Secret value committed in a manifest (ARCH10024)

Key config.k8s.secret-in-manifest · Severity error · Category security · CWE CWE-798

A Secret whose data or stringData holds a value is that value in the repository - base64 is an encoding, not encryption. A container env entry whose name ends in a secret word with a written value is the same.

Incorrect

apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: db-credentials
type: Opaque
stringData:
  password: change-me-123

Correct

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: api
spec:
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: api
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: api
    spec:
      containers:
        - name: api
          image: example/api:3.2.0
          env:
            - name: DB_PASSWORD
              valueFrom:
                secretKeyRef:
                  name: db-credentials
                  key: password

Fix

Keep secret values out of the repository: a sealed or external secret, or one the deployment creates, read with valueFrom.secretKeyRef.

Not flagged

• valueFrom.secretKeyRef, valueFrom.configMapKeyRef and empty values.