Security audit
Security checks across malware telemetry and agentic risk
Canary appears to be a defensive secrets scanner, but it asks agents to inspect and sometimes modify a very broad set of sensitive local credential files, so users should review its scope before installing.
Install only if you intentionally want a broad local credential-audit helper. Before any deep scan, review and narrow the paths it will inspect, do not paste raw secrets or full command output into chat, approve fixes one by one, and remember that Canary state, backups, and an integrity marker may persist after use.
- `~/Library/Application Support/` (macOS) and `~/.config/` (Linux) — application configs that may store tokens - `/tmp/` and `/var/tmp/` — temporary files that may contain secrets from failed scripts or installs. **âš ï¸ Lower trust: temp directories are world-writable. Any process can plant files here. Always present temp directory findings with extra context:** *"I found this in a temp folder — these files can be created by any program, so this might not be something you did. Worth a look, but don't be alarmed."* Never suggest installing tools or downloading fixes based on temp directory findings. *CI/CD & Dev Tools:* - `~/.circleci/cli.yml` — CircleCI token - `~/.config/gh/hosts.yml` — GitHub CLI auth - `~/.config/netlify/config.json` — Netlify token
- *"Canary, undo that last fix"* - *"Restore my .env file"* Backups are stored with owner-only permissions and automatically deleted after 7 days. Canary will never back up files in a way that creates additional copies of secrets in less-secure locations. **Backup security:** - Backups are encrypted at rest using a key derived from the machine's unique identifier. They cannot be read by simply opening the file — only Canary's rollback process can decrypt them.
- **Git history**: If a `.git` directory exists, check `git log --diff-filter=A` for files that commonly contain secrets (`.env`, credentials, key files). Also check `git diff --cached` for secrets staged but not yet committed. - **Filename heuristics**: Flag files with suspicious names regardless of content — `credentials`, `secret`, `password`, `token`, `private_key`, `service_account`, `*.pem`, `*.key`, `*.p12`, `*.pfx`, `*.jks`, `id_rsa`, `id_ed25519`. If they exist in unexpected locations (Downloads, Desktop, workspace root), escalate severity. - **File size heuristics**: Small files (under 10KB) in unexpected locations (Downloads, Desktop, Documents, temp directories) with secret-like names or extensions are likely exported keys or tokens. Flag for review. - **Symlink detection**: Check if any files in scanned directories are symlinks pointing to credential files elsewhere on the system. A symlink to `~/.aws/credentials` in a shared workspace is an exposure vector. - **Encoding detection**: Check for base64-encoded secrets in config files. Decode and run pattern matching against the decoded content — base64 encoding is often used to obscure secrets but does not protect them. - **Duplicate secret detection**: If the same secret value appears in multiple locations, flag all instances but group them as a single finding. This helps the user understand the blast radius if that secret is compromised. - **Stale credential detection**: If a credential file hasn't been modified in over 90 days, flag it as a heads-up — long-lived credentials that are never rotated are a common risk.
- `~/.gnupg/` — GPG private keys and config *Cloud Providers:* - `~/.aws/credentials`, `~/.aws/config` - `~/.config/gcloud/application_default_credentials.json` - `~/.azure/` — Azure CLI profiles and tokens - `~/.oci/config` — Oracle Cloud config
- `~/.gnupg/` — GPG private keys and config *Cloud Providers:* - `~/.aws/credentials`, `~/.aws/config` - `~/.config/gcloud/application_default_credentials.json` - `~/.azure/` — Azure CLI profiles and tokens - `~/.oci/config` — Oracle Cloud config
| **API Keys** | Shodan, VirusTotal, OpenAI, Anthropic, AWS, GCP, Stripe, GitHub tokens | `.env` files, skill configs, shell history, git repos | | **Passwords** | Plaintext passwords in configs, database connection strings with embedded passwords | Config files, `.env`, `.netrc`, skill directories | | **Private Keys** | SSH private keys, PEM files, JWTs with embedded secrets | `~/.ssh/`, workspace, skill directories | | **Cloud Credentials** | AWS access keys, GCP service account JSON, Azure tokens | `~/.aws/`, `~/.config/gcloud/`, env vars, configs | | **Tokens & Sessions** | OAuth tokens, bearer tokens, session cookies, webhook URLs | Chat history, shell history, `.env` files | | **Local System Files** | Credential exports, service account JSONs, PEM/key files, password manager CSV exports, Kubernetes tokens, Terraform state secrets, database passwords | `~/Downloads/`, `~/Desktop/`, `~/Documents/`, `~/.kube/config`, `*.tfstate`, `~/.config/`, `~/Library/Application Support/`, `~/.my.cnf`, `~/.pgpass`, browser password export CSVs, Redis/MongoDB configs |
*Cloud Providers:* - `~/.aws/credentials`, `~/.aws/config` - `~/.config/gcloud/application_default_credentials.json` - `~/.azure/` — Azure CLI profiles and tokens - `~/.oci/config` — Oracle Cloud config - `~/.config/doctl/config.yaml` — DigitalOcean CLI config
*Cloud Providers:* - `~/.aws/credentials`, `~/.aws/config` - `~/.config/gcloud/application_default_credentials.json` - `~/.azure/` — Azure CLI profiles and tokens - `~/.oci/config` — Oracle Cloud config - `~/.config/doctl/config.yaml` — DigitalOcean CLI config
*Cloud Providers:* - `~/.aws/credentials`, `~/.aws/config` - `~/.config/gcloud/application_default_credentials.json` - `~/.azure/` — Azure CLI profiles and tokens - `~/.oci/config` — Oracle Cloud config - `~/.config/doctl/config.yaml` — DigitalOcean CLI config - `~/.config/hcloud/cli.toml` — Hetzner Cloud CLI config
| **Private Keys** | SSH private keys, PEM files, JWTs with embedded secrets | `~/.ssh/`, workspace, skill directories | | **Cloud Credentials** | AWS access keys, GCP service account JSON, Azure tokens | `~/.aws/`, `~/.config/gcloud/`, env vars, configs | | **Tokens & Sessions** | OAuth tokens, bearer tokens, session cookies, webhook URLs | Chat history, shell history, `.env` files | | **Local System Files** | Credential exports, service account JSONs, PEM/key files, password manager CSV exports, Kubernetes tokens, Terraform state secrets, database passwords | `~/Downloads/`, `~/Desktop/`, `~/Documents/`, `~/.kube/config`, `*.tfstate`, `~/.config/`, `~/Library/Application Support/`, `~/.my.cnf`, `~/.pgpass`, browser password export CSVs, Redis/MongoDB configs | ### Severity Levels
*Containers & Orchestration:* - `~/.docker/config.json` — Docker Hub and registry credentials - `~/.kube/config` — Kubernetes cluster tokens and certificates - `~/.helm/` — Helm repository credentials - `*.tfstate` and `*.tfstate.backup` in workspace — Terraform state with plaintext secrets - `~/.terraform.d/credentials.tfrc.json` — Terraform Cloud tokens
- `~/.composer/auth.json` — PHP Composer tokens *Containers & Orchestration:* - `~/.docker/config.json` — Docker Hub and registry credentials - `~/.kube/config` — Kubernetes cluster tokens and certificates - `~/.helm/` — Helm repository credentials - `*.tfstate` and `*.tfstate.backup` in workspace — Terraform state with plaintext secrets
- Git repositories in the workspace for committed secrets - SSH keys and config (`~/.ssh/`) for weak permissions - Shell history files for commands containing tokens or passwords - Known credential file paths (`.netrc`, `.npmrc`, `.pypirc`, Docker config, AWS credentials, etc.) ---
*Package Managers & Registries:* - `~/.netrc` — often contains login credentials for multiple services - `~/.npmrc` — NPM auth tokens - `~/.pypirc` — PyPI upload credentials - `~/.gem/credentials` — RubyGems API key - `~/.cargo/credentials.toml` — Rust crate registry token
*Git:* - `<workspace>/.git/` — check for secrets in tracked files - `~/.gitconfig` — may contain tokens in URL credentials - `~/.git-credentials` — plaintext git credentials *Local System Directories:* - `~/Downloads/`, `~/Desktop/`, `~/Documents/` — credential files, exported keys, service account JSONs, `.pem` files left in the open
- Git repositories in the workspace for committed secrets - SSH keys and config (`~/.ssh/`) for weak permissions - Shell history files for commands containing tokens or passwords - Known credential file paths (`.netrc`, `.npmrc`, `.pypirc`, Docker config, AWS credentials, etc.) ---
| Secret Type | Examples | Where It Looks | |---|---|---| | **API Keys** | Shodan, VirusTotal, OpenAI, Anthropic, AWS, GCP, Stripe, GitHub tokens | `.env` files, skill configs, shell history, git repos | | **Passwords** | Plaintext passwords in configs, database connection strings with embedded passwords | Config files, `.env`, `.netrc`, skill directories | | **Private Keys** | SSH private keys, PEM files, JWTs with embedded secrets | `~/.ssh/`, workspace, skill directories | | **Cloud Credentials** | AWS access keys, GCP service account JSON, Azure tokens | `~/.aws/`, `~/.config/gcloud/`, env vars, configs | | **Tokens & Sessions** | OAuth tokens, bearer tokens, session cookies, webhook URLs | Chat history, shell history, `.env` files |
- `~/.config/hcloud/cli.toml` — Hetzner Cloud CLI config *Package Managers & Registries:* - `~/.netrc` — often contains login credentials for multiple services - `~/.npmrc` — NPM auth tokens - `~/.pypirc` — PyPI upload credentials - `~/.gem/credentials` — RubyGems API key
*Cloud Providers:* - `~/.aws/credentials`, `~/.aws/config` - `~/.config/gcloud/application_default_credentials.json` - `~/.azure/` — Azure CLI profiles and tokens - `~/.oci/config` — Oracle Cloud config - `~/.config/doctl/config.yaml` — DigitalOcean CLI config
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