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.
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.
Passwords are often used to authenticate users against database engines. They are associated with user accounts that are granted specific permissions over the database and its hosted data.
If a database password leaks to an unintended audience, it can have serious consequences for the security of your database instance, the data stored within it, and the applications that rely on it.
If the affected service is used to store or process personally identifiable information or other sensitive data, attackers knowing an authentication secret could be able to access it. Depending on the type of data that is compromised, it could lead to privacy violations, identity theft, financial loss, or other negative outcomes.
In most cases, a company suffering a sensitive data compromise will face a reputational loss when the security issue is publicly disclosed.
Applications relying on a database instance can suffer a security downgrade if an access password is leaked to attackers. Depending on the purposes the application uses the database for, consequences can range from low-severity issues, like defacement, to complete compromise.
For example, if the database instance is used as part of the authentication process of an application, attackers with access to the database will likely be able to bypass this security mechanism.
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 is 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.
public static string ConnectionString = "server=database-server;uid=user;pwd=P@ssw0rd;database=ProductionData";
public static string ConnectionString = String.format(
"server=database-server;uid=user;pwd=%s;database=ProductionData",
System.getenv("DB_PASSWORD")
)