How to Implement GitHub Secret Scanning API to Detect Secrets in Repos

Overview of GitHub Secret Scanning API

• GitHub Secret Scanning is designed to detect tokens and credentials that might have been accidentally committed into repositories.

 

• The API provides automated scans for repository content to identify known secret formats, alerting users so they can rotate keys and revoke any compromised credentials.

Prerequisites for Using the API

• Ensure that your GitHub account has the necessary permissions to access the repositories you desire to scan. Specifically, you must have `security events` permission for both organization and personal repositories.

 

• Generate a Personal Access Token (PAT) with the `repo` and `admin:repo_hook` scopes at minimum, as these are essential for using the Secret Scanning API.

Configure Your Environment for API Access

• Set up your development environment with necessary tools like `curl` or any HTTP client libraries like `axios` for JavaScript, `requests` for Python, or others in languages you prefer.

 

• Store your GitHub PAT securely in an environment variable:

  ```shell
  export GITHUB_TOKEN=your_personal_access_token
  ```
  

Make API Calls to Scan Repositories

• Use the GitHub REST API to access secret scanning alerts. To retrieve alerts for a specific repository, make a GET request to:

  ```shell
  curl -H "Authorization: token $GITHUB_TOKEN" \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
  https://api.github.com/repos/:owner/:repo/secret-scanning/alerts
  ```

  Replace :owner and :repo with appropriate values.

 

• To check all alerts across an organization, replace the repository path with the organization path:

  ```shell
  curl -H "Authorization: token $GITHUB_TOKEN" \
  -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" \
  https://api.github.com/orgs/:org/secret-scanning/alerts
  ```

  Here, :org is the name of the organization.

Processing and Responding to Alerts

• Upon retrieving alerts, analyze the JSON response to identify sensitive information and determine which alerts require immediate action.

 

• Mark alerts as "resolved" or "dismissed" when appropriate by making PATCH requests to the alert's URL, including a JSON body specifying the state change:

  ```shell
  curl -X PATCH \
  -H "Authorization: token $GITHUB_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"state":"resolved"}' \
  https://api.github.com/repos/:owner/:repo/secret-scanning/alerts/:alert\_number
  ```

  Adjust the :alert_number to the specific alert you are handling.

Automate Secret Scanning

• Consider setting up a cron job or GitHub Actions workflow to periodically run secret scanning API calls, ensuring repositories are continually monitored for new leaks.

 

• Utilize GitHub webhooks to receive real-time notifications of new secret scanning alerts, allowing for quicker incident response times.

Security Best Practices

• Always rotate and revoke compromised secrets promptly, following detected incidents through the API.

 

• Limit the permissions of your GitHub PAT and use scoped tokens wherever possible to follow the principle of least privilege.