GitHub Actions Secret Exposure Audit

Audit GitHub Actions workflow files for secret exposure risks like pull_request_target secret usage, secret echo commands, and unpinned action secret passing.

Use this skill to catch risky secret handling patterns in workflow YAML before they leak credentials or allow unsafe token use.

What this skill does

• Scans workflow YAML files (.github/workflows/*.yml by default)
• Flags pull_request_target workflows that also reference ${{ secrets.* }}
• Flags shell output commands that print secret expressions (echo, printf, tee, ::set-output)
• Flags secret values passed into unpinned third-party actions (@main, @master, @v1, etc.)
• Flags likely hardcoded credential values in workflow config
• Supports text/json output and CI fail gate

Inputs

Optional:

• WORKFLOW_GLOB (default: .github/workflows/*.y*ml)
• TOP_N (default: 20)
• OUTPUT_FORMAT (text or json, default: text)
• WARN_SCORE (default: 4)
• CRITICAL_SCORE (default: 8)
• WORKFLOW_FILE_MATCH / WORKFLOW_FILE_EXCLUDE (regex, optional)
• ALLOW_REF_REGEX (regex, optional) — allow listed action refs (for example ^v1\.2\.3$)
• FAIL_ON_CRITICAL (0 or 1, default: 0)

Run

Text report:

bash

WORKFLOW_GLOB='.github/workflows/*.yml' \
WARN_SCORE=4 \
CRITICAL_SCORE=8 \
bash skills/github-actions-secret-exposure-audit/scripts/secret-exposure-audit.sh

JSON output + fail gate:

bash

WORKFLOW_GLOB='.github/workflows/*.y*ml' \
OUTPUT_FORMAT=json \
FAIL_ON_CRITICAL=1 \
bash skills/github-actions-secret-exposure-audit/scripts/secret-exposure-audit.sh

Run against bundled fixtures:

bash

WORKFLOW_GLOB='skills/github-actions-secret-exposure-audit/fixtures/*.y*ml' \
bash skills/github-actions-secret-exposure-audit/scripts/secret-exposure-audit.sh

Output contract

• Exit 0 in reporting mode (default)
• Exit 1 when FAIL_ON_CRITICAL=1 and one or more workflows are critical
• Text mode prints summary + top risky workflows
• JSON mode prints summary + ranked workflows + critical workflows