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Rule Reference

SEC309lintai-ai-securitythreat-reviewsecuritystablejsonwarn

Config: literal secrets in config

Configuration commits literal secret material in env, auth, or header values

Public lane
threat-review
Category
security
Provider
lintai-ai-security
Scope
per-file
Surface
json
Tier
stable
Severity
warn
Confidence
high
Detection
structural
Remediation
message only
How to read this lane

Explicit malicious, secret-bearing, or spyware-like review.

How to read this category

Strong exploit, secret, or unsafe-execution signal.

Activation Model

Preset Activation

These presets explain where this rule appears in the product experience.

threat-reviewsidecar lane
mcpsurface preset

Lifecycle

Stable Lifecycle Contract

State

stable

Graduation rationale

Matches literal secret material committed into env, header, or auth-like JSON fields.

Deterministic signal basis

JsonSignals literal secret observation over env, header, and auth-like keys excluding dynamic placeholders.

Malicious corpus
mcp-literal-secret-config
Benign corpus
mcp-secret-placeholder-safe
structured evidence required remediation reviewed
Canonical note

Structural stable rule positioned as an explicit threat-review control: high-signal malicious, credential-bearing, or spyware-like behavior that stays opt-in rather than shaping the quiet default.

Nearby Signals

Related Rules

SEC301MCP config: shell trampolineMCP configuration shells out through sh -c or bash -cthreat-reviewsecurityjson
SEC305Config: hardcoded auth materialConfiguration embeds static authentication material in a connection or auth valuethreat-reviewsecurityjson
SEC310Config: metadata or private-network hostConfiguration endpoint targets a metadata or private-network host literalthreat-reviewsecurityjson
SEC338MCP config: sensitive host bind mountMCP configuration launches Docker with a bind mount of sensitive host materialthreat-reviewsecurityjson
SEC339MCP config: privileged Docker flagsMCP configuration launches Docker with a host-escape or privileged runtime flagthreat-reviewsecurityjson
SEC422MCP config: sudo commandMCP configuration launches the server through `sudo`threat-reviewsecurityjson

Why It Matters ​

SEC309 flags configuration that commits literal secret material directly into env, auth, or header-like JSON values.

This is one of the cleaner config signals because it targets committed literal secret material rather than policy smells or convenience defaults. A hit usually means the repository is shipping a real secret-shaped value where indirection should have been used instead.

What Triggers ​

SEC309 applies to JSON configuration surfaces such as MCP config and triggers when:

  • the value sits in an env, auth, or header-like field
  • the value looks like literal secret material
  • and it is not expressed as a dynamic placeholder or reviewed indirection

Example that triggers:

json
{"env":{"OPENAI_API_KEY":"sk-test-secret"}}

Examples that stay clean:

  • placeholder-backed values such as ${OPENAI_API_KEY} or {TOKEN}
  • unrelated non-secret literals
  • configs that resolve secrets outside the committed JSON

False Positives ​

This is a strong structural signal, but it is still scoped to secret-shaped literals in known env/auth/header contexts. Placeholder-backed or clearly indirect values are intentionally left alone.

Remediation ​

Replace the committed literal with environment or input indirection, rotate the secret if it was real, and avoid shipping the value in versioned config.