Secrets Scanner
Detect and prevent leaked credentials in your codebase.
Secret Detection Patterns
.gitleaks.toml
title = "Gitleaks Configuration"
[[rules]] id = "aws-access-key" description = "AWS Access Key" regex = '''(A3T[A-Z0-9]|AKIA|AGPA|AIDA|AROA|AIPA|ANPA|ANVA|ASIA)[A-Z0-9]{16}''' tags = ["key", "AWS"]
[[rules]] id = "aws-secret-key" description = "AWS Secret Key" regex = '''(?i)aws(.{0,20})?(?-i)['\"][0-9a-zA-Z\/+]{40}['\"]''' tags = ["key", "AWS"]
[[rules]] id = "github-token" description = "GitHub Personal Access Token" regex = '''ghp_[0-9a-zA-Z]{36}''' tags = ["key", "GitHub"]
[[rules]] id = "github-oauth" description = "GitHub OAuth Token" regex = '''gho_[0-9a-zA-Z]{36}''' tags = ["key", "GitHub"]
[[rules]] id = "slack-webhook" description = "Slack Webhook URL" regex = '''https://hooks.slack.com/services/T[a-zA-Z0-9_]{8,10}/B[a-zA-Z0-9_]{8,10}/[a-zA-Z0-9_]{24}''' tags = ["webhook", "Slack"]
[[rules]] id = "private-key" description = "Private Key" regex = '''-----BEGIN (RSA|OPENSSH|DSA|EC|PGP) PRIVATE KEY-----''' tags = ["key", "private"]
[[rules]] id = "generic-api-key" description = "Generic API Key" regex = '''(?i)(api[-]?key|apikey|access[-]?key)(.{0,20})?['"][0-9a-zA-Z]{32,}['"]''' tags = ["key", "generic"]
[[rules]] id = "database-connection" description = "Database Connection String" regex = '''(?i)(postgresql|mysql|mongodb):\/\/[^\s:]+:[^\s@]+@[^\s\/]+''' tags = ["database", "credentials"]
[allowlist] description = "Allowlist" paths = [ '''node_modules/''', '''.git/''', '''.lock$''', ]
regexes = [
'''EXAMPLE_KEY_123''',
'''your_api_key_here''',
'''
Pre-commit Hook Setup
```yaml
.pre-commit-config.yaml
repos: - repo: https://github.com/gitleaks/gitleaks rev: v8.18.0 hooks: - id: gitleaks
-
repo: https://github.com/Yelp/detect-secrets rev: v1.4.0 hooks:
- id: detect-secrets args: ['--baseline', '.secrets.baseline']
-
repo: local hooks:
- id: check-env-files name: Check for .env files entry: bash -c 'if git diff --cached --name-only | grep -E ".env$"; then echo "❌ .env file detected! Add to .gitignore"; exit 1; fi' language: system pass_filenames: false
Install pre-commit
pip install pre-commit
Install hooks
pre-commit install
Run on all files
pre-commit run --all-files
CI Integration
.github/workflows/secrets-scan.yml
name: Secrets Scan
on: push: branches: [main, develop] pull_request: branches: [main, develop]
jobs: gitleaks: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: actions/checkout@v4 with: fetch-depth: 0 # Full history for scanning
- name: Run Gitleaks
uses: gitleaks/gitleaks-action@v2
env:
GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
GITLEAKS_LICENSE: ${{ secrets.GITLEAKS_LICENSE }}
trufflehog: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: actions/checkout@v4 with: fetch-depth: 0
- name: TruffleHog OSS
uses: trufflesecurity/trufflehog@main
with:
path: ./
base: ${{ github.event.repository.default_branch }}
head: HEAD
extra_args: --debug --only-verified
Custom Secret Scanner // scripts/scan-secrets.ts import * as fs from "fs"; import * as path from "path";
interface SecretPattern { name: string; regex: RegExp; severity: "critical" | "high" | "medium"; }
const SECRET_PATTERNS: SecretPattern[] = [ { name: "AWS Access Key", regex: /(A3T[A-Z0-9]|AKIA|AGPA|AIDA|AROA|AIPA|ANPA|ANVA|ASIA)[A-Z0-9]{16}/g, severity: "critical", }, { name: "Private Key", regex: /-----BEGIN (RSA|OPENSSH|DSA|EC|PGP) PRIVATE KEY-----/g, severity: "critical", }, { name: "Generic API Key", regex: /['"]?[a-zA-Z0-9_-]api[_-]?key['"]?\s[:=]\s['"][a-zA-Z0-9]{32,}['"]/gi, severity: "high", }, { name: "Database URL", regex: /(postgresql|mysql|mongodb):\/\/[^\s:]+:[^\s@]+@[^\s\/]+/gi, severity: "critical", }, { name: "JWT Token", regex: /eyJ[a-zA-Z0-9_-].eyJ[a-zA-Z0-9_-].[a-zA-Z0-9_-]/g, severity: "high", }, ];
interface SecretFinding { file: string; line: number; column: number; pattern: string; match: string; severity: string; }
function scanFile(filePath: string): SecretFinding[] { const findings: SecretFinding[] = []; const content = fs.readFileSync(filePath, "utf-8"); const lines = content.split("\n");
lines.forEach((line, lineIndex) => { SECRET_PATTERNS.forEach((pattern) => { const matches = line.matchAll(pattern.regex);
for (const match of matches) {
findings.push({
file: filePath,
line: lineIndex + 1,
column: match.index || 0,
pattern: pattern.name,
match: match[0].substring(0, 50) + "...",
severity: pattern.severity,
});
}
});
});
return findings; }
function scanDirectory(dir: string): SecretFinding[] { const findings: SecretFinding[] = []; const files = fs.readdirSync(dir, { withFileTypes: true });
const ignorePaths = ["node_modules", ".git", "dist", "build"];
files.forEach((file) => { const fullPath = path.join(dir, file.name);
if (file.isDirectory() && !ignorePaths.includes(file.name)) {
findings.push(...scanDirectory(fullPath));
} else if (file.isFile()) {
findings.push(...scanFile(fullPath));
}
});
return findings; }
// Run scan const findings = scanDirectory("./src");
if (findings.length > 0) { console.error("🚨 Secrets detected!\n");
findings.forEach((f) => {
console.error(
[${f.severity.toUpperCase()}] ${f.file}:${f.line}:${f.column}
);
console.error(Pattern: ${f.pattern});
console.error(Match: ${f.match}\n);
});
process.exit(1); } else { console.log("✅ No secrets detected"); }
Remediation Steps
Secret Leak Remediation Checklist
Immediate Actions (< 1 hour)
-
Revoke the compromised secret
-
[ ] Deactivate API key/token immediately
- [ ] Rotate credentials in production
-
[ ] Update all services using the secret
-
Remove from git history
```bash # Using BFG Repo-Cleaner bfg --replace-text secrets.txt repo.git git reflog expire --expire=now --all git gc --prune=now --aggressive
# Force push (requires team coordination) git push --force --all ```
Notify stakeholders Security team DevOps team Service owners Management (if public repo) Short-term Actions (< 24 hours)
Audit access logs
Check CloudWatch/CloudTrail for suspicious activity Review API usage for unauthorized access Check for data exfiltration
Update secret management
Store in vault (AWS Secrets Manager, HashiCorp Vault) Use environment variables Remove hardcoded secrets
Add scanning
Install pre-commit hooks Add CI secret scanning Set up monitoring alerts Long-term Actions (< 1 week) Review and improve Conduct security training Update secret management policies Implement secret rotation schedule Document incident and lessons learned
Secret Management Best Practices
```typescript // ❌ BAD: Hardcoded secrets const API_KEY = 'sk_live_abc123xyz789'; const db = connect('mongodb://admin:password@localhost');
// ✅ GOOD: Environment variables const API_KEY = process.env.API_KEY; const db = connect(process.env.DATABASE_URL);
// ✅ BETTER: Secret management service import { SecretsManagerClient, GetSecretValueCommand } from '@aws-sdk/client-secrets-manager';
async function getSecret(secretName: string): Promise
const apiKey = await getSecret('prod/api/stripe-key');
GitHub Secret Scanning
Enable GitHub secret scanning (Enterprise)
Settings → Security & analysis → Secret scanning
Configure custom patterns
.github/secret_scanning.yml
patterns: - name: Company API Key pattern: "company_[a-zA-Z0-9]{32}" secret_type: company_api_key
Environment Variable Validation // config/env-validation.ts import { z } from "zod";
const envSchema = z .object({ NODE_ENV: z.enum(["development", "production", "test"]), DATABASE_URL: z.string().url(), API_KEY: z.string().min(32), JWT_SECRET: z.string().min(64), // Never allow default/example values in production }) .refine((env) => { if (env.NODE_ENV === "production") { const invalidValues = ["example", "test", "localhost", "changeme"]; return !invalidValues.some((val) => Object.values(env).some((envVal) => String(envVal).toLowerCase().includes(val) ) ); } return true; }, "Production environment cannot use example/test values");
// Validate on startup try { envSchema.parse(process.env); } catch (error) { console.error("❌ Invalid environment configuration:", error); process.exit(1); }
Monitoring & Alerts // monitoring/secret-monitoring.ts import { CloudWatchClient, PutMetricDataCommand, } from "@aws-sdk/client-cloudwatch";
async function monitorSecretUsage(secretName: string) { const cloudwatch = new CloudWatchClient();
await cloudwatch.send( new PutMetricDataCommand({ Namespace: "Security/Secrets", MetricData: [ { MetricName: "SecretAccess", Value: 1, Unit: "Count", Dimensions: [ { Name: "SecretName", Value: secretName, }, ], }, ], }) ); }
// Alert on unusual secret access patterns
Best Practices Never commit secrets: Use .gitignore for .env files Use secret managers: AWS Secrets Manager, Vault Rotate regularly: 90-day rotation policy Scan continuously: Pre-commit + CI + scheduled scans Least privilege: Minimal secret access Audit logs: Track secret access Incident response: Have remediation playbook ready Output Checklist Gitleaks configuration created Pre-commit hooks installed CI secret scanning configured Custom scanner implemented (optional) Remediation playbook documented Secret management best practices Environment validation Monitoring and alerts .gitignore includes .env files Team trained on secret handling