GitHub GitHub-Advanced-Security GitHub Advanced Security GHAS Exam Exam Practice Test

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 haveAdminaccess 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.

Query suite definitions in CodeQL are stored using the .qls file extension. A query suite defines a collection of queries to be run during an analysis and allows for grouping them based on categories like language, security relevance, or custom filters.

In contrast:

.ql files are individual queries.

.qll files are libraries used by .ql queries.

.yml is used for workflows, not query suites.

Dependabot alerts are generated as soon as GitHub detects a known vulnerability in one of your dependencies. GitHub does this by analyzing your repository’s dependency graph and matching it against vulnerabilities listed in the GitHub Advisory Database. Once a match is found, the system raises an alert automatically without waiting for a PR or manual action.

This allows organizations to proactively mitigate vulnerabilities as early as possible, based on real-time detection.

When defining a custom pattern for secret scanning, two key fields are required:

Name of the pattern: A unique label to identify the pattern

Secret format: A regular expression that defines what the secret looks like (e.g., token format)

You can optionally specifyadditional match requirements(like required context keywords), but they’re not mandatory. Listing repositories is also not part of the required fields during pattern creation.

GitHub automatically closes a code scanning alert when the vulnerable code is fixedin the same branch where the alert was generated, usually via acommit inside a pull request. Simply clicking or triaging an alert does not resolve it. The alert is re-evaluated after each push to the branch, and if the issue no longer exists, it is marked as resolved.

Thefirst stepwhen you receive a secret scanning alert is torevoke the secretif it is still valid. This ensures the secret can no longer be used maliciously. Only after revoking it should you proceed to remove it from the code history and apply other mitigation steps.

Simply deleting the secret from the code doesnotremove the risk if it hasn’t been revoked — especially since it may already be exposed in commit history.

Youmust enable secret scanningbefore defining custom patterns. Secret scanning provides the foundational capability for detecting exposed credentials, and custom patterns build upon that by allowing organizations to specify their own regex-based patterns for secrets unique to their environment.

Without enabling secret scanning, GitHub will not process or apply custom patterns.

You can customize CodeQL scanning by including additionalquery packsor by specifying individualqueries:

Packs: These are reusable collections of CodeQL queries bundled into a single package.

Queries: You can point to specific files or directories containing .ql queries to include in the analysis.

github/codeql refers to a pack by name but is not a method or field. Scope is not a valid field used for configuration in this context.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation:

By default, users with write access to a repository have the ability to merge pull requests, including those created by Dependabot for security updates. This access level allows contributors to manage and integrate changes, ensuring that vulnerabilities are addressed promptly.​

Users with only read access cannot merge pull requests, and enterprise administrators do not automatically have merge rights unless they have write or higher permissions on the specific repository.​

Using theCustomsetting allows you to subscribe to specific event types, such as Dependabot alerts or vulnerability notifications, without being overwhelmed by all repository activity. This is essential for repository maintainers who need fine-grained control over what kinds of events trigger notifications.

This setting is configurable per repository and allows users to stay aware of critical issues while minimizing notification noise.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation:

In the advanced setup for CodeQL code scanning, GitHub generates a workflow file named codeql-analysis.yml. This file is located in the .github/workflows directory of your repository. It defines the configuration for the CodeQL analysis, including the languages to analyze, the events that trigger the analysis, and the steps to perform during the workflow.​

For compiled languages, CodeQL performs extraction bymonitoring 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.

Thedependency graphin a repository is built byparsing manifest and lock files(like package.json, pom.xml, requirements.txt). It helps GitHub detect dependencies and cross-reference them with known vulnerability databases for alerting.

It is specific to each repository and does not show org-wide or cross-repo summaries.

In a repository'sSecuritytab, you can view:

Secret scanning alerts: Exposed credentials or tokens

Dependabot alerts: Vulnerable dependencies from the advisory database

Code scanning alerts: Vulnerabilities in code detected via static analysis (e.g., CodeQL)

Youwon’t seegeneral "security status alerts" (not a formal category) or permission-related alerts here.

Thesecurity-extendedquery suite includes additional CodeQL queries that detectlower severity issuesthan those in the default security-and-quality suite.

It’s often used when projects want broader visibility into code hygiene and potential weak spots beyond critical vulnerabilities.

The other options listed arepaths to language packs, not query suites themselves.

By default,secret scanning is enabled automatically for all public repositories. For private or internal repositories, secret scanning must be enabled manually unless configured at the organization or enterprise level.

This default behavior helps protect open-source projects without requiring additional configuration.

Code scanningis a static analysis feature that examines your source code to identifysecurityvulnerabilitiesandcoding errors. It runs either on every push, pull request, or a scheduled time depending on the workflow configuration.

It doesnotautomatically contact maintainers, scan full Git history, or block pushes unless explicitly configured to do so.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation:

In private repositories, users with write access can fix code scanning alerts. They can do this by committing changes that address the issues identified by the code scanning tools. This level of access ensures that only trusted contributors can modify the code to resolve potential security vulnerabilities.​

GitHub Docs

Users with read or triage roles do not have the necessary permissions to make code changes, and the security manager role is primarily focused on managing security settings rather than directly modifying code.​

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation:

When setting up CodeQL analysis for compiled languages, there are two primary methods to buildyour code:​

GitHub Docs

Autobuild: CodeQL attempts to automatically build your codebase using the most likely build method. This is suitable for standard build processes.​

GitHub Docs

Custom Build Steps: For complex or non-standard build processes, you can implement custom build steps by specifying explicit build commands in your workflow. This provides greater control over the build process.​

GitHub Docs

The init action initializes the CodeQL analysis but does not build the code. The jobs.analyze.runs-on specifies the operating system for the runner but is not directly related to building the code. Uploading compiled binaries is not a method supported by CodeQL for analysis.​

TheSecurity tabin a GitHub repository provides a central location for viewing security-related information, especially when GitHub Advanced Security is enabled. The following can be accessed:

Number ofalertsrelated to:

Code scanning

Secret scanning

Dependency (Dependabot) alerts

Summary and visibility into open, closed, and dismissed security issues.

It doesnotshow 2FA options, access control settings, or configuration panels for GHAS itself. Those belong to account or organization-level settings.

If an alert is raised on apull request dependency, best practice is toupdate the dependencyto a secure versionbeforemerging the PR. This prevents the vulnerable version from entering the main codebase.

Merging or deploying the PR without fixing the issue exposes your production environment to known risks.

Dependabot alerts utilize standardized identifiers to describe vulnerabilities:​

CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures):A widely recognized identifier for publicly known cybersecurity vulnerabilities.​

CWE (Common Weakness Enumeration):A category system for software weaknesses and vulnerabilities.​

These identifiers help developers understand the nature of the vulnerabilities and facilitate the search for more information or remediation strategies.​