[daily secrets] Daily Secrets Analysis Report - 2026-08-24

[github-actions[bot]]

🔐 Daily Secrets Analysis Report

Date: 2026-08-24
Workflow Files Analyzed: 292
Run: https://github.com/github/gh-aw/actions/runs/32758477163

📊 Executive Summary

• Total Secret References: 10,120 (secrets.*)
• GitHub Token References: 2,186 (github.token)
• Unique Secret Types: 38
• Job-Level Usage: 0 (0%)
• Step-Level Usage: 4,778 (~47%)

🛡️ Security Posture

✅ Redaction System: 292/292 workflows have redaction steps (100%)
✅ Token Cascades: 1,017 instances of fallback chains (GH_AW_GITHUB_MCP_SERVER_TOKEN || secrets.GH_AW_GITHUB_TOKEN || secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN)
✅ Permission Blocks: 292 explicit permissions: definitions (1 per workflow)

Template injection check: github.event. appears in 292/292 lock files (4,925 raw matches). This pattern is expected in this codebase because ${{ github.event.* }} expressions are consistently routed through env:-block indirection (not directly interpolated into run: scripts), which is the documented mitigation. No raw, unmitigated interpolation was manually observed in spot checks, but this heuristic can't fully distinguish safe env: assignment from unsafe direct run: interpolation — the authoritative check remains the Go-based static analysis in CI.

Secrets in outputs check: Could not execute TestCompiledLockFiles_NoSecretsInOutputs locally — the sandboxed Go toolchain fetch (go1.26.6) was blocked by network egress restrictions (golang.org/toolchain: 403 Forbidden). This check is enforced deterministically in CI; no local override was attempted.

🎯 Key Findings

1. Token cascade is the dominant pattern: GITHUB_TOKEN (5,215) and GH_AW_GITHUB_TOKEN (4,497) together account for ~96% of all secret references, reflecting the standard auth fallback chain used across nearly every workflow.
2. MCP server token usage is broad: GH_AW_GITHUB_MCP_SERVER_TOKEN appears 1,893 times, consistent with the GitHub MCP server being wired into most agentic workflows.
3. Observability secrets are present but scoped: OTEL/Sentry/Grafana auth and endpoint secrets (741 + 495 + 493 + 247 ≈ 1,976 refs) are used for telemetry, not workflow logic — low risk if properly redacted (confirmed: redaction present in all 292 files).
4. 100% redaction coverage: Every one of the 292 compiled lock files includes a redact_secrets step, indicating the safety net is applied uniformly, not just to a subset of workflows.
5. No job-level secret env blocks detected: All secret references occur at step level, which is generally preferable — it limits secret exposure scope to individual steps rather than whole jobs.

💡 Recommendations

1. Verify template-injection mitigation programmatically: Since this run couldn't execute the Go test suite (network-restricted sandbox), ensure the CI-gated TestCompiledLockFiles_NoSecretsInOutputs and any equivalent template-injection lint/test are green on the latest main before relying on this report as a security clearance.
2. Periodically re-baseline secret inventory: With 38 unique secret types across 292 workflows, consider auditing whether all secrets (e.g., DOCKER_USERNAME/DOCKER_PAT at 175 each) are still required by active workflows, to reduce unnecessary secret sprawl.
3. Track cascade count trend: 1,017 cascade instances is a large surface; monitor for drift in future daily reports to catch workflows that bypass the standard fallback chain.

🔑 Top 10 Secrets by Usage

Rank	Secret Name	Occurrences	Type
1	GITHUB_TOKEN	5,215	GitHub Token
2	GH_AW_GITHUB_TOKEN	4,497	GitHub Token
3	GH_AW_GITHUB_MCP_SERVER_TOKEN	1,893	GitHub Token
4	COPILOT_GITHUB_TOKEN	744	GitHub Token
5	GH_AW_OTEL_SENTRY_AUTHORIZATION	741	Telemetry
6	GH_AW_OTEL_SENTRY_ENDPOINT	495	Telemetry
7	GH_AW_OTEL_GRAFANA_AUTHORIZATION	493	Telemetry
8	ANTHROPIC_API_KEY	271	LLM API Key
9	GH_AW_OTEL_GRAFANA_ENDPOINT	247	Telemetry
10	DOCKER_USERNAME	175	Registry Credential

📈 Trends

No historical baseline was found in this run's environment (first run or ephemeral sandbox state), so day-over-day comparison is not available yet. Current stats have been computed fresh from the 292 lock files present on this run's checkout.

📖 Reference Documentation

For detailed information about secret usage patterns, see:

• Specification: scratchpad/secrets-yml.md
• Redaction System: actions/setup/js/redact_secrets.cjs

---

Generated: 2026-08-24T17:48:26Z
Workflow: .github/workflows/ daily secrets analysis agent

Warning

Firewall blocked 1 domain

The following domain was blocked by the firewall during workflow execution:

• proxy.golang.org

To allow these domains, add them to the network.allowed list in your workflow frontmatter:

network:
  allowed:
    - defaults
    - "proxy.golang.org"

See Network Configuration for more information.

Generated by 🔒 Daily Secrets Analysis Agent · copilot · auto · 19.9 AIC · ⌖ 5.42 AIC · ⊞ 9.4K · ◷

• expires on Aug 27, 2026, 9:51 AM UTC-08:00