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Re:We stopped AI bot spam in our GitHub repo using Git's –au... by captn3m0 on Monday May 18, 2026 @12:07PM (#48181657)
This has a security implication which is overlooked. Contributors to a repository have higher rights, such as avoiding approval requirements for fork PR runs. GitHub warns in the docs:

> When requiring approvals only for first-time contributors (the first two settings), a user that has had any commit or pull request merged into the repository will not require approval. A malicious user could meet this requirement by getting a simple typo or other innocuous change accepted by a maintainer, either as part of a pull request they have authored or as part of another user's pull request.

Re:We stopped AI bot spam in our GitHub repo using Git's –au... by orlp on Monday May 18, 2026 @12:21PM (#48181839)
No it doesn't have security implications.

If you are insecure because someone has had one of their otherwise completely innocent PRs merged into your repo... you are insecure, period.

Re:We stopped AI bot spam in our GitHub repo using Git's –au... by lgrapenthin on Monday May 18, 2026 @12:30PM (#48181953)
What you are describing is exactly a security implication.
Re:We stopped AI bot spam in our GitHub repo using Git's –au... by stavros on Monday May 18, 2026 @12:36PM (#48182012)
Security isn't a binary "secure/insecure". You can be more or less secure than something.
Re:We stopped AI bot spam in our GitHub repo using Git's –au... by ildari on Monday May 18, 2026 @12:13PM (#48181747)
fair point! We believe "Require approval for all external contributors" should be a default setting, as you cannot trust anyone who is not a member of the organization
Re:We stopped AI bot spam in our GitHub repo using Git's –au... by finseam on Monday May 18, 2026 @12:32PM (#48181976)
Interesting approach. We’ve seen similar spam/noise problems appear in financial workflow automation too — especially when AI-generated submissions scale faster than manual review processes.
Re:We stopped AI bot spam in our GitHub repo using Git's –au... by opengrass on Monday May 18, 2026 @01:24PM (#48182579)
too — especially
Re:We stopped AI bot spam in our GitHub repo using Git's –au... by cermicelli on Monday May 18, 2026 @12:34PM (#48182006)
you can't trust org members either I have seen projects have inter maintainer fallouts. In general trust doesn't exist.

If companies can screw you over and claim it's a mistake, there isn't much a person can do.

It's all about level's of trust, a maintainer going rogue is less likely, a past contributor going rogue more likely but not too much, a stranger with a typo pr merged even more likely but still, a complete stranger least trust worthy.

Re:We stopped AI bot spam in our GitHub repo using Git's –au... by simgoh on Wednesday May 20, 2026 @01:56PM (#48211529)
You also can't fully trust org members because valid / "Trusted" accounts can be taken over by nefarious actors as well.
Re:We stopped AI bot spam in our GitHub repo using Git's –au... by smitop on Monday May 18, 2026 @05:34PM (#48186013)
Actions runs from external contributors aren't run with Actions secrets; if you are using Actions right (i.e. not using pull_request_target wrong) you don't need to trust external contributors. (eta: iirc the original point of the Actions approval flow was preventing cryptomining spam from abusing free compute)