--- name: detecting-aws-credential-exposure-with-trufflehog-aafe742fca62 description: 'Scan source code repositories, CI/CD pipelines, and configuration files for exposed AWS credentials using TruffleHog, git-secrets, and AWS-native detection. Use when integrating secrets scanning into CI/CD, auditing repositories (including git history) for historically committed AWS keys, responding to a GuardDuty alert about credential use from an unexpected location, or verifying credential rotation removed all exposed keys. ' domain: cybersecurity subdomain: cloud-security tags: - cloud-security - aws - credential-exposure - trufflehog - secrets-detection - devsecops version: '1.0' author: mahipal license: Apache-2.0 nist_csf: - PR.IR-01 - ID.AM-08 - GV.SC-06 - DE.CM-01 mitre_attack: - T1552.001 - T1552 - T1078.004 - T1589.001 mitre_f3: version: '1.1' tactics: - reconnaissance - initial-access techniques: - id: T1593 name: Search Open Websites/Domains tactic: reconnaissance source: attack - id: F1006 name: Account Takeover tactic: initial-access source: f3 - id: F1006.001 name: 'Account Takeover: Exposed API Key' tactic: initial-access source: f3 - id: F1006.002 name: 'Account Takeover: Exposed Login Credential' tactic: initial-access source: f3 - id: T1550.001 name: 'Use Alternate Authentication Material: Application Access Token' tactic: initial-access source: attack --- # Detecting AWS Credential Exposure with TruffleHog ## When to Use - When integrating secrets detection into CI/CD pipelines to prevent credential commits reaching production - When performing a security audit of existing repositories for historically committed AWS credentials - When responding to an AWS GuardDuty alert about credential usage from an unexpected IP or region - When onboarding repositories from acquired companies or third-party vendors - When validating that credential rotation processes have removed all references to old access keys **Do not use** for real-time credential monitoring (use AWS GuardDuty or Amazon Macie), for managing secrets (use AWS Secrets Manager or HashiCorp Vault), or for detecting non-credential sensitive data like PII (use Amazon Macie or DLP tools). ## Prerequisites - TruffleHog v3 installed (`brew install trufflehog` or `pip install trufflehog`) - git-secrets installed for pre-commit hook integration (`brew install git-secrets`) - Access to source code repositories (GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, or local git repos) - AWS CLI configured with permissions to check key status (`iam:ListAccessKeys`, `iam:GetAccessKeyLastUsed`) - GitHub or GitLab API token for scanning organization-wide repositories ## Workflow ### Step 1: Install and Configure TruffleHog Install TruffleHog v3 and verify it can detect the AWS credential patterns. ```bash # Install TruffleHog v3 pip install trufflehog # Or install from binary release curl -sSfL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/trufflesecurity/trufflehog/main/scripts/install.sh | sh -s -- -b /usr/local/bin # Verify installation trufflehog --version # Test with a known test repository trufflehog git https://github.com/trufflesecurity/test_keys --only-verified ``` ### Step 2: Scan Git Repositories for Exposed Credentials Scan entire git history including all branches and commits for AWS access keys, secret keys, and session tokens. ```bash # Scan a local git repository (full history) trufflehog git file:///path/to/repo --only-verified --json > trufflehog-results.json # Scan a GitHub organization's repositories trufflehog github --org=your-organization --token=$GITHUB_TOKEN --only-verified # Scan a specific GitHub repository with all branches trufflehog git https://github.com/org/repo.git --only-verified --branch=main # Scan a GitLab group trufflehog gitlab --group=your-group --token=$GITLAB_TOKEN --only-verified # Scan filesystem paths for credentials in config files trufflehog filesystem /path/to/project --only-verified ``` ### Step 3: Analyze and Validate Detected Credentials Parse TruffleHog results to identify verified (still-active) credentials versus rotated or test keys. ```bash # Parse TruffleHog JSON output for AWS findings cat trufflehog-results.json | python3 -c " import json, sys for line in sys.stdin: finding = json.loads(line) if 'AWS' in finding.get('DetectorName', ''): print(f\"Detector: {finding['DetectorName']}\") print(f\"Verified: {finding.get('Verified', False)}\") print(f\"Source: {finding.get('SourceMetadata', {})}\") print(f\"Commit: {finding.get('SourceMetadata', {}).get('Data', {}).get('Git', {}).get('commit', 'N/A')}\") print(f\"File: {finding.get('SourceMetadata', {}).get('Data', {}).get('Git', {}).get('file', 'N/A')}\") print('---') " # Check if a detected access key is still active aws iam get-access-key-last-used --access-key-id AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE # List all access keys for a user to find active keys aws iam list-access-keys --user-name target-user \ --query 'AccessKeyMetadata[*].[AccessKeyId,Status,CreateDate]' --output table ``` ### Step 4: Set Up Pre-Commit Hooks with git-secrets Prevent credentials from being committed in the first place using git-secrets as a pre-commit hook. ```bash # Install git-secrets git secrets --install # In each repository # Register AWS credential patterns git secrets --register-aws # Add custom patterns for internal credential formats git secrets --add 'AKIA[0-9A-Z]{16}' git secrets --add 'aws_secret_access_key\s*=\s*.{40}' git secrets --add 'aws_session_token\s*=\s*.+' # Scan entire repository history git secrets --scan-history # Add to global git template for all new repos git secrets --install ~/.git-templates/git-secrets git config --global init.templateDir ~/.git-templates/git-secrets ``` ### Step 5: Integrate TruffleHog into CI/CD Pipeline Add TruffleHog scanning as a CI/CD gate to block deployments containing exposed credentials. ```yaml # GitHub Actions workflow (.github/workflows/secrets-scan.yml) name: Secrets Scan on: [push, pull_request] jobs: trufflehog: runs-on: ubuntu-latest steps: - uses: actions/checkout@v4 with: fetch-depth: 0 - name: TruffleHog Scan uses: trufflesecurity/trufflehog@main with: extra_args: --only-verified --results=verified ``` ```yaml # GitLab CI (.gitlab-ci.yml) secrets_scan: stage: test image: trufflesecurity/trufflehog:latest script: - trufflehog git file://$CI_PROJECT_DIR --since-commit $CI_COMMIT_BEFORE_SHA --only-verified --fail allow_failure: false ``` ### Step 6: Respond to Detected Credential Exposure Execute incident response procedures when verified credentials are found exposed. ```bash # IMMEDIATE: Deactivate the exposed access key aws iam update-access-key \ --user-name compromised-user \ --access-key-id AKIAEXPOSEDKEY123456 \ --status Inactive # Generate new credentials aws iam create-access-key --user-name compromised-user # Review CloudTrail for unauthorized usage of the exposed key aws cloudtrail lookup-events \ --lookup-attributes AttributeKey=AccessKeyId,AttributeValue=AKIAEXPOSEDKEY123456 \ --start-time 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z \ --query 'Events[*].[EventTime,EventName,EventSource,SourceIPAddress]' \ --output table # Delete the exposed key after rotation is confirmed aws iam delete-access-key \ --user-name compromised-user \ --access-key-id AKIAEXPOSEDKEY123456 # Remove the credential from git history using BFG Repo Cleaner java -jar bfg.jar --replace-text credentials.txt repo.git ``` ## Key Concepts | Term | Definition | |------|------------| | TruffleHog | Open-source secrets detection tool that scans git history, filesystems, and cloud services for exposed credentials using regex patterns and verification APIs | | Verified Secret | A credential that TruffleHog has confirmed is still active by making an API call to the target service (e.g., AWS STS GetCallerIdentity) | | git-secrets | AWS Labs pre-commit hook tool that prevents committing strings matching AWS credential patterns to git repositories | | Access Key Rotation | The practice of regularly replacing AWS access key pairs to limit the window of exposure if a key is compromised | | BFG Repo Cleaner | Tool for removing sensitive data from git history without rewriting the entire repository, faster than git filter-branch | | GitHub Secret Scanning | GitHub-native feature that scans public repositories for known credential patterns and notifies the credential provider | ## Tools & Systems - **TruffleHog v3**: Primary scanning engine supporting git, filesystem, S3, and CI/CD integration with verified credential detection - **git-secrets**: AWS Labs pre-commit hook for preventing credential commits at the developer workstation level - **BFG Repo Cleaner**: Fast tool for removing credentials from git history after exposure is detected - **AWS GuardDuty**: Threat detection service that alerts on anomalous usage of AWS credentials from unexpected locations - **GitHub Advanced Security**: Platform-native secret scanning for GitHub repositories with push protection ## Common Scenarios ### Scenario: Developer Commits AWS Credentials to a Public GitHub Repository **Context**: GitHub secret scanning notifies that an AWS access key was pushed to a public repository. The key belongs to a developer with production S3 and DynamoDB access. **Approach**: 1. Immediately deactivate the access key using `aws iam update-access-key --status Inactive` 2. Run `aws cloudtrail lookup-events` filtering by the exposed AccessKeyId to check for unauthorized usage 3. Scan the full repository history with `trufflehog git` to find any other exposed credentials 4. Generate a new access key for the developer and deliver it through Secrets Manager 5. Remove the credential from git history using BFG Repo Cleaner 6. Install git-secrets pre-commit hook on the developer's workstation 7. Add TruffleHog to the repository's CI/CD pipeline to prevent recurrence **Pitfalls**: Simply deleting the commit or force-pushing does not remove credentials from GitHub's cache or forks. The key must be deactivated at the AWS level immediately. GitHub secret scanning may have already notified AWS, triggering automated key deactivation. ## Output Format ``` AWS Credential Exposure Scan Report ====================================== Scan Target: github.com/acme-corp (42 repositories) Scan Date: 2026-02-23 Tool: TruffleHog v3.63.0 Mode: Full git history scan with verification VERIFIED FINDINGS (Active Credentials): [CRED-001] AWS Access Key - VERIFIED ACTIVE Key ID: AKIA...WXYZ Repository: acme-corp/backend-api File: deploy/config.env Commit: a1b2c3d (2025-08-15) Author: developer@acme.com IAM User: svc-backend-deploy Permissions: S3, DynamoDB, SQS (production) Status: CRITICAL - Key active and used from 3 IP addresses Action Required: Immediate deactivation and rotation [CRED-002] AWS Secret Key - VERIFIED ACTIVE Repository: acme-corp/data-pipeline File: scripts/etl_config.py Commit: d4e5f6g (2025-11-22) Author: data-engineer@acme.com Status: HIGH - Key active, last used 2 days ago UNVERIFIED FINDINGS (Potential Credentials): Total pattern matches: 15 Likely test/example keys: 12 Requires manual review: 3 SUMMARY: Repositories scanned: 42 Commits analyzed: 125,847 Verified active credentials: 2 Unverified credential patterns: 15 Repositories with pre-commit hooks: 8 / 42 ``` --- Source attribution: costrict-plugins-repo Original project: https://github.com/costrict-plugins-repo/mukul975-anthropic-cybersecurity-skills-cybersecurity-skills/blob/1b344d155f00bae5cf27d8eba9508e8f5050d904/skills/detecting-aws-credential-exposure-with-trufflehog/SKILL.md License: Apache-2.0 License information: https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 Original upstream instructions; downloaded from Dave AI. ## Upstream license notice Apache License Version 2.0, January 2004 http://www.apache.org/licenses/ TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR USE, REPRODUCTION, AND DISTRIBUTION 1. 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See the License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under the License. # Dave AI resource metadata Creator / publisher: costrict-plugins-repo Original project: https://github.com/costrict-plugins-repo/mukul975-anthropic-cybersecurity-skills-cybersecurity-skills/blob/1b344d155f00bae5cf27d8eba9508e8f5050d904/skills/detecting-aws-credential-exposure-with-trufflehog/SKILL.md Attribution basis: Source repository record Fields of work: Development & Engineering Roles: DevOps / SRE, Security Engineer Specialties: Backend, DevOps Tools: GitHub, GitLab, Trufflehog Country applicability: Country not specified Classification basis: Source catalog labels Instruction SHA-256: 426dd26086f87ce836bc8e44618290b739faa8fb81a931a8895ec780feb0c70c