Fixing alerts
Once a secret has been committed to a repository, you should consider the secret compromised. GitHub recommends the following actions for compromised secrets:
- Verify that the secret committed to GitHub is valid. Applies to GitHub tokens only. See Checking a secret's validity and Performing an on-demand validity check.
- For secrets detected in private repositories, report the leaked secret to GitHub, who will treat it like any publicly leaked secret and revoke it. Applies to active or unconfirmed GitHub personal access tokens only. See Reporting a leaked secret in a private repository.
- Review and update any services that use the old token. For GitHub personal access tokens, delete the compromised token and create a new token. See Managing your personal access tokens.
- Depending on the secret provider, check your security logs for any unauthorized activity.
Reporting a leaked secret in a private repository
Nota:
Reporting a privately exposed secret to GitHub is in public preview and subject to change. The feature is currently only available for GitHub personal access tokens (v1 and v2).
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On GitHub, navigate to the main page of the repository.
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Under the repository name, click Security. If you cannot see the "Security" tab, select the dropdown menu, and then click Security.
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In the left sidebar, under "Vulnerability alerts", click Secret scanning.
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From the alert list, click the alert you want to view.
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In the alert view for the leaked secret, click Report leak.
Nota:
In order to prevent breaking workflows, consider first rotating the secret before continuing, as disclosing it could lead to the secret being revoked. If possible, you should also reach out to the token owner to let them know about the leak and coordinate a remediation plan.
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Review the information in the dialog box, then click I understand the consequence, report this secret.
Closing alerts
Nota:
Secret scanning doesn't automatically close alerts when the corresponding token has been removed from the repository. You must manually close these alerts in the alert list on GitHub.
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On GitHub, navigate to the main page of the repository.
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Under the repository name, click Security. If you cannot see the "Security" tab, select the dropdown menu, and then click Security.
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In the left sidebar, under "Vulnerability alerts", click Secret scanning.
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Under "Secret scanning", click the alert you want to view.
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To dismiss an alert, select the "Close as" dropdown menu and click a reason for resolving an alert.
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Optionally, in the "Comment" field, add a dismissal comment. The dismissal comment will be added to the alert timeline and can be used as justification during auditing and reporting.
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Click Close alert.
