Download GitHub Advanced Security.GH-500.Actual4Test.2026-05-21.31q.vcex

For compiled languages, CodeQL performs extraction by monitoring the normal build process. This means it watches your usual build commands (like make, javac, or dotnet build) and extracts the relevant data from the actual build steps being executed. CodeQL uses this information to construct a semantic database of the application.This approach ensures that CodeQL captures a precise, real-world representation of the code and its behavior as it is compiled, including platform-specific configurations or conditional logic used during build.

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.

To prevent new secret scanning alerts, enable push protection to block secrets from being committed in the first place, and manage push protection patterns to disable blocking for specific, low-risk secret types or false positives.Enable Push ProtectionPrevent new commits: Push protection proactively scans code for secrets before they are pushed to a repository. If a secret is detected, the push is blocked, providing immediate feedback to developers and preventing secrets from entering the codebase.Configure patterns: You can configure which secret patterns are blocked at the organization or enterprise level. By disabling patterns that frequently generate false positives, you can reduce the number of new alerts.

If your workflow uses the language matrix, then CodeQL will only analyze the languages in the matrix.Note:The default CodeQL analysis workflow file created after configuring advanced setup for code scanning with CodeQL defines a matrix containing a property named language which lists the languages in your repository that will be analyzed. This matrix has been automatically pre- populated with supported languages detected in your repository. Using the language matrix allows CodeQL to run each language analysis in parallel and to customize analysis for each language. In an individual analysis, the name of the language from the matrix is provided to the init action as the argument for the languages input. We recommend that all workflows adopt this configuration.Incorrect:[Not A]Using the language matrix allows CodeQL to run each language analysis in parallel.

About access management for repositoriesFor each repository that you administer on GitHub, you can see an overview of every team or person with access to the repository. From the overview, you can also invite new teams or people, change each team or person's role for the repository, or remove access to the repository.This overview can help you audit access to your repository, onboard or off-board contractors or employees, and effectively respond to security incidents.Inviting a team or person1. On GitHub, navigate to the main page of the repository.2. Under your repository name, click Settings. If you cannot see the "Settings" tab, select the dropdown menu, then click Settings. 3. In the "Access" section of the sidebar, click Collaborators & teams.4.To the right of "Manage access", click Add people or Add teams.5. In the search field, start typing the name of the team or person to invite, then click a name in the list of matches.6. Under "Choose a role", select the repository role to grant to the team or person, then click Add NAME to REPOSITORY.

Dismissing alertsThere are two ways of closing an alert. You can fix the problem in the code, or you can dismiss the alert.Dismissing an alert is a way of closing an alert that you don't think needs to be fixed. For example, an error in code that's used only for testing, or when the effort of fixing the error is greater than the potential benefit of improving the code. You can dismiss alerts from code scanning annotations in code, or from the summary list within the Security tab.If you dismiss a CodeQL alert as a false positive result, for example because the code uses a sanitization library that isn't supported, consider contributing to the CodeQL repository and improving the analysis.

[B] Build ModesThe CodeQL Action supports different build modes for analyzing the source code. The available build modes are:none: The database will be created without building the source code. Available for all interpreted languages and some compiled languages.*-> autobuild: The database will be created by attempting to automatically build the source code.Available for all compiled languages.manual: The database will be created by building the source code using a manually specified build command. To use this build mode, specify manual build steps in your workflow between the init and analyze steps. Available for all compiled languages.[D] ActionsThis repository contains several actions that enable you to analyze code in your repository using CodeQL and upload the analysis to GitHub Code Scanning. Actions in this repository also allow you to upload to GitHub analyses generated by any SARIF-producing SAST tool.Actions for CodeQL analyses:*-> init: Sets up CodeQL for analysis.analyze: Finalizes the CodeQL database, runs the analysis, and uploads the results to Code Scanning.

To change the threshold that defines whether a pull request fails due to code scanning alerts (such as blocking merges based on severity), the user must have Admin access on the repository. This is because modifying these settings falls under repository configuration privileges.Users with Write, Maintain, or Triage roles do not have the required access to modify rulesets or status check policies.

A Dependabot alert is marked as resolved only after the related pull request is merged into the repository. This indicates that the vulnerable dependency has been officially replaced with a secure version in the active codebase.Simply generating a PR or passing checks does not change the alert status; merging is the key step.

To proactively address secret scanning:Webhooks can be configured to listen for secret scanning events. This allows automation, logging, or alerting in real-time when secrets are detected.Documenting secure development practices (like using environment variables or secret managers) helps reduce the likelihood of developers committing secrets in the first place.Dismissal based on age is not a best practice without triage. SCIM deals with user provisioning, not scanning alerts.