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https://github.com/awslabs/git-secrets

Prevents you from committing secrets and credentials into git repositories
https://github.com/awslabs/git-secrets

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Prevents you from committing secrets and credentials into git repositories

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README 

        
===========

git-secrets

===========



-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Prevents you from committing passwords and other sensitive information to a git repository.

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.. contents:: :depth: 2



Synopsis

--------



::



    git secrets --scan [-r|--recursive] [--cached] [--no-index] [--untracked] [...]

    git secrets --scan-history

    git secrets --install [-f|--force] []

    git secrets --list [--global]

    git secrets --add [-a|--allowed] [-l|--literal] [--global] 

    git secrets --add-provider [--global]  [arguments...]

    git secrets --register-aws [--global]

    git secrets --aws-provider []



Description

-----------



``git-secrets`` scans commits, commit messages, and ``--no-ff`` merges to

prevent adding secrets into your git repositories. If a commit,

commit message, or any commit in a ``--no-ff`` merge history matches one of

your configured prohibited regular expression patterns, then the commit is

rejected.



Installing git-secrets

----------------------



``git-secrets`` must be placed somewhere in your PATH so that it is picked up

by ``git`` when running ``git secrets``.



\*nix (Linux/macOS)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



You can use the ``install`` target of the provided Makefile to install ``git secrets`` and the man page.

You can customize the install path using the PREFIX and MANPREFIX variables.



::



    make install



Windows

~~~~~~~



Run the provided ``install.ps1`` powershell script. This will copy the needed files

to an installation directory (``%USERPROFILE%/.git-secrets`` by default) and add

the directory to the current user ``PATH``.



::



    PS > ./install.ps1



Homebrew (for macOS users)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



::



    brew install git-secrets



.. warning::



    **You're not done yet! You MUST install the git hooks for every repo that

    you wish to use with** ``git secrets --install``.



Here's a quick example of how to ensure a git repository is scanned for secrets

on each commit::



    cd /path/to/my/repo

    git secrets --install

    git secrets --register-aws



Advanced configuration

----------------------



Add a configuration template if you want to add hooks to all repositories you

initialize or clone in the future.



::



    git secrets --register-aws --global



Add hooks to all your local repositories.



::



    git secrets --install ~/.git-templates/git-secrets

    git config --global init.templateDir ~/.git-templates/git-secrets



Add custom providers to scan for security credentials.



::



    git secrets --add-provider -- cat /path/to/secret/file/patterns



Before making public a repository

---------------------------------



With git-secrets is also possible to scan a repository including all revisions:



::



    git secrets --scan-history



Options

-------



Operation Modes

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Each of these options must appear first on the command line.



``--install``

    Installs git hooks for a repository. Once the hooks are installed for a git

    repository, commits and non-fast-forward merges for that repository will be prevented

    from committing secrets.



``--scan``

    Scans one or more files for secrets. When a file contains a secret, the

    matched text from the file being scanned will be written to stdout and the

    script will exit with a non-zero status. Each matched line will be written with

    the name of the file that matched, a colon, the line number that matched,

    a colon, and then the line of text that matched. If no files are provided,

    all files returned by ``git ls-files`` are scanned.



``--scan-history``

    Scans repository including all revisions. When a file contains a secret, the

    matched text from the file being scanned will be written to stdout and the

    script will exit with a non-zero status. Each matched line will be written with

    the name of the file that matched, a colon, the line number that matched,

    a colon, and then the line of text that matched.



``--list``

    Lists the ``git-secrets`` configuration for the current repo or in the global

    git config.



``--add``

    Adds a prohibited or allowed pattern.



``--add-provider``

    Registers a secret provider. Secret providers are executables that when

    invoked output prohibited patterns that ``git-secrets`` should treat as

    prohibited.



``--register-aws``

    Adds common AWS patterns to the git config and ensures that keys present

    in ``~/.aws/credentials`` are not found in any commit. The following

    checks are added:



    - AWS Access Key IDs via ``(A3T[A-Z0-9]|AKIA|AGPA|AIDA|AROA|AIPA|ANPA|ANVA|ASIA)[A-Z0-9]{16}``

    - AWS Secret Access Key assignments via ":" or "=" surrounded by optional

      quotes

    - AWS account ID assignments via ":" or "=" surrounded by optional quotes

    - Allowed patterns for example AWS keys (``AKIAIOSFODNN7EXAMPLE`` and

      ``wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY``)

    - Known credentials from ``~/.aws/credentials``



    .. note::



        While the patterns registered by this command should catch most

        instances of AWS credentials, these patterns are **not** guaranteed to

        catch them **all**. ``git-secrets`` should be used as an extra means of

        insurance -- you still need to do your due diligence to ensure that you

        do not commit credentials to a repository.



``--aws-provider``

    Secret provider that outputs credentials found in an INI file. You can

    optionally provide the path to an INI file.



Options for ``--install``

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



``-f, --force``

    Overwrites existing hooks if present.



````

    When provided, installs git hooks to the given directory. The current

    directory is assumed if ```` is not provided.



    If the provided ```` is not in a git repository, the

    directory will be created and hooks will be placed in

    ``/hooks``. This can be useful for creating git template

    directories using with ``git init --template ``.



    You can run ``git init`` on a repository that has already been initialized.

    From the `git init documentation `_:



        From the git documentation: Running ``git init`` in an existing repository

        is safe. It will not overwrite things that are already there. The

        primary reason for rerunning ``git init`` is to pick up newly added

        templates (or to move the repository to another place if

        ``--separate-git-dir`` is given).



    The following git hooks are installed:



    1. ``pre-commit``: Used to check if any of the files changed in the commit

       use prohibited patterns.

    2. ``commit-msg``: Used to determine if a commit message contains a

       prohibited patterns.

    3. ``prepare-commit-msg``: Used to determine if a merge commit will

       introduce a history that contains a prohibited pattern at any point.

       Please note that this hook is only invoked for non fast-forward merges.



    .. note::



        Git only allows a single script to be executed per hook. If the

        repository contains Debian-style subdirectories like ``pre-commit.d``

        and ``commit-msg.d``, then the git hooks will be installed into these

        directories, which assumes that you've configured the corresponding

        hooks to execute all of the scripts found in these directories. If

        these git subdirectories are not present, then the git hooks will be

        installed to the git repo's ``.git/hooks`` directory.



Examples

^^^^^^^^



Install git hooks to the current directory::



    cd /path/to/my/repository

    git secrets --install



Install git hooks to a repository other than the current directory::



    git secrets --install /path/to/my/repository



Create a git template that has ``git-secrets`` installed, and then copy that

template into a git repository::



    git secrets --install ~/.git-templates/git-secrets

    git init --template ~/.git-templates/git-secrets



Overwrite existing hooks if present::



    git secrets --install -f



Options for ``--scan``

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



``-r, --recursive``

    Scans the given files recursively. If a directory is encountered, the

    directory will be scanned. If ``-r`` is not provided, directories will be

    ignored.



    ``-r`` cannot be used alongside ``--cached``, ``--no-index``, or

    ``--untracked``.



``--cached``

    Searches blobs registered in the index file.



``--no-index``

    Searches files in the current directory that is not managed by git.



``--untracked``

    In addition to searching in the tracked files in the working tree,

    ``--scan`` also in untracked files.



``...``

    The path to one or more files on disk to scan for secrets.



    If no files are provided, all files returned by ``git ls-files`` are

    scanned.



Examples

^^^^^^^^



Scan all files in the repo::



    git secrets --scan



Scans a single file for secrets::



    git secrets --scan /path/to/file



Scans a directory recursively for secrets::



    git secrets --scan -r /path/to/directory



Scans multiple files for secrets::



    git secrets --scan /path/to/file /path/to/other/file



You can scan by globbing::



    git secrets --scan /path/to/directory/*



Scan from stdin::



    echo 'hello!' | git secrets --scan -



Options for ``--list``

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



``--global``

    Lists only git-secrets configuration in the global git config.



Options for ``--add``

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



``--global``

    Adds patterns to the global git config



``-l, --literal``

    Escapes special regular expression characters in the provided pattern so

    that the pattern is searched for literally.



``-a, --allowed``

    Mark the pattern as allowed instead of prohibited. Allowed patterns are

    used to filter out false positives.



````

    The regex pattern to search.



Examples

^^^^^^^^



Adds a prohibited pattern to the current repo::



    git secrets --add '[A-Z0-9]{20}'



Adds a prohibited pattern to the global git config::



    git secrets --add --global '[A-Z0-9]{20}'



Adds a string that is scanned for literally (``+`` is escaped)::



    git secrets --add --literal 'foo+bar'



Add an allowed pattern::



    git secrets --add -a 'allowed pattern'



Options for ``--register-aws``

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



``--global``

    Adds AWS specific configuration variables to the global git config.



Options for ``--aws-provider``

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



``[]``

    If provided, specifies the custom path to an INI file to scan. If not

    provided, ``~/.aws/credentials`` is assumed.



Options for ``--add-provider``

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



``--global``

    Adds the provider to the global git config.



````

    Provider command to invoke. When invoked the command is expected to write

    prohibited patterns separated by new lines to stdout. Any extra arguments

    provided are passed on to the command.



Examples

^^^^^^^^



Registers a secret provider with arguments::



    git secrets --add-provider -- git secrets --aws-provider



Cats secrets out of a file::



    git secrets --add-provider -- cat /path/to/secret/file/patterns



Defining prohibited patterns

----------------------------



``egrep``-compatible regular expressions are used to determine if a commit or

commit message contains any prohibited patterns. These regular expressions are

defined using the ``git config`` command. It is important to note that

different systems use different versions of egrep. For example, when running on

macOS, you will use a different version of ``egrep`` than when running on something

like Ubuntu (BSD vs GNU).



You can add prohibited regular expression patterns to your git config using

``git secrets --add ``.



Ignoring false positives

------------------------



Sometimes a regular expression might match false positives. For example, git

commit SHAs look a lot like AWS access keys. You can specify many different

regular expression patterns as false positives using the following command:



::



    git secrets --add --allowed 'my regex pattern'



You can also add regular expressions patterns to filter false positives to a

``.gitallowed`` file located in the repository's root directory. Lines starting

with ``#`` are skipped (comment line) and empty lines are also skipped.



First, git-secrets will extract all lines from a file that contain a prohibited

match. Included in the matched results will be the full path to the name of

the file that was matched, followed by ':', followed by the line number that was

matched, followed by the entire line from the file that was matched by a secret

pattern. Then, if you've defined allowed regular expressions, git-secrets will

check to see if all of the matched lines match at least one of your registered

allowed regular expressions. If all of the lines that were flagged as secret

are canceled out by an allowed match, then the subject text does not contain

any secrets. If any of the matched lines are not matched by an allowed regular

expression, then git-secrets will fail the commit/merge/message.



.. important::



    Just as it is a bad practice to add prohibited patterns that are too

    greedy, it is also a bad practice to add allowed patterns that are too

    forgiving. Be sure to test out your patterns using ad-hoc calls to

    ``git secrets --scan $filename`` to ensure they are working as intended.



Secret providers

----------------



Sometimes you want to check for an exact pattern match against a set of known

secrets. For example, you might want to ensure that no credentials present in

``~/.aws/credentials`` ever show up in a commit. In these cases, it's better to

leave these secrets in one location rather than spread them out across git

repositories in git configs. You can use "secret providers" to fetch these

types of credentials. A secret provider is an executable that when invoked

outputs prohibited patterns separated by new lines.



You can add secret providers using the ``--add-provider`` command::



    git secrets --add-provider -- git secrets --aws-provider



Notice the use of ``--``. This ensures that any arguments associated with the

provider are passed to the provider each time it is invoked when scanning

for secrets.



Example walkthrough

-------------------



Let's take a look at an example. Given the following subject text (stored in

``/tmp/example``)::



    This is a test!

    password=ex@mplepassword

    password=******

    More test...



And the following registered patterns:



::



    git secrets --add 'password\s*=\s*.+'

    git secrets --add --allowed --literal 'ex@mplepassword'



Running ``git secrets --scan /tmp/example``, the result will

result in the following error output::



    /tmp/example:3:password=******



    [ERROR] Matched prohibited pattern



    Possible mitigations:

    - Mark false positives as allowed using: git config --add secrets.allowed ...

    - List your configured patterns: git config --get-all secrets.patterns

    - List your configured allowed patterns: git config --get-all secrets.allowed

    - Use --no-verify if this is a one-time false positive



Breaking this down, the prohibited pattern value of ``password\s*=\s*.+`` will

match the following lines::



    /tmp/example:2:password=ex@mplepassword

    /tmp/example:3:password=******



...But the first match will be filtered out due to the fact that it matches the

allowed regular expression of ``ex@mplepassword``. Because there is still a

remaining line that did not match, it is considered a secret.



Because that matching lines are placed on lines that start with the filename

and line number (e.g., ``/tmp/example:3:...``), you can create allowed

patterns that take filenames and line numbers into account in the regular

expression. For example, you could whitelist an entire file using something

like::



    git secrets --add --allowed '/tmp/example:.*'

    git secrets --scan /tmp/example && echo $?

    # Outputs: 0



Alternatively, you could allow a specific line number of a file if that

line is unlikely to change using something like the following:



::



    git secrets --add --allowed '/tmp/example:3:.*'

    git secrets --scan /tmp/example && echo $?

    # Outputs: 0



Keep this in mind when creating allowed patterns to ensure that your allowed

patterns are not inadvertently matched due to the fact that the filename is

included in the subject text that allowed patterns are matched against.



Skipping validation

-------------------



Use the ``--no-verify`` option in the event of a false positive match in a

commit, merge, or commit message. This will skip the execution of the

git hook and allow you to make the commit or merge.



About

------



- Author: `Michael Dowling `_

- Issue tracker: This project's source code and issue tracker can be found at

  `https://github.com/awslabs/git-secrets `_

- Special thanks to Adrian Vatchinsky and Ari Juels of Cornell University for

  providing suggestions and feedback.



Copyright 2015 Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.