About vulnerable dependencies
A vulnerability is a problem in a project's code that could be exploited to damage the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of the project or other projects that use its code. Vulnerabilities vary in type, severity, and method of attack.
When your code depends on a package that has a security vulnerability, this vulnerable dependency can cause a range of problems for your project or the people who use it.
Detection of vulnerable dependencies
Dependabot detects vulnerable dependencies and sends Dependabot alerts when:
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New advisory data is synchronized to GitHub Enterprise Server each hour from GitHub.com. For more information about advisory data, see "Browsing security vulnerabilities in the GitHub Advisory Database" in the GitHub.com documentation.
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The dependency graph for a repository changes. For example, when a contributor pushes a commit to change the packages or versions it depends on. For more information, see "About the dependency graph."
For a list of the ecosystems that GitHub Enterprise Server can detect vulnerabilities and dependencies for, see "Supported package ecosystems."
Note: It is important to keep your manifest and lock files up to date. If the dependency graph doesn't accurately reflect your current dependencies and versions, then you could miss alerts for vulnerable dependencies that you use. You may also get alerts for dependencies that you no longer use.
Dependabot alerts for vulnerable dependencies
Enterprise owners must enable Dependabot alerts for vulnerable dependencies for your GitHub Enterprise Server instance before you can use this feature. For more information, see "Enabling the dependency graph and Dependabot alerts on your enterprise account."
When GitHub Enterprise Server identifies a vulnerable dependency, we generate a Dependabot alert and display it on the Security tab for the repository. The alert includes a link to the affected file in the project, and information about a fixed version. GitHub Enterprise Server also notifies the maintainers of affected repositories about the new alert according to their notification preferences. For more information, see "Configuring notifications for vulnerable dependencies."
Note: GitHub Enterprise Server's security features do not claim to catch all vulnerabilities. Though we are always trying to update our vulnerability database and generate alerts with our most up-to-date information, we will not be able to catch everything or tell you about known vulnerabilities within a guaranteed time frame. These features are not substitutes for human review of each dependency for potential vulnerabilities or any other issues, and we recommend consulting with a security service or conducting a thorough vulnerability review when necessary.
Access to Dependabot alerts
You can see all of the alerts that affect a particular project in the repository's dependency graph.
By default, we notify people with admin permissions in the affected repositories about new Dependabot alerts.
You can choose the delivery method and frequency of notifications about Dependabot alerts on repositories that you are watching or where you have subscribed to notifications for security alerts. For more information, see "Configuring notifications for vulnerable dependencies."