Secret leaks often occur when a sensitive piece of authentication data is stored with the source code of an application. Considering the source
code is intended to be deployed across multiple assets, including source code repositories or application hosting servers, the secrets might get
exposed to an unintended audience.
Why is this an issue?
In most cases, trust boundaries are violated when a secret is exposed in a source code repository or an uncontrolled deployment environment.
Unintended people who don’t need to know the secret might get access to it. They might then be able to use it to gain unwanted access to associated
services or resources.
The trust issue can be more or less severe depending on the people’s role and entitlement.
What is the potential impact?
Riot API keys are used to access the Riot Games API, which provides developers with programmatic access to various data and services related to
Riot Games' products, such as League of Legends. These API keys are used to authenticate and authorize requests made to the API, allowing developers
to retrieve game data, player statistics, match history, and other related information.
If a Riot API key is leaked to an unintended audience, it can have significant consequences. One of the main risks is unauthorized access. The
unintended audience may exploit the leaked API key to gain entry to the Riot Games API. This can result in the unauthorized retrieval of sensitive
data and misuse of services provided by the API. It poses a serious security threat as it allows individuals to access information that they should
not have access to, potentially compromising the privacy and integrity of the data.
How to fix it
Revoke the secret
Revoke any leaked secrets and remove them from the application source code.
Before revoking the secret, ensure that no other applications or processes are using it. Other usages of the secret will also be impacted when the
secret is revoked.
Use a secret vault
A secret vault should be used to generate and store the new secret. This will ensure the secret’s security and prevent any further unexpected
disclosure.
Depending on the development platform and the leaked secret type, multiple solutions are currently available.
Code examples
Noncompliant code example
props.set("api_key", "RGAPI-924549e3-31a9-406e-9e92-25ed41206dce")
Compliant solution
props.set("api_key", System.getenv("API_KEY"))
Resources
Standards
