GitHub Revealed Code & Sensitive Data Exposure

GitHub is the most popular platform for hosting and sharing source code. However, accidental exposure of sensitive information through public repositories has become a common security risk.

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What Is GitHub Revealed Code?

• It refers to source code, configuration files, credentials, API keys, or other sensitive data that are unintentionally committed to public repositories.

• Common causes include lack of .gitignore usage, accidental commits, or inclusion of secret files in the repo.

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Common Types of Sensitive Information Found

• Passwords and credentials in code or config files (.env, config.json)

• Private API keys and tokens for cloud services, databases, third-party APIs

• Database connection strings

• SSH private keys and certificates

• Internal business logic revealing security weaknesses

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Why It Matters

• Publicly exposed secrets can lead to unauthorized access, data breaches, and infrastructure compromise.

• Attackers and pentesters routinely search GitHub for leaked secrets to exploit them.

• GitHub's large search index and global reach make accidental leaks especially dangerous.

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How To Detect GitHub Leaks

1. Manual Search

   • Use GitHub’s own search with keywords like password, apikey, secret, token.

   • Example: org:example "apikey"

2. Automated Tools

   • git-secrets to prevent commits of sensitive info.

   • truffleHog scans Git history for secrets.

   • Online services like GitLeaks or GitGuardian.

3. Monitoring Services

   • Set up alerts on GitHub or third-party services to notify of new leaks.

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Pentesting & Security Perspective

• Discovering leaked credentials on GitHub can provide direct access to critical infrastructure.

• Helps identify misconfigurations or poor coding practices.

• Assists in incident response by tracking secret exposure timeline.

• Can reveal development workflows and technologies used by the target.

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Example Scenario

• A pentester finds a public repo under example organization containing a .env file with:

DB_PASSWORD=supersecret123
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY

• This leads to database access and AWS infrastructure compromise risk.

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Prevention Tips

• Use .gitignore to exclude sensitive files.

• Employ secret scanning tools before pushing code.

• Rotate exposed keys immediately.

• Educate developers on secure coding and commit hygiene.

• Use dedicated secrets management solutions instead of hardcoding.