What it does. Configure a GitLab CI/CD pipeline that embeds SAST (Semgrep, SpotBugs, Gosec, Bandit, NodeJsScan), DAST, container scanning, dependency scanning, and secret detection via GitLab's managed security templates. Use when building a shift-left DevSecOps pipeline in GitLab, adding automated vulnerability scanning stages to .gitlab-ci.yml, or triaging scanner findings with GitLab Duo AI before deployment. Part of mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills (817 security skills) (mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills).

Upstream	mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills
Skill file	skills/building-devsecops-pipeline-with-gitlab-ci/SKILL.md
License	Apache-2.0 (skill folder LICENSE)
Author	mukul975
Fetched	2026-09-10

Install

• npx skills add mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills --skill building-devsecops-pipeline-with-gitlab-ci, or copy the skill folder into ~/.claude/skills/building-devsecops-pipeline-with-gitlab-ci/.
• Raw file: curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mukul975/Anthropic-Cybersecurity-Skills/HEAD/skills/building-devsecops-pipeline-with-gitlab-ci/SKILL.md

SKILL.md (verbatim)

name: building-devsecops-pipeline-with-gitlab-ci
description: Configure a GitLab CI/CD pipeline that embeds SAST (Semgrep, SpotBugs, Gosec, Bandit, NodeJsScan), DAST, container scanning, dependency scanning, and secret detection via GitLab's managed security templates. Use when building a shift-left DevSecOps pipeline in GitLab, adding automated vulnerability scanning stages to .gitlab-ci.yml, or triaging scanner findings with GitLab Duo AI before deployment.
domain: cybersecurity
subdomain: devsecops
tags:
- gitlab-ci
- devsecops
- sast
- dast
- container-scanning
- dependency-scanning
- secret-detection
- cicd-security
version: '1.0'
author: mahipal
license: Apache-2.0
nist_csf:
- PR.PS-01
- GV.SC-07
- ID.IM-04
- PR.PS-04
mitre_attack:
- T1195.001
- T1195.002
- T1552.001
- T1190
- T1610

Building DevSecOps Pipeline with GitLab CI

Overview

GitLab provides an integrated DevSecOps platform that embeds security testing directly into the CI/CD pipeline. By leveraging GitLab's built-in security scanners---SAST, DAST, container scanning, dependency scanning, secret detection, and license compliance---teams can shift security left, catching vulnerabilities during development rather than post-deployment. GitLab Duo AI assists with false positive detection for SAST vulnerabilities, helping security teams focus on genuine issues.

When to Use

• When deploying or configuring building devsecops pipeline with gitlab ci capabilities in your environment
• When establishing security controls aligned to compliance requirements
• When building or improving security architecture for this domain
• When conducting security assessments that require this implementation

Prerequisites

• GitLab Ultimate license (required for full security scanner suite)
• GitLab Runner configured (shared or self-hosted)
• .gitlab-ci.yml pipeline configuration familiarity
• Docker-in-Docker (DinD) or Kaniko for container builds
• Application deployed to a staging environment for DAST scanning

Core Security Scanning Stages

Static Application Security Testing (SAST)

SAST analyzes source code for vulnerabilities before compilation. GitLab supports 14+ languages using analyzers such as Semgrep, SpotBugs, Gosec, Bandit, and NodeJsScan. The simplest inclusion uses GitLab's managed templates.

Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST)

DAST tests running applications by simulating attack payloads against HTTP endpoints. It detects XSS, SQLi, CSRF, and other runtime vulnerabilities that static analysis cannot find. DAST requires a deployed, accessible target URL.

Container Scanning

Uses Trivy to scan Docker images for known CVEs in OS packages and application dependencies. Runs after the Docker build stage to gate images before they reach a registry.

Dependency Scanning

Inspects dependency manifests (package.json, requirements.txt, pom.xml, Gemfile.lock) for known vulnerable versions. Operates at the source code level, complementing container scanning.

Secret Detection

Scans commits for accidentally committed credentials, API keys, tokens, and private keys using pattern matching and entropy analysis. Runs on every commit to prevent secrets from reaching the repository.

Implementation

Complete Pipeline Configuration

# .gitlab-ci.yml

stages:
  - build
  - test
  - security
  - deploy-staging
  - dast
  - deploy-production

variables:
  DOCKER_IMAGE: $CI_REGISTRY_IMAGE:$CI_COMMIT_SHORT_SHA
  SECURE_LOG_LEVEL: "info"

# Include GitLab managed security templates
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: DAST.gitlab-ci.yml
  - template: Security/License-Scanning.gitlab-ci.yml

build:
  stage: build
  image: docker:24.0
  services:
    - docker:24.0-dind
  variables:
    DOCKER_TLS_CERTDIR: "/certs"
  script:
    - docker login -u $CI_REGISTRY_USER -p $CI_REGISTRY_PASSWORD $CI_REGISTRY
    - docker build -t $DOCKER_IMAGE .
    - docker push $DOCKER_IMAGE
  rules:
    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH

unit-tests:
  stage: test
  image: $DOCKER_IMAGE
  script:
    - npm ci
    - npm run test:coverage
  coverage: '/Lines\s*:\s*(\d+\.?\d*)%/'
  artifacts:
    reports:
      junit: junit-report.xml
      coverage_report:
        coverage_format: cobertura
        path: coverage/cobertura-coverage.xml

# Override SAST to run in security stage
sast:
  stage: security
  variables:
    SAST_EXCLUDED_PATHS: "spec,test,tests,tmp,node_modules"
    SEARCH_MAX_DEPTH: 10

# Override container scanning
container_scanning:
  stage: security
  variables:
    CS_IMAGE: $DOCKER_IMAGE
    CS_SEVERITY_THRESHOLD: "HIGH"

# Override dependency scanning
dependency_scanning:
  stage: security

# Override secret detection
secret_detection:
  stage: security

# License compliance scanning
license_scanning:
  stage: security

deploy-staging:
  stage: deploy-staging
  image: bitnami/kubectl:latest
  script:
    - kubectl set image deployment/app app=$DOCKER_IMAGE -n staging
    - kubectl rollout status deployment/app -n staging --timeout=300s
  environment:
    name: staging
    url: https://staging.example.com
  rules:
    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == $CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH

# DAST runs against deployed staging
dast:
  stage: dast
  variables:
    DAST_WEBSITE: https://staging.example.com
    DAST_FULL_SCAN_ENABLED: "true"
    DAST_BROWSER_SCAN: "true"
  needs:
    - deploy-staging
  rules:
    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == $CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH

deploy-production:
  stage: deploy-production
  image: bitnami/kubectl:latest
  script:
    - kubectl set image deployment/app app=$DOCKER_IMAGE -n production
    - kubectl rollout status deployment/app -n production --timeout=300s
  environment:
    name: production
    url: https://app.example.com
  when: manual
  rules:
    - if: $CI_COMMIT_BRANCH == $CI_DEFAULT_BRANCH

Security Approval Policies

Configure scan execution policies to enforce mandatory security scans:

1. Navigate to Security & Compliance > Policies
2. Create a "Scan Execution Policy" requiring SAST and secret detection on all branches
3. Create a "Merge Request Approval Policy" requiring security team approval when critical vulnerabilities are detected

Custom SAST Ruleset Configuration

Create .gitlab/sast-ruleset.toml to customize analyzer behavior:

[semgrep]
  [[semgrep.ruleset]]
    dirs = ["src"]

  [[semgrep.passthrough]]
    type = "url"
    target = "/sgrep-rules/custom-rules.yml"
    value = "https://semgrep.dev/p/owasp-top-ten"

  [[semgrep.passthrough]]
    type = "url"
    target = "/sgrep-rules/java-rules.yml"
    value = "https://semgrep.dev/p/java"

Security Dashboard and Vulnerability Management

Vulnerability Report

GitLab consolidates all scanner findings into a single Vulnerability Report accessible at Security & Compliance > Vulnerability Report. Each vulnerability includes:

• Severity rating (Critical, High, Medium, Low, Info)
• Scanner source (SAST, DAST, Container, Dependency, Secret)
• Location in source code or image layer
• Remediation guidance and suggested fixes
• Status tracking (Detected, Confirmed, Dismissed, Resolved)

Merge Request Security Widget

Every merge request displays a security scanning widget showing:

• New vulnerabilities introduced by the MR
• Fixed vulnerabilities resolved by the MR
• Comparison against the target branch baseline

Pipeline Optimization

• Parallel execution: Security scanners run concurrently in the security stage
• Caching: Use CI cache for dependency downloads to speed up scanning
• Incremental scanning: SAST can scan only changed files using SAST_INCREMENTAL: "true"
• Fail conditions: Set allow_failure: false on critical scanners to enforce quality gates

Monitoring and Metrics

Metric	Description	Target
Pipeline security coverage	Percentage of projects with all scanners enabled	> 95%
Critical vulnerability MTTR	Time from detection to resolution for critical findings	< 48 hours
False positive rate	Percentage of dismissed-as-false-positive findings	< 15%
Secret detection block rate	Percentage of secret commits blocked by push rules	> 99%

References

• GitLab Security Scanning Documentation
• GitLab SAST Analyzers
• GitLab DAST Configuration
• GitLab Security Policies
• GitLab Vulnerability Management

Other files in this skill

• LICENSE
• assets/template.md
• references/api-reference.md
• references/standards.md
• references/workflows.md
• scripts/agent.py
• scripts/process.py

assets/template.md (verbatim)

GitLab DevSecOps Pipeline Implementation Template

Pipeline Security Scanner Checklist

Scanner	Enabled	Template Included	Threshold Set	Blocking
SAST	[ ]	[ ]	Severity: _____	[ ]
DAST	[ ]	[ ]	Severity: _____	[ ]
Container Scanning	[ ]	[ ]	Severity: _____	[ ]
Dependency Scanning	[ ]	[ ]	Severity: _____	[ ]
Secret Detection	[ ]	[ ]	N/A	[ ]
License Scanning	[ ]	[ ]	Policy: _____	[ ]

Security Policy Configuration

Policy Type	Name	Scope	Enforcement
Scan Execution		[ ] All branches [ ] Default only	[ ] Required
MR Approval		Severity trigger: _____	Approvers: _____

Environment-Specific DAST Targets

Environment	URL	Auth Method	Scan Type	Schedule
Staging		[ ] None [ ] Token [ ] Cookie	[ ] Passive [ ] Full
Pre-production		[ ] None [ ] Token [ ] Cookie	[ ] Passive [ ] Full

Vulnerability SLA Targets

Severity	Detection to Triage	Triage to Fix	Total SLA
Critical	4 hours	24 hours	48 hours
High	24 hours	5 days	7 days
Medium	48 hours	14 days	30 days
Low	1 week	30 days	90 days

references/api-reference.md (verbatim)

API Reference: GitLab CI DevSecOps Pipeline

GitLab Security Templates

Template	Stage
Security/SAST.gitlab-ci.yml	Static analysis
Security/DAST.gitlab-ci.yml	Dynamic testing
Security/Dependency-Scanning.gitlab-ci.yml	Dependency audit
Security/Container-Scanning.gitlab-ci.yml	Container scan
Security/Secret-Detection.gitlab-ci.yml	Secret detection
Security/IaC-Scanning.gitlab-ci.yml	IaC security

.gitlab-ci.yml Structure

include:
  - template: Security/SAST.gitlab-ci.yml
  - template: Security/Secret-Detection.gitlab-ci.yml
stages:
  - build
  - test
  - security
  - deploy
variables:
  SECURE_LOG_LEVEL: info

GitLab CI Lint API

POST /api/v4/projects/:id/ci/lint
PRIVATE-TOKEN: your-token
Body: {"content": "yaml-string"}

Security Variables

Variable	Description
SAST_DEFAULT_ANALYZERS	Comma-separated analyzer list
SAST_EXCLUDED_ANALYZERS	Analyzers to skip
CS_IMAGE	Container image to scan
DAST_WEBSITE	Target URL for DAST
SECRET_DETECTION_HISTORIC_SCAN	Scan full history

Vulnerability Report API

GET /api/v4/projects/:id/vulnerability_findings

Security Scanning Tools

Tool	Type	Language
Semgrep	SAST	Multi-language
Bandit	SAST	Python
Trivy	Container	Container images
Gitleaks	Secret	Git history
KICS	IaC	Terraform/CloudFormation
ZAP	DAST	Web applications

references/standards.md (verbatim)

Standards and Compliance Reference

OWASP DevSecOps Pipeline Maturity Model

Level	SAST	DAST	SCA	Container	Secrets	License
Level 1 (Basic)	Manual runs	None	Manual dependency check	None	Pre-commit hooks	None
Level 2 (Integrated)	CI-triggered on MR	Scheduled scans	CI-triggered	Image scan on build	CI scan on commits	CI-triggered
Level 3 (Enforced)	Required for merge	Gate before deploy	Block on critical CVE	Block vulnerable images	Push protection	Policy enforcement
Level 4 (Optimized)	Custom rules, tuned FP	Authenticated full scan	Auto-remediation PRs	Signed images only	Auto-rotation	SBOM generation

NIST SP 800-218 (SSDF) Mapping

SSDF Practice	GitLab Feature	Pipeline Stage
PO.1 Define security requirements	Security policies	Policy configuration
PW.1 Design software securely	Threat modeling integration	Pre-build
PW.4 Reuse well-secured software	Dependency scanning	Security stage
PW.5 Create source code securely	SAST, secret detection	Security stage
PW.7 Review and test code	MR security widget	Merge request
PW.8 Test executable code	DAST	Post-deploy staging
PW.9 Configure software securely	Container scanning	Security stage
RV.1 Identify vulnerabilities	Vulnerability report	Dashboard
RV.2 Assess and prioritize	Severity classification	Triage workflow
RV.3 Remediate vulnerabilities	Issue tracking integration	Sprint planning

CIS Software Supply Chain Security

• SCS-1: Secure source code management with protected branches and signed commits
• SCS-2: Secure build pipelines with pinned template versions and runner isolation
• SCS-3: Verified dependencies through dependency scanning and license compliance
• SCS-4: Secure artifacts with container scanning and signed images
• SCS-5: Deployment security with manual gates and environment approvals

GitLab Scanner Coverage Matrix

Vulnerability Type	Primary Scanner	Secondary Scanner
SQL Injection	SAST (Semgrep)	DAST
XSS	SAST	DAST
SSRF	SAST	DAST
Command Injection	SAST	DAST
Insecure Deserialization	SAST	N/A
Known CVE in dependency	Dependency Scanning	Container Scanning
Hardcoded credentials	Secret Detection	SAST
License violation	License Scanning	N/A
OS-level CVE in image	Container Scanning	N/A
Authentication flaws	DAST	SAST

references/workflows.md (verbatim)

GitLab DevSecOps Pipeline Workflows

Workflow 1: Merge Request Security Review

Developer creates merge request
           |
   Pipeline triggers security scanners in parallel:
   [SAST] [Secret Detection] [Dependency Scanning] [License Scanning]
           |
   MR Security Widget displays results:
   - New vulnerabilities introduced
   - Existing vulnerabilities fixed
   - Comparison with target branch
           |
   [No Critical/High] --> Reviewers can approve and merge
   [Critical/High found] --> MR blocked by approval policy
           |
   Security team reviews findings
           |
   [Confirmed] --> Developer remediates and re-pushes
   [False Positive] --> Dismissed with documented reason
           |
   All findings resolved --> MR eligible for merge

Workflow 2: Container Image Security Gate

Docker image built in CI
           |
   Container scanning (Trivy) analyzes image layers
           |
   Findings categorized by severity
           |
   [Below threshold] --> Image pushed to registry with metadata
   [Above threshold] --> Pipeline fails, image not pushed
           |
   Registry stores scan results as artifact
           |
   Deployment pulls only scanned/approved images

Workflow 3: DAST Against Staging Environment

Application deployed to staging
           |
   DAST browser scan initiated against staging URL
           |
   Authenticated scan crawls application pages
           |
   Active testing for XSS, SQLi, CSRF, etc.
           |
   Results added to vulnerability report
           |
   [Pass] --> Manual deploy-to-production gate enabled
   [Fail on critical] --> Staging deployment rolled back
           |
   Production deploy requires manual approval

Workflow 4: Vulnerability Lifecycle Management

Scanner detects vulnerability
           |
   Status: "Detected" in vulnerability report
           |
   Security analyst triages finding
           |
   [Confirmed vulnerability]        [False positive]
           |                              |
   Status: "Confirmed"              Status: "Dismissed"
   Issue created automatically      Reason documented
           |
   Developer assigned fix
           |
   Fix merged, scanner re-runs
           |
   Vulnerability no longer detected
           |
   Status: "Resolved"

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