How do you handle false positives when configuring Secret Scanning in CI/CD pipelines?

[Aunnar]

🏷️ Discussion Type

Bug

💬 Feature/Topic Area

Secret scanning

Discussion Details

Title: Secret Scanning Push Protection bypass triggering on standard .env.example placeholder strings

Describe the bug:
When pushing changes containing standard, non-sensitive dummy strings in a .env.example file (e.g., AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your_aws_secret_key_here), Secret Scanning Push Protection triggers a false positive block, identifying the placeholder string as a live credential.

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Create or update a .env.example file in the root directory.
2. Add a standard placeholder value: API_KEY=dummy_api_key_1234567890_test.
3. Commit the change and run git push origin main.
4. Observe the terminal output being blocked by GitHub Push Protection.

Expected Behavior:
Secret scanning rules should differentiate between actual high-entropy live keys and well-known, low-entropy placeholder patterns or standard .example extension files.

Environment / Context:
Repository Visibility: Private
Protection Enabled: Push Protection active on organization level
File Types Affected: .env.example, config.example.json

Workaround Attempted:
Using secret_scanning.yml to exclude .env.example prevents historical scanning alerts, but Push Protection still intercepts the push at the CLI level before the configuration file logic bypasses it.

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[ErnerdXD]

1. Update your .github/secret_scanning.yml file
Add this file to your default branch (main) so GitHub ignores example files:

YAML

paths-ignore:
  - "**/*.example"
  - "**/*.sample"

2. Make your fake keys look less like real ones
GitHub flags strings that match real key lengths and patterns. Switch to plain words in .env.example:

❌ Don't use: AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=wJalrXUtnFEMI/K7MDENG/bPxRfiCYEXAMPLEKEY
✅ Use: AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY=your_key_here

3. Bypass the block in terminal (Quick fix)
When git push is blocked, GitHub prints a link in your terminal. Click that link, select "False positive", and push again.