Scans GitHub Actions workflows and CI/CD pipeline configurations for supply chain attack vectors including unpinned actions, script injection via expressions, dependency confusion, and secrets exposure. Uses PyGithub and YAML parsing for automated audit. Use when hardening CI/CD pipelines or investigating compromised build systems.
Start a fresh conversation. Replace the highlighted placeholders.
Use detecting-supply-chain-attacks-in-ci-cd to audit [authorized repository or workflow directory] for unpinned actions, expression injection, dependency confusion, and secret exposure, returning prioritized findings with affected locations.
Required inputs
[authorized repository or workflow directory]
User-approved starter prompt based on a pinned source version; check current skill requirements before running. Task evidence ↗
SKILL.md
name: detecting-supply-chain-attacks-in-ci-cddescription: 'Scans GitHub Actions workflows and CI/CD pipeline configurations for supply chain attack vectors including unpinned actions, script injection via expressions, dependency confusion, and secrets exposure. Uses PyGithub and YAML parsing for automated audit. Use when hardening CI/CD pipelines or investigating compromised build systems. 'domain: cybersecuritysubdomain: security-operationstags: - supply-chain-security- ci-cd-security- github-actions- pipeline-security- dependency-pinning- devsecopsversion: '1.0'author: mahipallicense: Apache-2.0atlas_techniques: - AML.T0010nist_ai_rmf: - GOVERN-5.2- MAP-1.6- MANAGE-2.2nist_csf: - DE.CM-01- RS.MA-01- GV.OV-01- DE.AE-02mitre_attack: - T1195.002- T1195.001- T1199- T1554
Detecting Supply Chain Attacks in CI/CD
When to Use
When investigating security incidents that require detecting supply chain attacks in ci cd
When building detection rules or threat hunting queries for this domain
When SOC analysts need structured procedures for this analysis type
When validating security monitoring coverage for related attack techniques
Prerequisites
Familiarity with security operations concepts and tools
Access to a test or lab environment for safe execution
Python 3.8+ with required dependencies installed
Appropriate authorization for any testing activities
Instructions
Scan CI/CD workflow files for supply chain risks by parsing GitHub Actions YAML,
checking for unpinned dependencies, script injection vectors, and secrets exposure.
import yaml
from pathlib import Path
for wf in Path(".github/workflows").glob("*.yml"):
with open(wf) as f:
workflow = yaml.safe_load(f)
for job_name, job in workflow.get("jobs", {}).items():
for step in job.get("steps", []):
uses = step.get("uses", "")
if uses and "@" in uses and not uses.split("@")[1].startswith("sha"):
print(f"Unpinned action: {uses} in {wf.name}")
Key supply chain risks:
Unpinned GitHub Actions (using @main instead of SHA)
Script injection via ${{ github.event }} expressions
Overly permissive GITHUB_TOKEN permissions
Third-party actions with write access to repo
Dependency confusion via public/private package name collision
Examples
# Check for script injection in run steps
for step in job.get("steps", []):
run_cmd = step.get("run", "")
if "${{" in run_cmd and "github.event" in run_cmd:
print(f"Script injection risk: {run_cmd[:80]}")