Code Smell 258 - The Dangers of Hardcoding Secrets

15 Jul 2024

The Dangers of Hardcoding Secrets

TL;DR: Use a secret manager to avoid hardcoding sensitive information.

Problems

Security risk
Hard to update by operations teams
Code exposure
Data breaches
Audit Fails

Solutions

Use a secrets manager
Use Environment variables outside the code
Encrypted storage

Context

Writing secrets as plain text directly into your codebase exposes your code to significant security risks.

Hardcoded secrets such as API keys, passwords, database credentials, and tokens can be easily exposed if your code is shared or compromised.

Use a secret manager to store and manage your secrets.

This strategy will reduce the risk of data breaches and make it easier to update and rotate secrets as needed.

Sample Code

Wrong

import requests

api_key = "LILAS_PASTIA"
response = requests.get("https://api.example.com", 
           headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {api_key}"})

Right

import os
import requests

api_key = os.environ.get("API_KEY")
# This is just an example. Might also be not as secure

response = requests.get("https://api.example.com", 
           headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {api_key}"})

Detection

Automatic

You can detect this smell by searching your codebase for hardcoded strings that resemble secrets.

Code reviews and commercial security static analysis tools can also help identify these patterns.

Level

Intermediate

AI Generation

AI code generators might create this smell if they were trained with code datasets with hardcoded secrets.

Always review generated code to ensure secrets are handled securely.

AI Detection

Gemini, Claude, and ChatGPT detected the hardcoded secrets and suggested changes to the code.

Conclusion

Using a secret manager enhances the security and maintainability of your code by ensuring that sensitive information is stored securely and can be easily managed and updated.

Many repl and public codebases have a secret manager as an external utility.

Make it a habit to handle all secrets with care and never let them slip into your codebase.