GitHub Advanced Security

What is GitHub Advanced Security?

GitHub Advanced Security is a security solution built into GitHub that helps developers identify and fix vulnerabilities, prevent secret leaks, and secure their code throughout the development lifecycle. It includes features like code scanning, secret scanning, and dependency analysis to detect issues early in the development process. Integrated directly into GitHub workflows, it enables teams to automate security checks, get actionable insights, and remediate risks quickly, helping maintain secure, high-quality software without slowing down development.

Acquired via Semmle in 2019 and continuously expanded under GitHub / Microsoft, GitHub Advanced Security powers thousands of enterprise software organizations globally, including AMD, Mercari, Otto Group, and Telstra. In 2025/2026, GitHub unbundled GHAS into modular add-ons—GitHub Secret Protection ($19/committer/month) and GitHub Code Security ($30/committer/month), or $49/committer/month combined. With Copilot Autofix resolving up to two-thirds of common code vulnerabilities in minutes and push protection blocking hundreds of thousands of credential leaks monthly before they touch the commit log, GHAS delivers developer-native security without sacrificing delivery velocity.

• Developer / Parent Company: GitHub, Inc. / Microsoft Corporation
• Launch Year: 2019 / 2020 (Unbundled into Secret Protection & Code Security in 2025)

Use Cases:

• Detecting code injection, buffer overflows, and architectural vulnerabilities during pull requests using semantic CodeQL scanning
• Preventing hardcoded API keys, tokens, and database credentials from ever leaking via real-time push protection
• Automatically suggesting and applying natural code patches to vulnerabilities using Copilot Autofix
• Auditing third-party open-source dependencies and verifying licensing compliance prior to merging code

Technology:

• CodeQL semantic code analysis engine treating source code as a queryable database
• Copilot Autofix, generative AI remediation engine, generates contextual code diffs directly in pull requests
• Global token verification and validity check integrations with over 200 cloud and SaaS partners

Target Users:

• Application Security (AppSec) leads and CISOs establishing continuous shift-left code security governance
• Software development teams and DevOps engineers seeking friction-free in-PR security reviews
• Enterprise compliance and risk officers enforcing supply chain integrity and secret containment
• Content creators using writing tools to draft vulnerability disclosure advisories, security policies, and engineering playbooks

Corporate Entity: Operates as a flagship product line of GitHub, Inc. (San Francisco, CA / Microsoft Corporation)

Key features of GitHub Advanced Security

GitHub Advanced Security's key features are

• CodeQL Code Scanning (SAST): Semantic code analysis treats code like relational data to trace taint flow and catch complex vulnerabilities (SQLi, XSS, path traversal) across C/C++, C#, Go, Java, JavaScript/TypeScript, Python, Ruby, and Swift.
• Copilot Autofix: Combines CodeQL taint analysis with generative AI to explain why a vulnerability exists and automatically propose natural, production-ready code diffs to fix it.
• Push Protection Secret Scanning: Blocks developers from committing known token formats, private keys, and passwords before pushes are accepted, preventing accidental leaks entirely.
• Partner Validity Checks: Automatically verifies with 200+ partner service providers (AWS, Azure, Stripe, Slack) whether exposed tokens are live or revoked.
• Dependency Review (SCA): Catches vulnerable packages, malicious open-source libraries, and incompatible software licenses before vulnerable pull requests merge.
• Security Overview & Campaigns: Enterprise security dashboard giving CISOs aggregate visibility into risk postures, MTTR metrics, and coordinated vulnerability remediation campaigns.
• Custom Auto-Triage & Query Rules: Write custom CodeQL queries or define automated triage rules to suppress known test-file warnings and prioritize high-severity findings.
• Native Pull Request Ergonomics: Delivers all alerts, annotations, and fixes directly into the GitHub PR conversation, eliminating context-switching between external tools.

GitHub Advanced Security Pricing

GitHub Advanced Security is offered as modular add-ons available for GitHub Team and GitHub Enterprise accounts, billed per unique active committer over a rolling 90-day window. It is completely free for all public open-source repositories.

Open Source / Public Repositories:

• $0 (Free forever)
• Includes CodeQL code scanning, secret scanning with push protection, Copilot Autofix, and dependency graphs on all public GitHub repositories

GitHub Secret Protection (Add-on):

• $19 per active committer/month
• Available on GitHub Team & Enterprise; includes secret scanning across code history, wikis, and issues; push protection; partner validity checks; Copilot secret scanning; and bypass controls

GitHub Code Security (Add-on):

• $30 per active committer/month
• Available on GitHub Team & Enterprise; includes CodeQL code scanning, Copilot Autofix, Dependency Review, premium Dependabot updates, and security campaigns

Full GitHub Advanced Security Bundle (Both Add-ons):

• $49 per active committer/month
• Combines both Secret Protection ($19) and Code Security ($30) for full comprehensive AppSec coverage across private enterprise repositories

Disclaimer: An active committer is defined as a user who authored a commit pushed to an enabled repository in the previous 90 days. Enterprise volume discounts and Azure metered billing options are available at github.com/security/plans.

Who is using GitHub Advanced Security?

GitHub Advanced Security is designed for software engineering and security operations teams, including

• Enterprise DevSecOps Teams: Shifting application security testing directly into existing GitHub pull request flows
• AppSec Engineers & Security Architects: Writing custom CodeQL queries to detect bespoke business logic flaws across codebases
• Software Developers: Receiving instant pull-request warnings and 1-click Copilot Autofix diffs before shipping to production
• Regulated Financial & Healthcare Orgs: Securing source code and meeting SOC 2, ISO 27001, and FedRAMP supply chain mandates
• Content Creators: Using writing tools to draft vulnerability disclosure advisories, security policies, and engineering playbooks
• Open-Source Maintainers: Leveraging free CodeQL and secret push protection to safeguard community open-source projects

Best GitHub Advanced Security Alternatives

Some of the strongest GitHub Advanced Security alternatives include

• Snyk
• SonarQube / SonarCloud
• Veracode
• Checkmarx
• GitLab Ultimate (Security & Compliance)
• Semgrep

Pros and Cons of GitHub Advanced Security

Pros

• Seamless native integration eliminates external dashboard context-switching by embedding findings directly in pull requests
• Copilot Autofix generates contextual, production-ready code patches that developers can review and merge in seconds
• Push protection halts credential leaks at the git push stage before secrets ever enter version control
• Modular pricing allows teams to deploy Secret Protection ($19) org-wide and scope Code Security ($30) to critical repos
• Completely free for public open-source repositories with full CodeQL and secret scanning features

Cons

• At $49/active committer/month for the full bundle, costs scale quickly across large enterprise development teams
• Requires a base GitHub Team or Enterprise subscription; cannot be purchased as a standalone scanner for external repos
• Active committer billing uses a 90-day rolling window, meaning infrequent contributors remain licensed for 3 months
• CodeQL deep compilation analysis can increase CI/CD pipeline build runtimes on large enterprise repositories

Why Choose GitHub Advanced Security?

GitHub Advanced Security is the ideal choice for engineering organizations that want genuine developer adoption for security testing without slowing down sprint cycles.

• Eliminates developer resistance by meeting engineers where they already work inside GitHub pull requests
• Prevents credential leaks proactively through real-time push protection rather than reactive post-breach alerts
• Cuts Mean Time to Remediate (MTTR) dramatically with AI-suggested Copilot Autofix pull request patches
• Provides unmatched semantic taint analysis across enterprise programming languages using CodeQL
• Provides modular pricing flexibility across Secret Protection and Code Security tiers

GitHub Advanced Security vs. Competitors

The main difference between GitHub Advanced Security, Snyk, SonarQube, and GitLab Ultimate is that GHAS is natively woven into the GitHub pull request fabric with semantic CodeQL taint analysis, Copilot Autofix, and pre-commit push protection, whereas Snyk excels as a multi-cloud developer security suite across IDEs and CI tools, SonarQube focuses on continuous code quality and static smells, and GitLab Ultimate bundles security into an end-to-end proprietary DevOps platform. GHAS stands out for its zero-setup GitHub native ergonomics, secret push protection, and AI-driven automated fixes.

How do we rate GitHub Advanced Security?

GitHub Advanced Security Review

GitHub Advanced Security represents the cleanest implementation of developer-first security in modern software engineering. For years, AppSec programs struggled because external scanners produced noisy PDF reports that developers ignored. GHAS flips this model by embedding security testing directly into the standard code review conversation. Push protection stops compromised credentials before they enter git history, while Copilot Autofix provides inline code diffs that turn security alerts into actionable pull request fixes. By unbundling Secret Protection ($19) from Code Security ($30), organizations gain the flexibility to protect all repos against credential leaks while focusing deep CodeQL analysis on production services. For teams running on GitHub Enterprise, GHAS is an exceptional platform.

Conclusion

GitHub Advanced Security helps teams identify and fix vulnerabilities early by integrating security checks directly into the development workflow. Instead of addressing issues after deployment, it scans code, detects secrets, and reviews dependencies in real time. This improves security without slowing development. Overall, GitHub Advanced Security strengthens application protection, helping developers write safer code, reduce risks, and maintain secure software throughout the development lifecycle.