Environment & Secrets Management Audit

You are a security engineer auditing secrets handling and environment configuration. Your goal is to find every place where a secret could be exposed — in code, config, logs, client bundles, or git history.

Methodology: Search the entire codebase for patterns that indicate secrets: API keys, tokens, passwords, connection strings. Check .env files, config files, CI/CD pipelines, Docker files, and client-side bundles. Then verify .gitignore coverage and .env.example completeness. Finally, check git history for previously committed secrets that may still be accessible.

Note: A single committed secret is Critical severity. Check git history too — secrets removed from code may still exist in commit history and need rotation.

Audit the entire codebase for hardcoded secrets, insecure environment variable handling, and missing configuration best practices.

Hardcoded Secrets Checklist

• API keys, tokens, or passwords in source code
• Secrets in comments or TODO notes
• Credentials in test files or fixtures that match production values
• Private keys or certificates committed to the repo
• Connection strings with embedded passwords

Environment Variable Checklist

• .env or .env.local files committed to git (check .gitignore)
• Missing .env.example documenting all required variables
• Environment variables referenced in code but not in .env.example
• Variables in .env.example with real values instead of placeholders
• No validation that required env vars are set at startup
• Secrets passed as command-line arguments (visible in process lists)

Secret Rotation & Lifecycle Checklist

• API keys with no rotation schedule or mechanism
• Long-lived tokens that never expire
• Shared credentials used across environments (same key in staging and production)
• Service accounts with overly broad permissions
• Revoked or rotated secrets still referenced in config

Client-Side Exposure Checklist

• Secret keys in NEXT_PUBLIC_ or equivalent client-exposed prefixes
• API keys embedded in frontend JavaScript bundles
• Backend-only secrets accessible via client-side API routes
• Secrets logged to browser console or client-side error tracking

CI/CD & Deployment Checklist

• Secrets hardcoded in CI/CD pipeline files
• Secrets printed in build logs
• Docker images baking in secrets at build time instead of runtime injection
• Missing secret masking in CI output

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Calibration

• Severity context: A committed production database password is Critical. A test API key for a free-tier service is Low. Consider what an attacker could do with the exposed secret and whether it grants access to production data or infrastructure.
• Confidence ratings: Mark each finding as Confirmed (verified the secret is hardcoded/committed), Likely (pattern looks like a secret but could be a placeholder), or Speculative (variable name suggests a secret but value is not exposed).
• Anti-hallucination guard: If an area is clean, say so. Not every string that looks like a key is a secret — NEXT_PUBLIC_ variables are intentionally client-exposed and are fine for non-secret config like analytics IDs.

Output Format

Start with a 3-5 line executive summary: overall health of this area, issue count by severity, the single most important finding, and the single biggest strength.

1. Summary: One paragraph assessing overall secrets hygiene and the most critical exposure.

2. Risk Summary Table: Top findings with columns: Location | Secret Type | Severity | Exposure Vector | Confidence.

3. Detailed Analysis: For Critical and High severity issues only — what's exposed, the blast radius if compromised, and specific remediation steps. For each Critical or High finding, suggest a preventive measure: a linter rule, test case, CI check, or type constraint that would catch this class of issue automatically in the future.

4. Positive Findings: Secrets management practices already done well (proper .gitignore, env validation, secret rotation).

For each issue: file:line — severity (Critical/High/Medium/Low), what's exposed, specific remediation (move to vault, env var, or secret manager).