Most software releases include manual tasks and go through the typical source, build, test, and deploy stages. A continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipeline makes things easy for software developers. The CI/CD pipeline, known for its speed, accuracy, and reliability, automates your software delivery process. The prime use of the pipeline is to build code, run tests (CI), and deploy new app versions (CD) safely. Pipeline automation helps eliminate manual errors, offers standardized feedback, and allows rapid product iterations. Read the content and find out the common risks and vulnerabilities to the CI/CD pipeline with Jenkins and how you can secure the pipeline effectively.
Risks and Vulnerabilities to the Pipeline
The CI/CD pipeline mainly faces internal threats and open-source vulnerabilities. The former includes privileged IT administrators, managerial employees, disgruntled former employees, or attackers who have gained access to employee credentials. On the other hand, the latter covers some open-source components and ready-made code.
“Due to the pandemic, organizations rushed to accelerate digital transformation initiatives; a shift that placed a heavy burden on software developers tasked with delivering applications at higher-than-ever velocity to enable remote work. In tandem with this pressure, major recent data breaches like SolarWinds have highlighted a significant risk to the CI/CD pipeline, demonstrating to organizations why they must place a high priority on software supply chain security.
Historically, security was overlooked, as it did not fit into existing development workflows. However, that position is no longer acceptable in today’s digital era. High-profile cyberattacks over the past year have highlighted the vulnerability of software supply chains. A 430 percent surge in such attacks has further underscored these risks. When successful, supply chain attacks can give attackers access to third-party software. This enables them to manipulate code and insert malicious components. These actions can compromise both downstream and upstream applications.
The past year, in particular, has highlighted this looming threat, which is now gaining attention from governments internationally. President Biden recently issued an executive order addressing supply chain security. The UK’s National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) also released a similar warning.
Securing the CI/CD Pipeline With Jenkins
Organizations must ensure that builds remain independent of one another so breaches do not affect uncompromised builds. Organizations must routinely conduct security checks and insert insider threat detection into the software supply chain. This helps establish non-repudiation of software shipped at every stage. Developers should remain responsible for securing the code they write. Builds should be scanned while the code is fresh in developers’ minds. This helps them quickly identify and fix vulnerabilities before shipping code to the next phase. Organizations using open-source software can use automated tools to monitor known vulnerabilities. This helps ensure that vulnerabilities do not get introduced into the codebase.
As software supply chain attacks continue to grow in reach and frequency, developers and organizations must strengthen application security. They should increase security measures around CI/CD pipelines and development practices. Delivering secure code, maintaining visibility, and consistently monitoring architecture are crucial steps. These measures help uphold the overall security and integrity of the software supply chain.”
The CI/CD pipeline becomes vulnerable when open-source automation tools find the loopholes.
Jenkins Attack Framework to Uncover Vulnerabilities in CI/CD Environments
Jenkins Attack Framework (JAF), released by Accenture, reveals ways in which popular automation servers can be abused. So far, Jenkins, an open-source CI/CD pipeline, allows developers to build, test, and deploy code at a faster pace. But it is still open to vulnerabilities and attacks.
JAF developer Shelby Spencer says, “Historically, Jenkins is not securely configured by default. It is often set up and maintained by developers and not security or IT personnel, so it is often a soft target.”
The JAF helps developers automate and simplify familiar and unknown Jenkins attacks. Interestingly, the JAF tool can dump credentials and launch ‘ghost jobs.’
“By default, Jenkins shares stored credentials with all users. Many attackers know how to dump credentials through the Groovy Console as an admin. However, normal users can also do this within regular jobs. They only need to list all credentials individually in their job, which can be laborious. They must then obfuscate the credentials, or Jenkins will redact them from the log. My tool automates this attack, and it works no matter the operating system of the Jenkins slave,” Spencer added.
“I expect and hope that the tool will see widespread use and adoption by the red team/pen-testing community. The tool also has some valuable features for normal Jenkins users as well, such as the feature that allows the dumping of all Jenkins build logs. I hope that the community provides feedback and feature requests.”
All business enterprises can make the most of the CI/CD pipeline automation, implementation, and consulting from a cloud and DevOps expert company. The company can help you automate the process using the best open-source automation tools like Jenkins.
The automation of the CI/CD pipeline by software development and testing experts can help enterprises achieve performance, quality, and perfection.
Frequently Asked Questions
A CI/CD pipeline with Jenkins automates software building, testing, and deployment. It helps development teams streamline releases and maintain consistent delivery workflows.
Common risks include vulnerable plugins, exposed credentials, unauthorized access, insecure configurations, compromised build dependencies, and malicious code entering the software supply chain.
Jenkins security tools can help teams identify vulnerabilities, monitor pipeline activity, manage credentials securely, enforce access controls, and address security issues earlier in the development lifecycle.
Organizations should assess plugin security, authentication, authorization, secrets management, pipeline configurations, dependency security, access controls, and integration with existing DevSecOps practices.
A DevOps partner can assess the existing Jenkins environment, identify pipeline vulnerabilities, strengthen security controls, integrate automated testing and security checks, and establish scalable CI/CD practices. This helps enterprises improve release velocity without compromising software security.
