Paul Krill
Editor at Large

GitHub previews AI-powered code scanning autofix

news
Mar 20, 20241 min

Code scanning autofix pairs GitHub’s CodeQL code scanner with GitHub Copilot APIs to generate fix suggestions for discovered vulnerabilities.

virus chatbot chatcpgt security binary code cybersecurity infosec information data leak
Credit: Shutterstock

GitHub is previewing code scanning autofix, a feature that combines its GitHub Copilot AI assistant with its CodeQL code scanner to provide suggested fixes to discovered vulnerabilities. Code scanning autofix is available in a public beta to GitHub Advanced Security customers.

Launched March 20, code scanning autofix makes vulnerability fixes available right away as a developer is coding, GitHub said. GitHub Copilot AI is used to provide a code suggestion and explanation directly in the pull request. Code scanning autofix covers more than 90% of alert types in JavaScript, TypeScript, Java, and Python, and remediates more than two-thirds of found vulnerabilities with little or no editing, according to the company.

Code scanning autofix leverages the CodeQL engine and a combination of heuristics and GitHub Copilot APIs to generate code suggestions. The feature builds on the November 2023 unveiling of GitHub Application Security, which provides additional security features including code scanning, secrets scanning, auto-triage rules for security alerts, and dependency reviews. These features require a GitHub Advanced Security license to run on repositories apart from public repositories on GitHub.

Paul Krill

Paul Krill is editor at large at InfoWorld. Paul has been covering computer technology as a news and feature reporter for more than 35 years, including 30 years at InfoWorld. He has specialized in coverage of software development tools and technologies since the 1990s, and he continues to lead InfoWorld’s news coverage of software development platforms including Java and .NET and programming languages including JavaScript, TypeScript, PHP, Python, Ruby, Rust, and Go. Long trusted as a reporter who prioritizes accuracy, integrity, and the best interests of readers, Paul is sought out by technology companies and industry organizations who want to reach InfoWorld’s audience of software developers and other information technology professionals. Paul has won a “Best Technology News Coverage” award from IDG.

More from this author