How to Use Socket in Your GitLab Pipeline for Enhanced Security

In the ever-evolving landscape of software development, security is paramount. One key aspect often overlooked is the integration of security measures directly into your Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines. In this tutorial, we'll explore how to seamlessly integrate Socket into your GitLab pipeline, enhancing your application's security by detecting vulnerabilities and potential supply chain attacks.

Once configured the Socket CLI will cause the check to fail if an issue is detected like in these screenshots.

Here we can see that the check failed:

Next we can see that the Socket CLI returned a non-zero exit code because the report was unhealthy.

And finally here is what the Project Health Report looks like in the Socket Console:

Setting up the Socket Variable

The first step in integrating Socket into your GitLab pipeline is setting up the required environment variable. Follow these simple steps:

1. Log into GitLab: Access your GitLab account and navigate to your project.
2. Access CI/CD Settings: In the project, go to "Settings" and select "CI/CD."
3. Expand Variables: Within the CI/CD settings, find the "Variables" section and expand it.
4. Add Variable: Click on "Add variable" to create a new environment variable.
5. Mark Variable: Ensure to mark the variable for it to be available in your pipeline.
6. Key and Value: Enter the key name as SOCKET_SECURITY_API_KEY and provide your Socket API Key as the value.
7. Save Variable: Confirm by clicking on "Add variable" to save the newly created environment variable.

Setting up the Pipeline#

Now that the Socket variable is set up, let's integrate Socket into your GitLab pipeline:

1. Log into GitLab: Access your GitLab project.
2. Navigate to Build: Go to the "Build" section of your project.
3. Access Pipeline Editor: Within the "Build" section, find and access the "Pipeline Editor."
4. Update Your Pipeline: Modify your pipeline configuration to include Socket. Here's an example configuration:

test:
  image: node:latest
  rules:
    - changes:
      - package.json
  script:
    - npm install -g @socketsecurity/cli
    - socket ci .

1. Commit Changes: Save your changes by committing them to your repository.

That's it! You've successfully integrated Socket into your GitLab pipeline. The next time you make updates that modify the package.json file, the pipeline will automatically run a Socket check. If any issues are detected, causing an unhealthy report, the Socket CLI will return a non-zero exit code, failing the check and alerting you to potential security threats.

By adding Socket to your pipeline, you've taken a proactive step towards securing your application, ensuring that vulnerabilities and supply chain attacks are promptly identified and addressed in the CI/CD process. Enhance the security posture of your software development lifecycle with this straightforward Socket integration in your GitLab pipeline.

You can watch a short video of this in action: