Secure CI/CD Pipelines: Design and Implementation – Blogs Christian Sajere Cybersecurity and IT Infrastructure

In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, organisations are increasingly adopting DevOps practices to accelerate software delivery and improve product quality. At the heart of these practices lies Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines, which automate the software delivery process from code commit to production deployment. However, the automation and integration capabilities that make CI/CD pipelines powerful also introduce unique security challenges. IBM’s recent discussion on software supply chain vulnerabilities, “The software supply chain was always vulnerable—JP Morgan just said it out loud”¹, underscores the increasing risks, particularly in regulated industries like finance.

This article explores best practices for designing and implementing secure CI/CD pipelines, providing Australian organisations with practical strategies to protect their software development lifecycle while maintaining delivery velocity.

Understanding CI/CD Security Risks

CI/CD pipelines represent a valuable target for attackers due to their central role in software delivery. A successful attack against a CI/CD pipeline can lead to code tampering, credential theft, and the introduction of malicious code across multiple applications and environments.

Google Cloud’s “The M-Trends 2025 report”² highlights cloud security threats, including infostealer malware and unsecured data repositories, which can impact CI/CD environments. These incidents ranged from leaked credentials to compromised dependencies, highlighting the multifaceted nature of pipeline security risks.

Common security threats to CI/CD pipelines include:

Insecure Pipeline Configurations: Exposed secrets, excessive permissions, and lack of access controls
Supply Chain Attacks: Compromised dependencies and malicious packages
Infrastructure Vulnerabilities: Unpatched systems and insecure container images
Code Injection: Malicious code introduced during build processes
Credential Theft: Extraction of secrets and access tokens from pipeline environments

Secure CI/CD Pipeline Architecture

A secure CI/CD pipeline architecture implements security controls at every stage of the software delivery process. The following design principles should guide your implementation:

1. Isolation and Segmentation

Segregate your pipeline environments to limit the blast radius of potential compromises.

Australian Cyber Security Centre’s (ACSC) hardening guide for Windows workstations, “Hardening Microsoft Windows 10 and Windows 11 workstations,”³ emphasizes security configurations, including network segmentation and access control. Security Development Lifecycle (SDL) guidelines, each environment should be isolated with separate credentials, networks, and access controls.

Implementation strategies include:

Creating dedicated build environments for each project or team
Using ephemeral build environments that reset after each job
Implementing network segmentation between pipeline stages
Restricting communication paths between environments

2. Least Privilege Access

Apply the principle of least privilege to all pipeline components, services, and user accounts. Microsoft’s “Understanding and mitigating security risks in MCP implementations”⁴ shows how improper access controls can introduce vulnerabilities, emphasizing the importance of structured security policies.

Implementation strategies include:

Creating role-based access controls for pipeline management
Implementing just-in-time access for administrative tasks
Restricting build job permissions to only required resources
Regular auditing and pruning of pipeline permissions

3. Secure Configuration Management

Store configuration securely and separate from application code.

Implementation strategies include:

Using dedicated secret management solutions
Implementing configuration validation in pipelines
Separating configuration from application code
Automated scanning for hardcoded secrets

Pipeline Security Controls

1. Source Code Security

Securing the pipeline begins at the source code level. Implement the following controls:

Branch Protection: Enforce code review and approval workflows
Signed Commits: Require cryptographic signatures for all code changes
Automated Security Scanning: Integrate static application security testing (SAST)

Google Cloud’s State of DevOps Report⁵ discusses how AI adoption and platform engineering contribute to security improvements, reinforcing the importance of structured security measures.

2. Build Process Security

The build process represents a critical security control point within the pipeline:

Reproducible Builds: Ensure builds are deterministic and verifiable
Dependency Scanning: Analyze dependencies for vulnerabilities and malicious code
Integrity Verification: Generate and verify checksums for build artifacts

Microsoft’s security blog’s post, “Understanding and mitigating security risks in MCP implementations”⁶, shows how structured security controls can mitigate vulnerabilities, reinforcing the importance of comprehensive security measures.

3. Deployment Security

Secure deployment practices ensure that only authorized and verified code reaches production:

Deployment Approval Gates: Require explicit approval for production deployments
Immutable Infrastructure: Deploy immutable artifacts that cannot be modified after creation
Progressive Deployment Strategies: Use canary releases and blue-green deployments