When a Dependabot alert is triggered for a dependency in a pull request, it signifies a potential security vulnerability. The correct security practice is to address this vulnerability before the code is integrated into the main branch. Updating the vulnerable dependency to a patched and secure version is the direct and appropriate remediation. This action prevents the introduction of known security flaws into the primary codebase, aligning with secure software development lifecycle (SDLC) principles. Merging the pull request without this update would knowingly introduce a security risk.

A. Disabling alerts ignores security risks and is a poor security practice, leaving the organization vulnerable.

B. Forking and deploying does not resolve the underlying vulnerability and introduces risk into a deployed environment.

D. Deploying the code to your default branch would knowingly introduce a security vulnerability into the main codebase.

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1. GitHub Docs

"Reviewing dependency changes in a pull request." This document states: "If there are any vulnerable dependencies

you can see a warning in the dependency review UI... You should ask the contributor to update the dependency to the patched version or a later release." This directly supports updating the dependency before merging.

2. GitHub Docs

"About Dependabot alerts." This page explains the purpose of the alerts and the recommended action: "When GitHub detects a vulnerable dependency in one of your repositories

we generate a Dependabot alert... We recommend that you update the vulnerable dependency as soon as possible."

3. GitHub Docs

"Viewing and updating vulnerable dependencies in your repository." This guide details the remediation workflow

emphasizing that the primary action is to resolve the vulnerability

which typically involves updating the dependency version. It notes

"When you have fixed the vulnerability

you can close the alert."

Custom patterns are an advanced configuration of the secret scanning feature. The base secret scanning functionality must be active before you can extend it with custom rules. Enabling secret scanning is the foundational step that allows the system to scan for secrets. Once enabled, you can then augment its capabilities by defining custom patterns for the repository, organization, or enterprise. Without the core feature being enabled, there is no scanning engine to which custom patterns can be applied.

A. Change the repository visibility to Internal: Secret scanning and custom patterns are available for various repository visibilities (private, internal, and public on Enterprise), not just 'Internal'. This is not a required prerequisite step.

B. Close other secret scanning alerts: The state of existing alerts is irrelevant to the configuration of new scanning patterns. Alert management and pattern definition are separate, independent administrative tasks.

C. Specify additional match criteria: This is an optional step during the process of defining a custom pattern to reduce false positives, not a prerequisite before you can start defining one.

1. GitHub Docs

"Defining custom patterns for secret scanning." Under the "Prerequisites" section

the documentation explicitly states: "Before you can define a custom pattern for your repository

you must enable secret scanning for your repository." This document also confirms that custom patterns are a feature of GitHub Advanced Security.

2. GitHub Docs

"Configuring secret scanning for your repositories." This page details the process of enabling the feature

which is the necessary first step before any advanced configuration

such as adding custom patterns

can be performed. It establishes enabling the feature as the primary action.

3. GitHub Docs

"About secret scanning." This document provides an overview of the feature

explaining that it is enabled at the repository or organization level. This foundational enablement is a prerequisite for all subsequent configurations

including custom patterns.

Dependabot generates an alert as soon as it detects a vulnerable dependency in your repository. It performs this detection by scanning the dependency manifest files in the default branch and comparing them against the known vulnerabilities listed in the GitHub Advisory Database. This process is continuous; an alert is created either when a scan identifies a pre-existing vulnerability or when a new vulnerability affecting one of your dependencies is published to the database.

A. This describes the "dependency review" feature, which checks pull requests, but the primary Dependabot alert system scans the repository's default branch, not just incoming changes.

C. Alerts are triggered by the presence of vulnerable dependencies, not by the general action of a contributor opening any pull request.

D. The Dependabot pull request is a remediation step that occurs after an alert has been generated, assuming security updates are enabled. The alert itself is the initial trigger.

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1. GitHub Docs

"About Dependabot alerts." This document states

"GitHub detects vulnerable dependencies in your repository and generates Dependabot alerts... When a new vulnerability is added to the GitHub Advisory Database

Dependabot scans all active repositories and generates an alert for any repository that is affected." This directly supports that detection is the trigger.

Source: GitHub Documentation

Code security > Dependabot > Dependabot alerts > About Dependabot alerts.

2. GitHub Docs

"Viewing and updating Dependabot alerts." This page clarifies the trigger mechanism: "GitHub generates Dependabot alerts when it detects that your codebase is using a dependency with a known vulnerability."

Source: GitHub Documentation

Code security > Dependabot > Dependabot alerts > Viewing and updating Dependabot alerts.

3. GitHub Docs

"Configuring Dependabot security updates." This source explains the sequence of events

showing the alert precedes the pull request: "When Dependabot finds a vulnerability in one of your dependencies

it creates a Dependabot alert... If Dependabot security updates are enabled for the repository

the alert includes a link to a pull request to fix the vulnerability."

Source: GitHub Documentation

Code security > Dependabot > Dependabot security updates > Configuring Dependabot security updates.

4. GitHub Docs

"About dependency review." This document distinguishes the feature described in option A from general Dependabot alerts: "Dependency review allows you to visualize dependency changes in pull requests before they are merged into your repository."

Source: GitHub Documentation

Code security > Supply chain security > Understanding your software supply chain > About dependency review.

You should dismiss a code scanning alert when you determine that the finding does not represent a security risk that needs to be fixed. A common and valid reason for dismissal is when the identified vulnerability exists in code that is exclusively used for testing purposes and is not part of the production application. Dismissing the alert in this context correctly triages the finding as a non-actionable item, allowing the team to focus on genuine threats in production code.

A. If you fix the code, the alert will be automatically closed on the next scan of the branch. Manual dismissal is not the correct procedure.

B. Dismissing an existing alert is a reactive measure for a specific finding; it does not proactively prevent developers from introducing new problems.

D. An alert corresponding to a production error signifies a real risk. This type of alert should be prioritized and fixed, not dismissed.

1. GitHub Docs

"Managing code scanning alerts for your repository." This official documentation states

"You can dismiss an alert if you don't think it's a problem... Common reasons for dismissing an alert are that the code is not used in production

or that the alert is a false positive result." This directly supports dismissing alerts for code used only in testing.

2. Microsoft Learn

"Configure and manage code scanning in your repository

" Unit: "Manage code scanning alerts." This module

relevant to GitHub administration

explains the process of triaging alerts. It notes that when dismissing an alert

you can select a reason

such as "Used in tests

" which confirms this is an intended use case for the dismissal feature.

3. GitHub Docs

"About code scanning alerts." This document clarifies the lifecycle of an alert

explaining that when code is fixed

"the alert is closed" automatically after the branch is rescanned. This confirms that manual dismissal is incorrect for fixed code.

Push protection for secret scanning is a proactive security feature in GitHub Advanced Security. It scans code for secrets before a push from a local repository is accepted by the remote repository. If a supported secret is detected in the commits being pushed, GitHub blocks the push entirely. This directly prevents secrets from being accidentally committed and stored in the repository's history, which is the most effective way to prevent their exposure. This feature must be enabled at the repository or organization level.

A. A CODEOWNERS file defines ownership and enforces reviews for specific code paths; it does not scan for or prevent secrets.

B. Making a repository public drastically increases the risk of secret exposure; it is a visibility setting, not a preventative security control.

C. A security manager is a role with permissions to configure security features like push protection, but the role itself is not the mechanism that prevents the push.

1. GitHub Docs

"Push protection for secret scanning": "Secret scanning push protection prevents contributors from pushing code with detected secrets to a repository... When you attempt to push a commit with a detected secret to a protected repository

GitHub will block the push."

Source: GitHub Enterprise Cloud Documentation

About GitHub Advanced Security

Securing your repository

"Push protection for secret scanning".

2. GitHub Docs

"About code owners": "You can use a CODEOWNERS file to define individuals or teams that are responsible for code in a repository."

Source: GitHub Enterprise Cloud Documentation

Repositories

Managing your repository's settings and features

"About code owners".

3. GitHub Docs

"Managing security managers in your organization": "The security manager role gives teams and people the permissions they need to manage security settings and alerts... without granting them full administrative access to the organization."

Source: GitHub Enterprise Cloud Documentation

Organizations and teams

Managing security and analysis settings for your organization

"Managing security managers in your organization".

The most effective way to prioritize secret scanning alerts is to focus on those that pose an immediate and verifiable threat. Filtering to display "active" secrets achieves this. In the context of GitHub secret scanning, this refers to secrets that have been validated by the issuing partner (e.g., AWS, Microsoft) and are confirmed to be live credentials. An active, exposed credential represents a direct and high-priority risk of unauthorized access, making it the most critical category of alerts to address first. Sorting by age or focusing on pattern type are less direct indicators of immediate risk.

A. Sort to display the oldest first: This is an ineffective prioritization strategy, as older alerts may correspond to secrets that have already been rotated, revoked, or are no longer valid.

B. Sort to display the newest first: While useful for triaging recent commits, the age of an alert does not inherently correlate with its risk level compared to the confirmed validity of the secret.

D. Select only the custom patterns: The risk of a secret is determined by its validity and the permissions it grants, not whether it was detected by a custom or a built-in partner pattern.

1. GitHub Docs

"About secret scanning": This document explains the partner program

where detected secrets are sent to the service provider for validation. "When a secret is detected in a public repository

GitHub notifies the service provider who issued the secret. The service provider validates the credential and then decides whether they should revoke the secret

issue a new secret

or reach out to you directly..." This validation process is what identifies a secret as "active" and high-risk.

Source: GitHub Docs

docs.github.com/en/code-security/secret-scanning/about-secret-scanning#about-the-secret-scanning-partner-program.

2. GitHub Docs

"Managing alerts from secret scanning": This page details how to manage and filter alerts. While there isn't a literal filter named "active

" the principle of prioritizing based on validity is key. You can filter by secret types that are part of the partner program

which are the ones that get validated. The alert's metadata often indicates its status post-validation. Prioritizing these alerts is the primary strategy for risk reduction.

Source: GitHub Docs

docs.github.com/en/code-security/secret-scanning/managing-alerts-from-secret-scanning#filtering-secret-scanning-alerts.

GitHub automatically closes a code scanning alert when the underlying issue in the code is resolved. This process involves a developer committing a fix to the branch where the alert was detected. When the branch is re-scanned (typically after the commit is pushed, often within a pull request), the CodeQL analysis will no longer detect the vulnerability. Upon confirming the absence of the issue in the latest analysis for that branch, GitHub marks the alert as fixed and closes it.

A. Triaging an alert involves manually reviewing and dismissing it (e.g., as a false positive or acceptable risk), which is a different action from fixing the code to resolve it.

B. Data-flow analysis is a technique used by CodeQL to find potential security issues; it is part of the detection process, not the resolution or closure process.

C. Clicking an alert within a pull request is a navigational action for viewing its details; it does not alter the code or the status of the alert.

1. GitHub Docs

"Managing code scanning alerts for your repository." Under the section "Fixing an alert

" the documentation states

"GitHub automatically closes an alert if you fix the code in a pull request... GitHub closes an alert when code scanning determines that the code with the potential vulnerability is no longer present in the latest analysis for a branch."

2. Microsoft Learn

"Manage code scanning alerts in GitHub." In the "Fix code scanning alerts" unit

it is specified that "GitHub closes an alert automatically when you fix the code that triggered it. To fix an alert

you need to commit your changes to the branch where the alert was found."

3. GitHub Docs

"About code scanning alerts." In the section "About the status and details of alerts

" it clarifies the lifecycle: "An alert is usually closed when a user fixes the code that triggered the alert and pushes their changes to the branch that is being scanned."

By default, GitHub automatically enables secret scanning on all public repositories. This is a free security feature provided to protect the open-source ecosystem from accidental exposure of credentials. The service scans for known secret formats upon every push. For private repositories, secret scanning is part of the GitHub Advanced Security (GHAS) license and must be explicitly enabled at the repository, organization, or enterprise level. Since the scenario specifies that no security features are configured, only the default behavior for public repositories applies.

B. All new repositories within your organization: This requires enabling GitHub Advanced Security at the organization level, which contradicts the scenario's premise that no features are configured.

C. User-owned private repositories: Secret scanning for user-owned private repositories is a feature of GitHub Advanced Security, which is not enabled by default and requires a specific plan.

D. Private repositories: This functionality is part of the paid GitHub Advanced Security license and is not enabled by default without explicit configuration.

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1. GitHub Docs

"About secret scanning." This official documentation explicitly states the availability of the feature.

Reference Section: "Availability of secret scanning"

Content: "Secret scanning is available on all public repositories on GitHub.com. Organizations that use GitHub Enterprise Cloud with a license for GitHub Advanced Security can also enable secret scanning on their private and internal repositories." This directly confirms that the feature is on by default only for public repositories.

2. GitHub Docs

"Configuring secret scanning for your repositories." This document details the steps required to enable the feature for private repositories

reinforcing that it is not on by default.

Reference Section: "Enabling GitHub Advanced Security"

Content: "You must enable GitHub Advanced Security for your repository before you can configure secret scanning... Secret scanning is automatically enabled on all public repositories." This shows that an explicit action is needed for private repositories

unlike public ones.

The "Security" tab in a GitHub repository serves as a centralized dashboard for viewing and managing security alerts. It provides a security overview that aggregates findings from various GitHub Advanced Security (GHAS) features. This overview explicitly displays the number of open alerts for Code scanning, Dependabot, and Secret scanning, allowing repository maintainers to quickly assess the security posture and prioritize actions. The tab is designed for alert triage and management, not for configuration of security settings.

B. Two-factor authentication (2FA) options are managed at the user account or organization level, not within a specific repository's Security tab.

C. Access management, which controls user and team permissions for a repository, is configured in the repository's "Settings" tab, under "Collaborators and teams."

D. GHAS settings, such as enabling or disabling Code scanning or Secret scanning, are configured in the repository's "Settings" tab under "Code security and analysis."

1. GitHub Docs

"About the Security tab." This document states

"The Security tab is the central place to view and manage security alerts and features for your repository... The security overview shows which security features are enabled for the repository and provides a summary of the alerts for each feature." This directly supports that the number of alerts is displayed.

Source: GitHub Docs

docs.github.com/en/code-security/security-overview/about-the-security-tab.

2. GitHub Docs

"Managing security and analysis settings for your repository." This page details the configuration of GHAS features. It specifies that these settings are located under the repository's "Settings" tab

then "Code security and analysis

" confirming that option D is incorrect.

Source: GitHub Docs

docs.github.com/en/repositories/managing-your-repositorys-settings-and-features/enabling-and-disabling-security-and-analysis-features/managing-security-and-analysis-settings-for-your-repository.

3. GitHub Docs

"Managing access to your organization's repositories." This documentation clarifies that repository access levels and collaborator management (Option C) are handled within the repository's main "Settings" tab

not the "Security" tab.

Source: GitHub Docs

docs.github.com/en/organizations/managing-access-to-your-organizations-repositories.

4. GitHub Docs

"Securing your account with two-factor authentication (2FA)." This resource confirms that 2FA (Option B) is a personal account security setting

configured through the user's profile settings

and is not related to an individual repository's Security tab.

Source: GitHub Docs

docs.github.com/en/authentication/securing-your-account-with-two-factor-authentication-2fa.

Secret validation is a feature where GitHub attempts to verify a detected secret with the corresponding service provider (e.g., AWS, Azure). If the secret is confirmed as active or "valid," it signifies a live, exploitable credential, representing an immediate and high-priority security risk. This allows security teams to prioritize their response efforts on alerts for active secrets over those that may be stale or revoked, directly addressing the need to focus on the most urgent threats.

A. Non-provider patterns allow you to define custom regular expressions to find proprietary or unique secrets, but this feature does not inherently prioritize the alerts it generates.

B. Push protection is a preventative feature that blocks secrets from being pushed to a repository; it does not help in prioritizing alerts that have already been generated.

C. Custom pattern dry runs are used to test the effectiveness and noise level of a new custom pattern before enabling it, not for prioritizing existing, active alerts.

1. GitHub Docs

"Managing alerts from secret scanning." Under the section "About alert prioritization

" it states: "To help you prioritize alerts

secret scanning alerts include information about the validity of the detected secret. If we can

we'll tell you if the secret is active. We check the validity of secrets by sending them to the relevant partner."

2. GitHub Docs

"About secret scanning." In the section "About secret validity checks

" it explains: "When a secret is detected in a public repository on GitHub.com

GitHub notifies the service provider and the provider validates the secret. The provider then contacts the owner of the secret to let them know that their secret has been exposed." This process confirms the role of validation in determining the active status and risk of a secret.