Static Application Security Testing (SAST) (ULTIMATE)

Introduced in GitLab Ultimate 10.3.

NOTE: 4 of the top 6 attacks were application based. Download our whitepaper, "A Seismic Shift in Application Security" to learn how to protect your organization.

Overview

If you are using GitLab CI/CD, you can analyze your source code for known vulnerabilities using Static Application Security Testing (SAST).

You can take advantage of SAST by either including the CI job in your existing .gitlab-ci.yml file or by implicitly using Auto SAST that is provided by Auto DevOps.

GitLab checks the SAST report, compares the found vulnerabilities between the source and target branches, and shows the information right on the merge request.

The results are sorted by the priority of the vulnerability:

Critical
High
Medium
Low
Unknown
Everything else

Use cases

Your code has a potentially dangerous attribute in a class, or unsafe code that can lead to unintended code execution.
Your application is vulnerable to cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks that can be leveraged to unauthorized access to session data.

Requirements

To run a SAST job, you need GitLab Runner with the docker or kubernetes executor running in privileged mode. If you're using the shared Runners on GitLab.com, this is enabled by default.

Supported languages and frameworks

The following table shows which languages, package managers and frameworks are supported and which tools are used.

Language (package managers) / framework	Scan tool	Introduced in GitLab Version
.NET	Security Code Scan	11.0
Any	Gitleaks and TruffleHog	11.9
Apex (Salesforce)	pmd	12.1
C/C++	Flawfinder	10.7
Elixir (Phoenix)	Sobelow	11.10
Go	Gosec	10.7
Groovy (Ant, Gradle, Maven and SBT)	SpotBugs with the find-sec-bugs plugin	11.3 (Gradle) & 11.9 (Ant, Maven, SBT)
Java (Ant, Gradle, Maven and SBT)	SpotBugs with the find-sec-bugs plugin	10.6 (Maven), 10.8 (Gradle) & 11.9 (Ant, SBT)
Javascript	ESLint security plugin	11.8
Node.js	NodeJsScan	11.1
PHP	phpcs-security-audit	10.8
Python (pip)	bandit	10.3
Ruby on Rails	brakeman	10.3
Scala (Ant, Gradle, Maven and SBT)	SpotBugs with the find-sec-bugs plugin	11.0 (SBT) & 11.9 (Ant, Gradle, Maven)
Typescript	TSLint config security	11.9

NOTE: Note: The Java analyzers can also be used for variants like the Gradle wrapper, Grails and the Maven wrapper.

Configuration

For GitLab 11.9 and later, to enable SAST, you must include the SAST.gitlab-ci.yml template that's provided as a part of your GitLab installation. For GitLab versions earlier than 11.9, you can copy and use the job as defined that template.

Add the following to your .gitlab-ci.yml file:

include:
  template: SAST.gitlab-ci.yml

The included template will create a sast job in your CI/CD pipeline and scan your project's source code for possible vulnerabilities.

The results will be saved as a SAST report artifact that you can later download and analyze. Due to implementation limitations, we always take the latest SAST artifact available. Behind the scenes, the GitLab SAST Docker image is used to detect the languages/frameworks and in turn runs the matching scan tools.

Customizing the SAST settings

The SAST settings can be changed through environment variables by using the variables parameter in .gitlab-ci.yml. These variables are documented in the SAST tool documentation.

In the following example, we include the SAST template and at the same time we set the SAST_GOSEC_LEVEL variable to 2:

include:
  template: SAST.gitlab-ci.yml

variables:
  SAST_GOSEC_LEVEL: 2

Because the template is evaluated before the pipeline configuration, the last mention of the variable will take precedence.

Overriding the SAST template

If you want to override the job definition (for example, change properties like variables or dependencies), you need to declare a sast job after the template inclusion and specify any additional keys under it. For example:

include:
  template: SAST.gitlab-ci.yml

sast:
  variables:
    CI_DEBUG_TRACE: "true"

Available variables

SAST can be configured using environment variables.

Docker images

The following are Docker image-related variables.

Environment variable	Description
`SAST_ANALYZER_IMAGES`	Comma separated list of custom images. Default images are still enabled. Read more about customizing analyzers.
`SAST_ANALYZER_IMAGE_PREFIX`	Override the name of the Docker registry providing the default images (proxy). Read more about customizing analyzers.
`SAST_ANALYZER_IMAGE_TAG`	Override the Docker tag of the default images. Read more about customizing analyzers.
`SAST_DEFAULT_ANALYZERS`	Override the names of default images. Read more about customizing analyzers.
`SAST_PULL_ANALYZER_IMAGES`	Pull the images from the Docker registry (set to 0 to disable). Read more about customizing analyzers.

Vulnerability filters

Some analyzers make it possible to filter out vulnerabilities under a given threshold.

| SAST_BANDIT_EXCLUDED_PATHS | - | comma-separated list of paths to exclude from scan. Uses Python's fnmatch syntax | | SAST_BRAKEMAN_LEVEL | 1 | Ignore Brakeman vulnerabilities under given confidence level. Integer, 1=Low 3=High. | | SAST_FLAWFINDER_LEVEL | 1 | Ignore Flawfinder vulnerabilities under given risk level. Integer, 0=No risk, 5=High risk. | | SAST_GITLEAKS_ENTROPY_LEVEL | 8.0 | Minimum entropy for secret detection. Float, 0.0 = low, 8.0 = high. | | SAST_GOSEC_LEVEL | 0 | Ignore gosec vulnerabilities under given confidence level. Integer, 0=Undefined, 1=Low, 2=Medium, 3=High. | | SAST_EXCLUDED_PATHS | - | Exclude vulnerabilities from output based on the paths. This is a comma-separated list of patterns. Patterns can be globs, file or folder paths. Parent directories will also match patterns. |

Timeouts

The following variables configure timeouts.

| SAST_DOCKER_CLIENT_NEGOTIATION_TIMEOUT | 2m | Time limit for Docker client negotiation. Timeouts are parsed using Go's ParseDuration. Valid time units are "ns", "us" (or "µs"), "ms", "s", "m", "h". For example, "300ms", "1.5h" or "2h45m". | | SAST_PULL_ANALYZER_IMAGE_TIMEOUT | 5m | Time limit when pulling the image of an analyzer. Timeouts are parsed using Go's ParseDuration. Valid time units are "ns", "us" (or "µs"), "ms", "s", "m", "h". For example, "300ms", "1.5h" or "2h45m". | | SAST_RUN_ANALYZER_TIMEOUT | 20m | Time limit when running an analyzer. Timeouts are parsed using Go's ParseDuration. Valid time units are "ns", "us" (or "µs"), "ms", "s", "m", "h". For example, "300ms", "1.5h" or "2h45m".|

Analyzer settings

Some analyzers can be customized with environment variables.

Environment variable	Analyzer	Description
`ANT_HOME`	spotbugs	The `ANT_HOME` environment variable.
`ANT_PATH`	spotbugs	Path to the `ant` executable.
`GRADLE_PATH`	spotbugs	Path to the `gradle` executable.
`JAVA_OPTS`	spotbugs	Additional arguments for the `java` executable.
`JAVA_PATH`	spotbugs	Path to the `java` executable.
`MAVEN_CLI_OPTS`	spotbugs	Additional arguments for the `mvn` or `mvnw` executable.
`MAVEN_PATH`	spotbugs	Path to the `mvn` executable.
`MAVEN_REPO_PATH`	spotbugs	Path to the Maven local repository (shortcut for the `maven.repo.local` property).
`SBT_PATH`	spotbugs	Path to the `sbt` executable.
`FAIL_NEVER`	spotbugs	Set to `1` to ignore compilation failure.

Reports JSON format

CAUTION: Caution: The JSON report artifacts are not a public API of SAST and their format may change in the future.

The SAST tool emits a JSON report report file. Here is an example of the report structure with all important parts of it highlighted:

{
  "version": "2.0",
  "vulnerabilities": [
    {
      "category": "sast",
      "name": "Predictable pseudorandom number generator",
      "message": "Predictable pseudorandom number generator",
      "description": "The use of java.util.Random is predictable",
      "cve": "818bf5dacb291e15d9e6dc3c5ac32178:PREDICTABLE_RANDOM",
      "severity": "Medium",
      "confidence": "Medium",
      "scanner": {
        "id": "find_sec_bugs",
        "name": "Find Security Bugs"
      },
      "location": {
        "file": "groovy/src/main/groovy/com/gitlab/security_products/tests/App.groovy",
        "start_line": 47,
        "end_line": 47,
        "class": "com.gitlab.security_products.tests.App",
        "method": "generateSecretToken2",
        "dependency": {
          "package": {}
        }
      },
      "identifiers": [
        {
          "type": "find_sec_bugs_type",
          "name": "Find Security Bugs-PREDICTABLE_RANDOM",
          "value": "PREDICTABLE_RANDOM",
          "url": "https://find-sec-bugs.github.io/bugs.htm#PREDICTABLE_RANDOM"
        },
        {
          "type": "cwe",
          "name": "CWE-330",
          "value": "330",
          "url": "https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/330.html"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "category": "sast",
      "message": "Probable insecure usage of temp file/directory.",
      "cve": "python/hardcoded/hardcoded-tmp.py:4ad6d4c40a8c263fc265f3384724014e0a4f8dd6200af83e51ff120420038031:B108",
      "severity": "Medium",
      "confidence": "Medium",
      "scanner": {
        "id": "bandit",
        "name": "Bandit"
      },
      "location": {
        "file": "python/hardcoded/hardcoded-tmp.py",
        "start_line": 10,
        "end_line": 10,
        "dependency": {
          "package": {}
        }
      },
      "identifiers": [
        {
          "type": "bandit_test_id",
          "name": "Bandit Test ID B108",
          "value": "B108",
          "url": "https://docs.openstack.org/bandit/latest/plugins/b108_hardcoded_tmp_directory.html"
        }
      ]
    },
  ],
  "remediations": []
}

Here is the description of the report file structure nodes and their meaning. All fields are mandatory to be present in the report JSON unless stated otherwise. Presence of optional fields depends on the underlying analyzers being used.

Report JSON node	Function
`version`	Report syntax version used to generate this JSON.
`vulnerabilities`	Array of vulnerability objects.
`vulnerabilities[].category`	Where this vulnerability belongs (SAST, Dependency Scanning etc.). For SAST, it will always be `sast`.
`vulnerabilities[].name`	Name of the vulnerability, this must not include the occurrence's specific information. Optional.
`vulnerabilities[].message`	A short text that describes the vulnerability, it may include the occurrence's specific information. Optional.
`vulnerabilities[].description`	A long text that describes the vulnerability. Optional.
`vulnerabilities[].cve`	A fingerprint string value that represents a concrete occurrence of the vulnerability. Is used to determine whether two vulnerability occurrences are same or different. May not be 100% accurate. This is NOT a CVE.
`vulnerabilities[].severity`	How much the vulnerability impacts the software. Possible values: `Undefined` (an analyzer has not provided this info), `Info`, `Unknown`, `Low`, `Medium`, `High`, `Critical`.
`vulnerabilities[].confidence`	How reliable the vulnerability's assessment is. Possible values: `Undefined` (an analyzer has not provided this info), `Ignore`, `Unknown`, `Experimental`, `Low`, `Medium`, `High`, `Confirmed`.
`vulnerabilities[].solution`	Explanation of how to fix the vulnerability. Optional.
`vulnerabilities[].scanner`	A node that describes the analyzer used to find this vulnerability.
`vulnerabilities[].scanner.id`	Id of the scanner as a snake_case string.
`vulnerabilities[].scanner.name`	Name of the scanner, for display purposes.
`vulnerabilities[].location`	A node that tells where the vulnerability is located.
`vulnerabilities[].location.file`	Path to the file where the vulnerability is located. Optional.
`vulnerabilities[].location.start_line`	The first line of the code affected by the vulnerability. Optional.
`vulnerabilities[].location.end_line`	The last line of the code affected by the vulnerability. Optional.
`vulnerabilities[].location.class`	If specified, provides the name of the class where the vulnerability is located. Optional.
`vulnerabilities[].location.method`	If specified, provides the name of the method where the vulnerability is located. Optional.
`vulnerabilities[].identifiers`	An ordered array of references that identify a vulnerability on internal or external DBs.
`vulnerabilities[].identifiers[].type`	Type of the identifier. Possible values: common identifier types (among `cve`, `cwe`, `osvdb`, and `usn`) or analyzer-dependent ones (e.g., `bandit_test_id` for Bandit analyzer).
`vulnerabilities[].identifiers[].name`	Name of the identifier for display purposes.
`vulnerabilities[].identifiers[].value`	Value of the identifier for matching purposes.
`vulnerabilities[].identifiers[].url`	URL to identifier's documentation. Optional.

Secret detection

GitLab is also able to detect secrets and credentials that have been unintentionally pushed to the repository. For example, an API key that allows write access to third-party deployment environments.

This check is performed by a specific analyzer during the sast job. It runs regardless of the programming language of your app, and you don't need to change anything to your CI/CD configuration file to turn it on. Results are available in the SAST report.

GitLab currently includes Gitleaks and TruffleHog checks.

Security report under pipelines

Introduced in GitLab Ultimate 10.6.

Visit any pipeline page which has a sast job and you will be able to see the security report tab with the listed vulnerabilities (if any).

Security Dashboard

The Security Dashboard is a good place to get an overview of all the security vulnerabilities in your groups and projects. Read more about the Security Dashboard.

Interacting with the vulnerabilities

Once a vulnerability is found, you can interact with it. Read more on how to interact with the vulnerabilities.

Vulnerabilities database update

For more information about the vulnerabilities database update, check the maintenance table.