Because it is easy to extract strings from an application source code or binary, secrets should not be hard-coded. This is particularly true for
applications that are distributed or that are open-source.
In the past, it has led to the following vulnerabilities:
Secrets should be stored outside of the source code in a configuration file or a management service for secrets.
This rule detects variables/fields having a name matching a list of words (secret, token, credential, auth, api[_.-]?key) being assigned a
pseudorandom hard-coded value. The pseudorandomness of the hard-coded value is based on its entropy and the probability to be human-readable. The
randomness sensibility can be adjusted if needed. Lower values will detect less random values, raising potentially more false positives.
Ask Yourself Whether
- The secret allows access to a sensitive component like a database, a file storage, an API, or a service.
- The secret is used in a production environment.
- Application re-distribution is required before updating the secret.
There would be a risk if you answered yes to any of those questions.
Recommended Secure Coding Practices
- Store the secret in a configuration file that is not pushed to the code repository.
- Use your cloud provider’s service for managing secrets.
- If a secret has been disclosed through the source code: revoke it and create a new one.
Sensitive Code Example
import requests
API_KEY = "1234567890abcdef" # Hard-coded secret (bad practice)
def send_api_request(data):
headers = {
"Authorization": f"Bearer {API_KEY}"
}
return requests.post("https://api.example.com", headers=headers, data=data)
Compliant Solution
Using AWS Secrets
Manager:
import boto3
import logging
SECRET_NAME = "MY_API_KEY"
client = boto3.client("secretsmanager")
secret = client.get_secret_value(SecretId=SECRET_NAME)
def send_api_request(data):
headers = {
"Authorization ": f"Bearer {secret}"
}
return requests.post("https://api.example.com", headers=headers, data=data)
Using Azure Key Vault Secret:
import os
from azure.keyvault.secrets import SecretClient
from azure.identity import DefaultAzureCredential
SECRET_NAME = "MY_API_KEY"
keyVaultName = os.environ["KEY_VAULT_NAME"]
KVUri = f"https://{keyVaultName}.vault.azure.net"
credential = DefaultAzureCredential()
client = SecretClient(vault_url=KVUri, credential=credential)
secret = client.get_secret(SECRET_NAME)
def send_api_request(data):
headers = {
"Authorization ": f"Bearer {secret.value}"
}
return requests.post("https://api.example.com", headers=headers, data=data)
See
