Dependency Review Action

Dependency review helps you understand dependency changes and the security impact of these changes at every pull request. We have updated the dependency review action to include information from the OpenSSF Scorecard project into the review, helping you better understand the security posture of the dependencies that you’re using.

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Dependabot will now pause scheduled jobs after 15 failures

Previously, if Dependabot encountered 30 consecutive failures, it would stop running scheduled jobs until manual intervention via updating the dependency graph or manifest file. Dependabot will now pause scheduled jobs after 15 failures. This will give an earlier indication of potential issues while still ensuring that critical security updates will continue to be applied without interruption.

Read more in the Dependabot Docs. 

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CodeQL 2.16.4: AI-powered autofixes for Java, support for C# 12 & Go 1.22, new queries

CodeQL is the static analysis engine that powers GitHub code scanning. CodeQL version 2.16.4 has been released and has now been rolled out to code scanning users on GitHub.com.

CodeQL code scanning now supports automatic fix suggestions for Java alerts on pull requests, powered by Copilot. This is automatically enabled for all current autofix preview participants. You can sign up for the preview here and use our public discussion for questions and feedback.

The number of generated autofixes is now also visible in a dedicated security overview tile:

security overview showing a counter of fix suggestions

Furthermore, this release

For a full list of changes, please refer to the complete changelog for version 2.16.4. All new functionality will also be included in GHES 3.13. Users of GHES 3.12 or older can upgrade their CodeQL version.

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Secret scanning and push protection are enabled by default on new public repositories

All new public repositories owned by personal accounts will now have secret scanning and push protection enabled by default. Pushes to the repository that include known secrets will be blocked by push protection, and any known secrets that are detected in the repository will generate a secret scanning alert. Secret scanning and push protection can be disabled by the repository administrator after the repository is created.

Existing public repositories are not affected, nor are new public repositories that belong to an organization.

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CodeQL 2.16.3: AI-powered autofixes for Python, updated queries, and security fixes

CodeQL is the static analysis engine that powers GitHub code scanning. CodeQL version 2.16.3 has been released and has now been rolled out to code scanning users on GitHub.com.

Important changes in this release include:

  • CodeQL code scanning now supports AI-powered automatic fix suggestions for Python alerts on pull requests. This is automatically enabled for all current autofix preview participants.
  • A new option has been added to the Python extractor: python_executable_name. This allows you to select a non-default Python executable installed on the system running the scan (e.g. py.exe on Windows machines).
  • A fix for CVE-2024-25129, a low-severity data exfiltration vulnerability that could be triggered by processing untrusted databases or CodeQL packs.
  • Two new queries:
  • The sinks of queries java/path-injection and java/path-injection-local have been reworked to reduce the number of false positives.

For a full list of changes, please refer to the complete changelog for version 2.16.3. All new functionality will also be included in GHES 3.13. Users of GHES 3.12 or older can upgrade their CodeQL version.

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Push protection is enabled for free users on GitHub

We’ve started the rollout for enabling push protection on all free user accounts on GitHub. This automatically protects you from accidentally committing secrets to public repositories, regardless of whether the repository itself has secret scanning enabled.

If a secret is detected in any push to a public repository, your push will be blocked. You will have the option to remove the secret from your commits or, if you deem the secret safe, bypass the block.

It might take a week or two for this change to apply to your account; you can verify status and opt-in early in your code security and analysis settings. Once enabled, you also have the option to opt-out. Disabling push protection may cause secrets to be accidentally leaked.

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Secret scanning supports user namespace repositories for Enterprise Managed Users

Enterprise Managed Users can now enable secret scanning on their user namespace repositories. Owners of user repositories will receive secret scanning alerts when a supported secret is detected in their repository. User namespace repositories can also enable push protection.

In the enterprise level list of secret scanning alerts, enterprise owners can view all secrets detected in user namespace repositories. Enterprise owners can temporarily access user namespace repositories to view the secret details.

User namespace repositories are included in the security risk and coverage pages.

Secret scanning will also be supported on Enterprise Server personal repositories starting on GHES 3.13.

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CodeQL 2.16.2: New Android queries and improved precision

CodeQL 2.16.2 is now available to users of GitHub code scanning on github.com, and all new functionality will also be included in GHES 3.13. Users of GHES 3.12 or older can upgrade their CodeQL version.

Important changes in this release include:

We added two new Java / Android queries (java/android/sensitive-text and java/android/sensitive-notification) to detect sensitive data exposure via text fields and notifications.

We have improved the precision of several C/C++ queries.

We now recognize collection expressions introduced in C# 12 (e.g. [1, y, 4, .. x]).

For a full list of changes, please refer to the complete changelog for version 2.16.2

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Secret scanning’s push protection will soon be enabled for all free accounts on GitHub

Developers with free accounts on GitHub could enable secret scanning’s push protection at the user level since last August. This automatically protects you from accidentally committing secrets to public repositories, regardless of whether the repository itself has secret scanning enabled. On February 27, this feature will be start to be enabled automatically for all free accounts across GitHub.

If a secret is detected in any push to a public repository, your push will be blocked. You will have the option to remove the secret from your commits or, if you deem the secret safe, bypass the block.

You can enable this feature now in your user settings. After February 27, you can opt out of push protection and disable it. Disabling push protection may cause secrets to be accidentally leaked.

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