CI/CD and integrating security into pipelines (DevSecOps)

🚀 CI/CD & Securing the Pipeline: A DevSecOps Guide

What is CI/CD?

CI/CD stands for:

• CI (Continuous Integration): Developers merge code changes frequently into a shared repository, triggering automatic builds and tests.
• CD (Continuous Delivery/Deployment): Code is automatically delivered (or deployed) to production after passing the necessary tests and checks.

Together, they enable faster, safer, and more reliable software delivery.

🔐 Why Security in CI/CD Matters

Without security baked into the pipeline, vulnerabilities can be introduced into your codebase, dependencies, or container images without detection. This is where DevSecOps comes in — shifting security left (early in development) and automating it.

🧱 Key Stages of CI/CD with Security Touchpoints

🛠️ Tools for Securing CI/CD Pipelines

✅ Example: GitHub Actions CI/CD Pipeline with Security

name: Secure CI Pipeline

on: [push, pull_request]

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
    - name: Checkout Code
      uses: actions/checkout@v2

    - name: Static Code Analysis (Semgrep)
      uses: returntocorp/semgrep-action@v1

    - name: Scan Dependencies (Snyk)
      uses: snyk/actions/node@master
      env:
        SNYK_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.SNYK_TOKEN }}

    - name: Secret Scan
      uses: zricethezav/gitleaks-action@v1.4.0

    - name: Docker Build and Trivy Scan
      run: |
        docker build -t myapp .
        trivy image --exit-code 1 myapp

This pipeline:

• Runs Semgrep for code analysis
• Uses Snyk to check vulnerabilities in dependencies
• Detects secrets with Gitleaks
• Scans the Docker image with Trivy

🔄 Shift Left, Automate, and Enforce

Security should be:

• Shifted left (run early in the dev lifecycle)
• Automated (with minimal manual effort)
• Enforced (block deploys when critical issues are detected)

📊 Benefits of CI/CD Security Integration

🧠 Final Thoughts

Security in CI/CD isn’t optional — it’s essential. By integrating security tools into every step of the pipeline, organisations can build, test, and deploy with confidence while meeting compliance and regulatory expectations.

GitLab Example

Here is a tailored eample for GitLab CI/CD showing how to integrate security tooling into your pipeline — a full DevSecOps workflow using .gitlab-ci.yml.

🚀 Secure CI/CD Pipelines in GitLab (DevSecOps)

GitLab provides built-in CI/CD pipelines, making it a perfect platform for integrating automated security checks directly into your software development lifecycle.

By combining GitLab with security scanners, secrets detection, and image validation, you can shift security left and detect issues early — all without leaving GitLab.

🔐 Why Secure Your GitLab Pipelines?

Without security, your CI/CD pipelines could:

• Introduce vulnerable code or dependencies
• Leak credentials via commits
• Deploy insecure containers or infrastructure

DevSecOps integrates security testing into each stage of your GitLab pipeline.

🧱 Key Security Steps in GitLab CI/CD

⚙️ Example .gitlab-ci.yml with Security Integration

stages:
  - lint
  - test
  - security
  - build
  - deploy

variables:
  DOCKER_DRIVER: overlay2

include:
  - template: Security/SAST.gitlab-ci.yml
  - template: Security/Secret-Detection.gitlab-ci.yml
  - template: Security/Dependency-Scanning.gitlab-ci.yml
  - template: Security/Container-Scanning.gitlab-ci.yml
  - template: Security/DAST.gitlab-ci.yml

lint:
  stage: lint
  script:
    - echo "Lint checks here..."

test:
  stage: test
  script:
    - echo "Unit or integration tests here..."

build:
  stage: build
  script:
    - docker build -t registry.gitlab.com/your/project:$CI_COMMIT_SHA .

deploy:
  stage: deploy
  script:
    - echo "Deploy step here"
  when: manual

This setup:

• Integrates five GitLab security scanning templates
• Performs scans automatically on each pipeline run
• Blocks deployment if critical vulnerabilities are found (configurable)

🔍 Optional: Custom Scan with Semgrep

semgrep_scan:
  stage: security
  image: returntocorp/semgrep
  script:
    - semgrep --config auto --exclude tests/ --json > semgrep-results.json
  artifacts:
    paths:
      - semgrep-results.json
    when: always

🧰 Built-In GitLab Security Tools

Available with GitLab Ultimate or self-managed GitLab with security scanners installed.

✅ Best Practices for Secure Pipelines

• Store tokens/secrets in GitLab CI/CD variables
• Use rules: to trigger scans on merge requests only
• Regularly update scanner images and definitions
• Enforce approvals for high/critical findings
• Enable audit logging for compliance visibility

🛡️ Benefits of GitLab DevSecOps

🎯 Summary

GitLab makes it easy to embed security into every phase of CI/CD. By integrating tools like SAST, DAST, and dependency scanning into your pipeline, you create a secure software factory with minimal overhead.