OWASP Secrets Management

OWASP Secrets Management

Keep credentials out of code, logs, and version control by using environment variables, secrets managers, and strict access controls

When to Use

• Handling API keys, database credentials, or signing secrets
• Setting up a new service or deployment pipeline
• Reviewing code for hardcoded credentials
• Implementing configuration loading in Node.js/NestJS applications
• Designing secret rotation workflows

Instructions

Never Hardcode Secrets

// BAD — will end up in version control
const db = new Client({ password: 'super_secret_password' });
const stripe = new Stripe('sk_example_abc123xyz');

// GOOD — always from environment
const db = new Client({ password: process.env.DB_PASSWORD });
const stripe = new Stripe(process.env.STRIPE_SECRET_KEY!);

Add a startup validation to catch missing secrets early:

// config/secrets.ts
const required = ['DB_PASSWORD', 'JWT_SECRET', 'STRIPE_SECRET_KEY', 'REDIS_URL'];

for (const key of required) {
  if (!process.env[key]) {
    throw new Error(`Missing required environment variable: ${key}`);
  }
}

export const config = {
  db: { password: process.env.DB_PASSWORD! },
  jwt: { secret: process.env.JWT_SECRET! },
  stripe: { secretKey: process.env.STRIPE_SECRET_KEY! },
} as const;

AWS Secrets Manager / Parameter Store

For production, fetch secrets from a managed service at startup:

import { SecretsManagerClient, GetSecretValueCommand } from '@aws-sdk/client-secrets-manager';

const client = new SecretsManagerClient({ region: 'us-east-1' });

async function getSecret(secretId: string): Promise<Record<string, string>> {
  const response = await client.send(new GetSecretValueCommand({ SecretId: secretId }));
  return JSON.parse(response.SecretString!);
}

// Bootstrap — called once at app startup
async function loadSecrets() {
  const dbCreds = await getSecret('prod/myapp/database');
  process.env.DB_PASSWORD = dbCreds.password;
  process.env.DB_USERNAME = dbCreds.username;

  const appSecrets = await getSecret('prod/myapp/app');
  process.env.JWT_SECRET = appSecrets.jwt_secret;
}

HashiCorp Vault Integration

import Vault from 'node-vault';

const vault = Vault({
  endpoint: process.env.VAULT_ADDR,
  token: process.env.VAULT_TOKEN, // Use AppRole in prod, not static token
});

async function getDbCredentials() {
  // Dynamic secrets — Vault generates a new DB user per request
  const result = await vault.read('database/creds/my-role');
  return { username: result.data.username, password: result.data.password };
}

dotenv — Local Development Only

// Only load .env in non-production environments
if (process.env.NODE_ENV !== 'production') {
  const { config } = await import('dotenv');
  config(); // loads .env file
}

# .gitignore — ALWAYS ignore .env files containing real secrets
.env
.env.local
.env.production
*.env

# Commit only the template with no values
.env.example  ← commit this

# .env.example — document required vars without values
DB_PASSWORD=
JWT_SECRET=
STRIPE_SECRET_KEY=
REDIS_URL=

Never Log Secrets

// BAD — password appears in logs
logger.info('Connecting to database', { host, port, password });

// GOOD — redact sensitive fields
logger.info('Connecting to database', { host, port, password: '[REDACTED]' });

// Use a redaction library with pino
import pino from 'pino';
const logger = pino({
  redact: {
    paths: ['password', 'secret', 'token', 'apiKey', '*.password', '*.secret'],
    censor: '[REDACTED]',
  },
});

Details

Secret rotation: Build services to reload secrets without restart. Use a secrets manager's automatic rotation feature. Store the secret ARN/path in env vars, not the secret value.

Scanning for leaked secrets: Add pre-commit hooks with git-secrets or trufflehog. Run gitleaks detect in CI to catch secrets in commit history.

Principle of least privilege for secrets access:

• Lambda/ECS tasks should use IAM roles, not hardcoded AWS credentials
• Each service should only have access to its own secrets, not a shared master secret

Environment hierarchy:

• Local dev: .env file (never commit real secrets)
• CI/CD: encrypted pipeline variables
• Production: IAM role + Secrets Manager / Vault

Source

https://owasp.org/www-project-top-ten/

Process

1. Read the instructions and examples in this document.
2. Apply the patterns to your implementation, adapting to your specific context.
3. Verify your implementation against the details and edge cases listed above.

Harness Integration

• Type: knowledge — this skill is a reference document, not a procedural workflow.
• No tools or state — consumed as context by other skills and agents.
• related_skills: owasp-logging-monitoring, owasp-cryptography, nestjs-guards-pattern, security-secrets-lifecycle, security-vault-patterns, security-environment-variable-risks, api-api-keys

Success Criteria

• The patterns described in this document are applied correctly in the implementation.
• Edge cases and anti-patterns listed in this document are avoided.