Secret leaks often occur when a sensitive piece of authentication data is stored with the source code of an application. Considering the source code is intended to be deployed across multiple assets, including source code repositories or application hosting servers, the secrets might get exposed to an unintended audience.

Why is this an issue?

In most cases, trust boundaries are violated when a secret is exposed in a source code repository or an uncontrolled deployment environment. Unintended people who don’t need to know the secret might get access to it. They might then be able to use it to gain unwanted access to associated services or resources.

The trust issue can be more or less severe depending on the people’s role and entitlement.

If attackers gain access to your WakaTime OAuth token or secret, they can potentially use it to make unauthorized requests to the WakaTime API on your behalf.

What is the potential impact?

Attackers exploiting leaked WakaTime OAuth tokens or secrets can potentially access sensitive information, modify data, or perform actions on behalf of the user without their consent. The exact capabilities of the attackers will depend on the authorizations the corresponding application has been granted.

Below are some real-world scenarios that illustrate some impacts of an attacker exploiting the secret.

Compromise of sensitive data

If the affected service is used to store or process personally identifiable information or other sensitive data, attackers knowing an authentication secret could be able to access it. Depending on the type of data that is compromised, it could lead to privacy violations, identity theft, financial loss, or other negative outcomes.

In most cases, a company suffering a sensitive data compromise will face a reputational loss when the security issue is publicly disclosed.

Compromise of sensitive personal data

This kind of service is often used to exchange information that could include personal information, chat logs, and other private data that users have shared on the platform. This is called Personally Identifiable Information.
The leaked app key could provide a gateway for unauthorized individuals to access and misuse this data, compromising the privacy and safety of the application users.

In many industries and locations, there are legal and compliance requirements to protect sensitive data. If this kind of sensitive personal data gets leaked, companies face legal consequences, penalties, or violations of privacy laws.

How to fix it

Revoke the secret

Revoke any leaked secrets and remove them from the application source code.

Before revoking the secret, ensure that no other applications or processes are using it. Other usages of the secret will also be impacted when the secret is revoked.

Use a secret vault

A secret vault should be used to generate and store the new secret. This will ensure the secret’s security and prevent any further unexpected disclosure.

Depending on the development platform and the leaked secret type, multiple solutions are currently available.

Code examples

Noncompliant code example

from rauth import OAuth2Service

service = OAuth2Service(
    client_id='d130uKF73fueZSCM9tUodIFN',
    client_secret='waka_sec_ez0kI3tQlYVvYSJOAjoI5n3PpyG69HQl91TZKFjSdb0X0XXgY7dahXiPpAhYL2kNxqDBzHuHNuzCPr5d', # Noncompliant
    name='wakatime',
    authorize_url='https://wakatime.com/oauth/authorize',
    access_token_url='https://wakatime.com/oauth/token',
    base_url='https://wakatime.com/api/v1/')

Compliant solution

import os
from rauth import OAuth2Service

service = OAuth2Service(
    client_id=os.environ['WAKA_CLIENT_ID'],
    client_secret=os.environ['WAKA_CLIENT_SECRET'],
    name='wakatime',
    authorize_url='https://wakatime.com/oauth/authorize',
    access_token_url='https://wakatime.com/oauth/token',
    base_url='https://wakatime.com/api/v1/')