CI/CD Pipeline Security: Protecting Your Software Delivery Process

CI/CD pipelines are critical infrastructure that build, test, and deploy your applications. A compromised pipeline can inject malicious code into production, steal secrets, or provide attackers with persistent access to your systems. This guide covers comprehensive security practices for protecting your software delivery process.

Pipeline security encompasses access control, secrets management, build integrity, and artifact security. Each stage of the pipeline presents unique risks that require specific controls and monitoring.

Pipeline Access Control

# GitHub branch protection
name: Branch Protection
on:
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]
jobs:
  required-checks:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - name: Run tests
        run: npm test
      - name: Security scan
        run: npm audit

Secrets Management

# Use OIDC instead of long-lived credentials
jobs:
  deploy:
    permissions:
      id-token: write
      contents: read
    steps:
      - uses: aws-actions/configure-aws-credentials@v4
        with:
          role-to-assume: arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/GitHubActions
          aws-region: us-east-1

Build Integrity

# Pin action versions with SHA
- uses: actions/checkout@b4ffde65f46336ab88eb53be808477a3936bae11

# Verify checksums
- name: Verify download
  run: |
    sha256sum -c checksums.txt

Security Scanning

security-scan:
  runs-on: ubuntu-latest
  steps:
    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
    - name: SAST
      uses: returntocorp/semgrep-action@v1
    - name: Dependency scan
      run: npm audit --audit-level=high
    - name: Container scan
      uses: aquasecurity/trivy-action@master

Artifact Signing

# Sign container images with Cosign
- name: Sign image
  run: cosign sign --key cosign.key $IMAGE_NAME

Environment Isolation

jobs:
  deploy-staging:
    environment: staging
  deploy-production:
    environment: production
    needs: deploy-staging

Audit Logging

# Enable audit logs in GitHub
# Settings > Audit log > Stream to SIEM

Best Practices

Use OIDC for cloud authentication
Pin dependencies and action versions
Implement branch protection rules
Require code review for all changes
Scan for secrets in commits
Use ephemeral build environments
Sign and verify artifacts
Implement environment approvals
Monitor pipeline activity
Regularly rotate credentials

Conclusion

CI/CD pipeline security is essential for protecting your software supply chain. By implementing proper access controls, secrets management, and build integrity measures, you can ensure your deployment process remains secure and trustworthy.

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