VNX-GH-021: Secrets sent to an external host

A step sends the secrets context, the environment, or an encoded secret over the network, or sends any secret to a request-capture host or raw IP.

Updated 02 Nov 2026Checked against cli@24498404a, vdb-sca-match@v0.8.14

Token-theft campaigns add a step that dumps every secret (or the whole environment) and posts it to a server they control, often base64-encoded to slip past log masking, then remove the workflow. Authenticated calls that pass a single secret to an API are not reported; only bulk dumps, encoded secrets, and destinations with no legitimate use are.


Severity	Critical
Confidence	high
CWE	CWE-200, CWE-506
Command	`vulnetix gha workflows`, `vulnetix gha audit`
Mappings	T1552.001, T1567

Remediation

Remove the step and treat every secret available to the workflow as compromised: rotate them, then review who added the change.

Run only this rule

vulnetix gha workflows --rule VNX-GH-021

Scoring

CWSS vector at the rule’s default severity: CWSS:1.0/TI:C/AP:A/AL:A/IC:N/FC:LT/RP:N/RL:A/AV:I/AS:N/IN:A/SC:A/BI:C/DI:H/EX:H/EC:N/P:W. A finding whose severity the repository’s settings moved is scored at its adjusted severity.

All rules: GitHub rules.

Edit this pageSources: vdb-sca-match/ghaudit/rules_workflows.go, cli/internal/ghtasks/docs.go