GitHub Actions Secret Exposure Audit

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/.yml)
• 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:

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:

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:

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