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What to do if I accidentally commit an API key or other sensitive information to the git repo? (self.programming)

submitted 4 months ago by mypasswordis1234 to c/[email protected]

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I know that pushing a commit with an API key is something for which a developer should have his balls cut off, but...

...I'm wondering what I should do if, somehow, I accidentally commit an API key or other sensitive information, an environment variable to the repo.

Should I just revoke the access and leave it as is, or maybe locally remove this commit and force-push a new one without the key? How do you guys handle this situation in a professional environment?

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[–] [email protected] 52 points 4 months ago

As others have already pointed out, you must rotate the key. I don't even put any restrictions on that. Once you have shared a secret in any way, it is no longer a secret. Don't try to avoid work, just because it is an inconvenience. Convenience is the enemy of security.

Rotating your key is not enough though. Verify that it wasn't used. API providers also often provide audit logs to show when credentials were used and from which location. If someone had your key only for a second, they could have used it to generate a new key you don't even know about. Audit!