ln-761-secret-scanner

Scans codebase for hardcoded secrets and credentials, returning structured findings for remediation.

Purpose & Scope

• Detect hardcoded secrets using available tools (gitleaks, trufflehog) or manual patterns

• Classify findings by severity (Critical/High/Medium/Low)

• Filter false positives via baseline and allowlists

• Provide remediation guidance per finding type

• Return normalized report to parent orchestrator (ln-760)

When to Use

• During project bootstrap (via ln-760-security-setup)

• Pre-commit hook validation

• CI/CD security pipeline

• Manual security audit

Workflow

Phase 1: Tool Detection

Step 1: Check Available Scanners

• Check if gitleaks is installed (preferred)

• Check if trufflehog is installed (alternative)

• If neither available: use manual pattern matching as fallback

Step 2: Load Configuration

• Load project .gitleaks.toml if exists (custom rules)

• Load .gitleaksbaseline if exists (known false positives)

• If no config: use default patterns from references/detection_patterns.md

Phase 2: Scan Execution

Step 1: Run Available Scanner

• Execute scanner against project root

• Capture output in structured format (JSON/SARIF preferred)

• If tool unavailable: run manual grep patterns for high-confidence secrets

Step 2: Parse Results

• Normalize output to common format: file, line, pattern, raw_match

• Preserve original severity if provided by tool

Phase 3: Report Generation

Step 1: Severity Classification

• Map findings to severity levels per references/detection_patterns.md

• Critical: AWS keys, private keys, JWT secrets

• High: Generic passwords, connection strings

• Medium: API keys (may be test data)

• Low: Potential secrets requiring manual review

Step 2: False Positive Filtering

• Apply baseline exclusions

• Apply allowlist patterns (placeholders, test data, docs)

• Mark filtered items as "excluded" with reason

Step 3: Build Report

• Group findings by severity

• Include file path, line number, pattern matched

• Do NOT include actual secret values in report

Phase 4: Remediation Guidance

Step 1: Attach Remediation Actions

• For each finding, attach remediation steps from references/remediation_guide.md

• For Critical findings: emphasize immediate rotation requirement

Step 2: Return Results

• Return structured findings list to orchestrator

• Include summary: total scanned, total found, by severity

Critical Rules

• Never log actual secret values - redact in all outputs

• Treat any found secret as compromised - rotation required for Critical

• Preserve baseline - do not remove existing baseline entries

• Pre-commit priority - recommend pre-commit hook if not configured

• Git history awareness - warn if secret may exist in history (requires git-filter-repo)

Definition of Done

Scan completed using available tool or manual patterns Findings classified by severity False positives filtered via baseline/allowlist Remediation guidance attached to each finding Report returned in normalized format (no raw secret values) Critical findings flagged with rotation requirement

Reference Files

| references/detection_patterns.md | Secret patterns by confidence level

| references/gitleaks_config_template.toml | Template for project gitleaks config

| references/remediation_guide.md | Rotation procedures by secret type

Version: 2.0.0 Last Updated: 2026-01-10