Upwind Brings Runtime Context to GitLab CI/CD Security
Traditional CI/CD scanning tools often generate noisy results and miss what’s actually risky in production. That’s where Upwind comes in.
Upwind Security now supports GitLab for CI/CD scanning, bringing real-time security insights to GitLab pipelines, just like we do with other leading CI/CD platforms. This integration was driven by growing demand from customers standardizing on GitLab, particularly in regulated industries where security assurance early in the pipeline is critical. This new capability allows organizations using GitLab to catch and prioritize the issues that truly matter earlier in the development cycle, without slowing down shipping velocity or disrupting developer workflows.
Extending Runtime-Powered Security to GitLab
Upwind’s GitLab integration offers full-featured security scanning during build and deployment stages. Teams can now:
- Perform vulnerability scans on container images, packages, and code artifacts as part of their pipelines, with automatic prioritization using runtime context to highlight what’s actually exploitable in production
- Integrate security checks into native GitLab CI/CD workflows
- Enforce policy controls that block risky deployments based on severity or exploitability
These capabilities align with what Upwind provides for GitHub Actions, Jenkins, CircleCI, and more, offering a consistent experience across toolchains. Teams using multiple CI tools can manage security in one place without rewriting policies or adapting different enforcement models for each system. This is ideal for teams operating in hybrid or multi-CI/CD environments.
How CI/CD Scanning Works in GitLab with Upwind
Upwind’s integration with GitLab embeds runtime-informed security into every stage of the pipeline where build-tine scanning applies, without slowing down development. When a pipeline is triggered, Upwind scans container images, infrastructure as code, and dependencies within the build job. This enables early detection of vulnerabilities with minimal configuration.
Upwind seamlessly integrates into CI/CD pipelines, scanning docker images during the build process automatically via webhooks. This ensures security and compliance before deployment.
One Trigger for Your Entire Fleet of Pipelines
With Upwind’s GitLab integration, users can seamlessly integrate hundreds or thousands of CI/CD pipelines with one simple process. Rather than implementing a trigger per pipeline, users only need to connect once to the GitLab App in order for it to monitor every pull request and build -triggering scans automatically.
-Sardorbek Pulatov, VP Engineering (Security), Vestiaire Collective
“Upwind’s GitLab integration gives us visibility we didn’t have before. By using runtime context during CI/CD scans, we can focus on vulnerabilities that are actually reachable and exploitable in production. That’s helped us eliminate noise, enforce better deployment policies, and reduce the back-and-forth between security and engineering.”
This seamless integration builds upon our “Shift Left” capability, identifying CVEs and determining if any running resources are using the same or older versions of the affected components by using a runtime analysis. The Upwind Platform then evaluates the potential impact of the deployment based on how those components behave in live environments.
For each deployment, Upwind provides one of three context-aware recommendations:
- Block deployment: The deployment introduces high-impact vulnerabilities that present significant production risk
- Proceed with caution: The deployment includes low-impact vulnerabilities with minimal risk
- Proceed with deployment: No new vulnerabilities were introduced, and the deployment is considered safe
Extending Runtime Fabric to CI/CD – What Sets Upwind Apart
Traditional CI/CD scanning tools rely on static analysis and generalized severity scores. Upwind takes a different approach by combining build-time visibility with runtime intelligence from your actual production environment.
This runtime-first model provides:
- Accurate prioritization of vulnerabilities that pose real-world risk
- Faster remediation through actionable, developer-focused insights
- Improved collaboration between security and engineering teams
- Early identification of behavior-based risks that static scans can miss
By focusing on vulnerabilities that are actually exploitable in production based on real-world behavior, Upwind helps reduce alert fatigue and accelerates secure delivery.
Getting Started with Upwind in GitLab
Adding Upwind to your GitLab pipeline is straightforward. The integration follows a setup process similar to other CI/CD platforms. Once connected, scanning is automatic, and enriched results appear within your pipelines and merge request views. With GitLab now fully supported, Upwind enables even more organizations to adopt a modern, production-aware security model.
Ready to supercharge your GiLlab CI/CD pipeline with runtime fabric? Visit the Upwind Documentation Center (login required) or drop us a line at [email protected]
