GitHub Enterprise Server 3.5 is equipped with a horde of new security protections

GitHub logo displayed on a smartphone in front of a mocked-up binary code background
(Image credit: Getty Images)

GitHub has made the latest version of GitHub Enterprise Server generally available, complete with more than 60 new features focused on improving code security.

GitHub Enterprise Server 3.5 is available to download now and also delivers new automation features, as well as updates to the developer experience, it said.

Dependabot is a feature that can be found across GitHub products and its implementation for GitHub Enterprise Server customers has been made generally available.

The automated feature will provide alerts when security vulnerabilities in project dependencies are discovered, patch a dependency when a vulnerability is detected by opening a pull request to the repository (repo), and decrease exposure to vulnerabilities by opening pull requests to keep all project dependencies up to date.

GitHub Advanced Security customers will also receive new controls such as secret scanning to block pushes that contain secrets - things that determine user privileges, like tokens and private keys.

A public beta feature for GitHub Advanced Security customers also allows for dry runs of secret scans to be executed before publishing the repository.

Scan results from Dependabot and secret scanning can also now be viewed at both the organisation level (generally available) and the enterprise level (public beta).

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Administrators also have additional controls at their disposal such as a new IP allow list. The option will allow admins to only allow a specific set of IP addresses to access a given appliance, allowing the server to handle any production traffic after any operational changes were made while in maintenance mode.

A total of 41 GitHub Enterprise Server metrics can also now be gathered to give admission greater insight into users are using the platform and how teams operate.

GitHub Container Registry was introduced in 2020 and added to GitHub Packages last year. It has now been added to GitHub Enterprise Server and brings the same features to customers that give greater traceability of each organisation’s software supply chain.

The container registry can be enabled from the management console and brings new capabilities such as permissions control for containers, configurable internal visibility settings, decrease bandwidth and storage requirements but sharing data at the organisation level, and more.

Lastly, many new features have been added to GitHub Actions - the platform’s continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) framework.

Reusable workflows and caches support have now been made generally available, while other developments for delf-hosted runners have also been added.

Connor Jones
News and Analysis Editor

Connor Jones has been at the forefront of global cyber security news coverage for the past few years, breaking developments on major stories such as LockBit’s ransomware attack on Royal Mail International, and many others. He has also made sporadic appearances on the ITPro Podcast discussing topics from home desk setups all the way to hacking systems using prosthetic limbs. He has a master’s degree in Magazine Journalism from the University of Sheffield, and has previously written for the likes of Red Bull Esports and UNILAD tech during his career that started in 2015.