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Creating a repository security advisory

You can create a draft security advisory to privately discuss and fix a security vulnerability in your open source project.

Who can use this feature?

Anyone with admin permissions to a repository, or with a security manager role within the repository, can create a security advisory.

Deprecation note: GitHub is deprecating repository security advisories in private repositories that do not have GitHub Advanced Security (GHAS) enabled. As of May 15, 2024, you will no longer be able to create security advisories in private repositories that do not have GHAS enabled.

This deprecation does not affect published security advisories on public repositories. It also does not affect security advisories on private repositories that have GHAS enabled.

Formerly published advisories in private repositories that do not have GHAS enabled will disappear. If you need to save previously published advisories, you can download them using the GitHub REST API. For more information, see "REST API endpoints for repository security advisories."

Note: If you are a security researcher, you should directly contact maintainers to ask them to create security advisories or issue CVEs on your behalf in repositories that you don't administer. However, if private vulnerability reporting is enabled for the repository, you can privately report a vulnerability yourself. For more information, see "Privately reporting a security vulnerability."

Creating a security advisory

You can also use the REST API to create repository security advisories. For more information, see "REST API endpoints for repository security advisories."

  1. On GitHub.com, navigate to the main page of the repository.

  2. Under the repository name, click Security. If you cannot see the "Security" tab, select the dropdown menu, and then click Security. Screenshot of a repository header showing the tabs. The "Security" tab is highlighted by a dark orange outline.

  3. In the left sidebar, under "Reporting", click Advisories.

  4. Click New draft security advisory to open the draft advisory form. The fields marked with an asterisk are required.

  5. In the Title field, type a title for your security advisory.

  6. Use the CVE identifier dropdown menu to specify whether you already have a CVE identifier or plan to request one from GitHub later. If you have an existing CVE identifier, select I have an existing CVE identifier to display an Existing CVE field, and type the CVE identifier in the field. For more information, see "About repository security advisories."

  7. In the Description field, type a description of the security vulnerability including its impact, any patches or workarounds available, and any references.

  8. Under "Affected products", define the ecosystem, package name, affected/patched versions, and vulnerable functions for the security vulnerability that this security advisory describes. If applicable, you can add multiple affected products to the same advisory by clicking Add another affected product.

    For information about how to specify information on the form, including affected versions, see "Best practices for writing repository security advisories."

  9. Define the severity of the security vulnerability using the Severity dropdown menu. If you want to calculate a CVSS score, select Assess severity using CVSS and then select the appropriate values in the Calculator. The GitHub Enterprise Cloud calculates the score according to the Common Vulnerability Scoring System Calculator.

  10. Under "Weaknesses", in the Common weakness enumerator field, type common weakness enumerators (CWEs) that describe the kinds of security weaknesses that this security advisory reports. For a full list of CWEs, see the "Common Weakness Enumeration" from MITRE.

  11. Optionally, under "Credits", add credits by searching for a GitHub username, the email address associated with their GitHub account, or their full name.

    • Use the dropdown menu next to the name of the person you're crediting to assign a credit type. For more information about credit types, see the About credits for repository security advisories section.

      Screenshot of a draft security advisory. A dropdown menu, labeled "Choose a credit type," is highlighted with an orange outline.

    • Optionally, to remove someone, click next to the credit type.

  12. Click Create draft security advisory.

The people listed in the "Credits" section will receive an email or web notification inviting them to accept credit. If a person accepts, their username will be publicly visible once the security advisory is published.

About credits for repository security advisories

You can credit people who helped discover, report, or fix a security vulnerability. If you credit someone, they can choose to accept or decline credit.

You can assign different types of credit to people.

Credit typeReason
FinderIdentifies the vulnerability
ReporterNotifies the vendor of the vulnerability to a CNA
AnalystValidates the vulnerability to ensure accuracy or severity
CoordinatorFacilitates the coordinated response process
Remediation developerPrepares a code change or other remediation plans
Remediation reviewerReviews vulnerability remediation plans or code changes for effectiveness and completeness
Remediation verifierTests and verifies the vulnerability or its remediation
ToolNames of tools used in vulnerability discovery or identification
SponsorSupports the vulnerability identification or remediation activities

If someone accepts credit, the person's username appears in the "Credits" section of the security advisory. Anyone with read access to the repository can see the advisory and the people who accepted credit for it.

Note: If you believe you should be credited for a security advisory, please contact the creator of the advisory and to ask for the advisory to be edited to include your credit. Only the creator of the advisory can credit you, so please don't contact GitHub Support about credits for security advisories.

Next steps