feat(ci): add pip-audit dependency vulnerability scanning to CI/CD

Co-authored-by: christianlouis <361235+christianlouis@users.noreply.github.com>

.github/workflows/ci.yml

@@ -55,13 +55,38 @@ jobs:
         run: ruff format --check app/ tests/
 
   # ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
-  # Stage 2: Tests & Type Checking (run in parallel after lint passes)
+  # Stage 2a: Dependency Vulnerability Scan (runs in parallel with lint)
+  # ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
+
+  dependency-scan:
+    name: Dependency Vulnerability Scan
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout Code
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+
+      - name: Set up Python
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v5
+        with:
+          python-version: "3.11"
+
+      - name: Install pip-audit
+        run: pip install pip-audit>=2.7.0
+
+      - name: Run pip-audit on production dependencies
+        run: pip-audit -r requirements.txt --desc on
+
+      - name: Run pip-audit on dev dependencies
+        run: pip-audit -r requirements-dev.txt --desc on
+
+  # ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
+  # Stage 2b: Tests & Type Checking (run in parallel after lint passes)
   # ══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
 
   test:
     name: Tests
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    needs: [lint]  # Wait for lint to pass before running tests
+    needs: [lint, dependency-scan]  # Wait for lint and dependency scan before running tests
     services:
       redis:
         image: redis:7
@@ -128,7 +153,7 @@ jobs:
   mypy:
     name: Mypy
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    needs: [lint]  # Wait for lint to pass before running type checks
+    needs: [lint, dependency-scan]  # Wait for lint and dependency scan before running type checks
     steps:
       - name: Checkout Code
         uses: actions/checkout@v4
@@ -153,7 +178,7 @@ jobs:
   build:
     name: Build & Push Docker Image
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    needs: [test, lint, mypy]
+    needs: [test, lint, mypy, dependency-scan]
     if: github.event_name == 'push'
 
     steps:

CONTRIBUTING.md

@@ -291,11 +291,17 @@ Tests are organized using pytest markers:
 
 Tests run automatically in GitHub Actions for all pull requests. The CI workflow is organized in stages:
 
-**Stage 1: Ruff Lint & Format** (runs first)
+**Stage 1: Ruff Lint & Format** (runs first, in parallel with dependency scan)
 - Checks code style, formatting, and basic security issues
 - Must pass before tests run
 
-**Stage 2: Tests & Type Checking** (runs after lint passes)
+**Stage 1b: Dependency Vulnerability Scan** (runs in parallel with lint)
+- Runs `pip-audit` against `requirements.txt` and `requirements-dev.txt`
+- Fails the build if any known vulnerabilities are detected
+- Checks the OSV and PyPA advisory databases
+- Runs independently at the same time as Stage 1 so it does not add to total pipeline time
+
+**Stage 2: Tests & Type Checking** (runs after lint and dependency scan both pass)
 
 | Job | Tool | What it checks |
 |--------|--------|--------------------------------------|
@@ -339,6 +345,26 @@ ruff format app/ tests/
 
 **Note:** The pre-commit hooks and CI pipeline will automatically check (and optionally fix) these for you.
 
+### Dependency Vulnerability Scanning
+
+DocuElevate uses **pip-audit** to scan dependencies for known security vulnerabilities. The CI pipeline runs this automatically and **blocks builds** if any vulnerabilities are found.
+
+To run locally before pushing:
+
+```bash
+# Scan production dependencies
+pip-audit -r requirements.txt --desc on
+
+# Scan all dependencies (including dev)
+pip-audit -r requirements-dev.txt --desc on
+```
+
+If pip-audit is not installed, add it with:
+
+```bash
+pip install pip-audit
+```
+
 ## Project Structure
 
 ```

SECURITY_AUDIT.md

@@ -246,7 +246,7 @@ ftp = ftplib.FTP()  # nosec B321 - Plaintext FTP intentional when configured
 ### Dependency Management
 - ✅ Version pinning for security-critical packages (authlib, starlette)
 - ✅ Advisory database checks integrated into development workflow
-- ⏳ TODO: Add automated dependency vulnerability scanning in CI/CD ([#171](https://github.com/christianlouis/DocuElevate/issues/171))
+- ✅ Automated dependency vulnerability scanning in CI/CD via pip-audit ([#171](https://github.com/christianlouis/DocuElevate/issues/171))
 
 ### Authentication & Secrets
 - ✅ Strong validation for SESSION_SECRET (minimum 32 characters)
@@ -265,8 +265,8 @@ ftp = ftplib.FTP()  # nosec B321 - Plaintext FTP intentional when configured
 - ✅ **COMPLETED:** Bandit (Python security linter) audit completed
 - ✅ **COMPLETED:** Bandit integrated into CI pipeline (fails on high/medium severity issues)
 - ✅ **COMPLETED:** CodeQL security scanning enabled in GitHub Actions
-- ⏳ **TODO:** Add dependency vulnerability scanning (Safety, pip-audit) to CI ([#171](https://github.com/christianlouis/DocuElevate/issues/171))
-- ⏳ **TODO:** Make dependency scans blocking (fail on critical issues) ([#171](https://github.com/christianlouis/DocuElevate/issues/171))
+- ✅ **COMPLETED:** pip-audit dependency vulnerability scanning added to CI ([#171](https://github.com/christianlouis/DocuElevate/issues/171))
+- ✅ **COMPLETED:** Dependency scans are blocking (fail build when vulnerabilities detected) ([#171](https://github.com/christianlouis/DocuElevate/issues/171))
 
 ### Code Security
 - ✅ Authentication required on all sensitive endpoints (@require_login decorator)

docs/CIToolsGuide.md

@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ DeepSource provided:
 
 **Analysis:**
 - Would duplicate CodeQL for security scanning
-- Would duplicate Dependabot for dependency vulnerabilities
+- Would duplicate Dependabot + pip-audit for dependency vulnerabilities
 - Current tools provide adequate coverage
 - Not needed at this time
 
@@ -231,6 +231,7 @@ DeepSource provided:
 | Security Linting | Bandit | Ruff | ✅ Consolidated |
 | Code Quality | Pylint, DeepSource | Ruff | ✅ Consolidated |
 | Security Scanning | CodeQL, DeepSource | CodeQL | ✅ De-duplicated |
+| Dependency Vulnerabilities | None | pip-audit | ✅ Added |
 | Type Checking | Mypy | Mypy | ✅ Kept (unique) |
 | Testing | pytest | pytest | ✅ Kept (unique) |
 | Coverage | Codecov | Codecov | ✅ Kept (unique) |

docs/CIWorkflow.md

@@ -10,11 +10,12 @@ The CI workflow (`.github/workflows/tests.yaml`) runs automatically on every pus
 
 | Job | Tool | Purpose | Enforced |
 |--------|--------|---------------------------------------------|----------|
-| `test` | pytest | Unit/integration tests with coverage | ✅ |
 | `lint` | Ruff | Fast Python linter (replaces Flake8, Black, isort, Bandit) | ✅ |
+| `dependency-scan` | pip-audit | Dependency vulnerability scanning against OSV/PyPA advisories | ✅ |
+| `test` | pytest | Unit/integration tests with coverage | ✅ |
 | `mypy` | mypy | Static type checking | ✅ |
 
-All three jobs start **in parallel** as soon as the workflow is triggered. No job depends on or waits for any other job.
+`lint` and `dependency-scan` start **in parallel** at the beginning of the pipeline — neither depends on the other. `test` and `mypy` run only after both have passed.
 
 > **Note:** DocuElevate uses Ruff, a modern all-in-one Python linter that consolidates the functionality of Flake8, Black, isort, and Bandit. This streamlined approach reduces CI complexity while maintaining code quality and security standards.
 

requirements-dev.txt

@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ types-requests>=2.31.0
 types-paramiko>=3.0.0
 
 # Security scanning (Ruff includes most security checks from bandit)
+pip-audit>=2.7.0  # Dependency vulnerability scanning against OSV/PyPA advisory databases
 
 # Pre-commit hooks
 pre-commit>=3.6.0