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OWASP’s Top 10 CI/CD Security Risks names ten connected weaknesses in build and deployment systems. Credential hygiene is one of them, but it also affects the consequences of several others: a leaked key can let an attacker move from a compromised pipeline into repositories, artifact stores, cloud resources, or deployment targets. The practical response is twofold: prevent secrets from being exposed, then limit their authority and lifetime in case prevention fails.
What OWASP’s Top 10 CI/CD list covers
The OWASP Top 10 CI/CD Security Risks is a dedicated list for continuous integration and continuous delivery systems; it is separate from OWASP’s web-application Top 10. OWASP describes the CI/CD project as helping defenders identify focus areas for securing their CI/CD ecosystem. Its ten categories are risk areas, not a measured ranking of incident frequency: the project material describes research and analysis, but does not provide prevalence figures. OWASP Top 10 CI/CD Security Risks
- CICD-SEC-1: Insufficient Flow Control Mechanisms — weak control over how changes move through the pipeline.
- CICD-SEC-2: Inadequate Identity and Access Management — identities and permissions are not managed securely enough.
- CICD-SEC-3: Dependency Chain Abuse — weaknesses in dependencies or their supply chain are exploited.
- CICD-SEC-4: Poisoned Pipeline Execution (PPE) — an attacker causes pipeline execution to run malicious changes or commands.
- CICD-SEC-5: Insufficient PBAC (Pipeline-Based Access Controls) — access granted to pipelines or their components is too broad or poorly controlled.
- CICD-SEC-6: Insufficient Credential Hygiene — secrets are exposed, retained unnecessarily, or given more access than needed.
- CICD-SEC-7: Insecure System Configuration — pipeline infrastructure or systems are configured insecurely.
- CICD-SEC-8: Ungoverned Usage of 3rd Party Services — external services are used without adequate governance.
- CICD-SEC-9: Improper Artifact Integrity Validation — built artifacts are not reliably checked for integrity.
- CICD-SEC-10: Insufficient Logging and Visibility — activity is not logged or monitored well enough to detect and investigate problems.
The similarly named OWASP web-application Top 10 is a different project. Its 2025 edition is an awareness document for web application security, with categories including Software Supply Chain Failures and Software or Data Integrity Failures; those labels do not replace the CI/CD project’s ten categories. OWASP Top 10
Why credential hygiene can determine the impact
CI/CD pipelines often need credentials to fetch code, publish artifacts, access cloud resources, or deploy software. OWASP notes that API keys and passwords can provide substantial access. If an attacker compromises a pipeline or one of its steps, a credential available to that step may extend the compromise to the systems it can reach. The exact impact depends on the credential’s permissions and where it is accepted.
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That makes credential hygiene both an exposure problem and an impact-control problem. Keeping secrets out of code and logs reduces opportunities for theft; restricting permissions and duration reduces what a stolen secret can do. A secret store alone does not solve the problem if a pipeline identity, runner, or step can access far more than its task requires.
How to prevent secrets from leaking
Keep secrets out of source and pipeline configuration
Do not hardcode credentials in source repositories or CI/CD configuration files. Use secret-scanning tools to find accidental exposures and, where possible, block commits containing credentials before they enter a repository. Continue monitoring for deviations rather than treating a clean scan as a permanent guarantee.
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- WORKS WITH 1000+ ACCOUNTS: Compatible with popular accounts like Google, Microsoft, and Apple. A single YubiKey 5C NFC secures 100+ of your favorite accounts, including email, password managers, and more
- FAST & CONVENIENT LOGIN: Plug in your YubiKey 5C NFC via USB and tap it, or tap it against your phone (NFC), to authenticate. No batteries, no internet connection, and no extra fees required
- MOST SECURE PASSKEY: Supports FIDO2/WebAuthn, FIDO U2F, Yubico OTP, OATH-TOTP/HOTP, Smart card (PIV), and OpenPGP. That means it’s versatile, working almost anywhere you need it
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Inspect how a secret is used, not only where it is stored
Encryption at rest protects stored secrets in a filesystem, vault, or similar system, but a pipeline can still disclose or persist them in cleartext while using them. Review console output, logs, shell command-history files, pipeline steps, container images, and compiled binaries for unintended exposure. Removing a value from the central store does not remove copies that have already been written into an artifact or log.
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OWASP recommends encryption at rest and names HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, Akeyless, and CyberArk as examples of third-party solutions. These are examples, not a ranking or endorsement; the right fit depends on an organization’s deployment needs and how the store integrates with its CI/CD platform and identity provider. OWASP CI/CD Security Cheat Sheet
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- WORKS WITH 1000+ ACCOUNTS: Compatible with popular accounts like Google, Microsoft, and Apple. A single YubiKey 5 NFC secures 100+ of your favorite accounts, including email, password managers, and more
- FAST & CONVENIENT LOGIN: Plug in your YubiKey 5 NFC via USB and tap it, or tap it against your phone (NFC), to authenticate. No batteries, no internet connection, and no extra fees required
- MOST SECURE PASSKEY: Supports FIDO2/WebAuthn, FIDO U2F, Yubico OTP, OATH-TOTP/HOTP, Smart card (PIV), and OpenPGP. That means it’s versatile, working almost anywhere you need it
- PRIMARY & SPARE KEYS: Just like having a spare house key, we recommend buying two YubiKeys - one for daily use and one as a spare. That way you’ll never get locked out of your accounts
Reduce the damage if a credential is exposed
Prefer temporary credentials and restrict their use
Where feasible, use temporary credentials or one-time passwords rather than long-lived secrets. Restrict the circumstances in which a credential can be used, including through IP-based or other access restrictions where appropriate. Shorter validity and narrower acceptance reduce the window and places in which a stolen credential may work.
Apply least privilege at three layers
- External-resource credentials: grant the credential only the access the pipeline step needs, such as a narrowly scoped ability to publish an artifact rather than broad account access.
- CI/CD platform permissions: limit each pipeline or step’s access to other platform resources, rather than assuming every job needs the same authority.
- Runner operating-system identity: restrict the OS user that executes the pipeline so a compromised job cannot inherit unnecessary machine-level permissions.
These layers matter together: a narrowly scoped secret can still be exposed by an over-privileged runner, and a well-restricted runner may still be able to misuse an excessively powerful credential.
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- WORKS WITH 1000+ ACCOUNTS: Compatible with Google, Microsoft, and Apple. A single Security Key NFC secures 100 of your favorite accounts, including email, password managers, and more.
- FAST & CONVENIENT LOGIN: Plug in your Security Key NFC via USB-A and tap it, or tap it against your phone (NFC) to authenticate. No batteries, no internet connection, and no extra fees required.
- TRUSTED PASSKEY TECHNOLOGY: Uses the latest passkey standards (FIDO2/WebAuthn & FIDO U2F) but does not support One-Time Passwords. For complex needs, check out the YubiKey 5 Series.
- BUILT TO LAST: Made from tough, waterproof, and crush-resistant materials. Manufactured in Sweden and programmed in the USA with the highest security standards.
Maintain an identity inventory and lifecycle
Track identities, their owners and identity providers, when they were last used and updated, the permissions granted, and the permissions actually used. This information helps identify obsolete identities and access that exceeds real operational needs, so it can be reviewed and removed.
A practical CI/CD credential checklist
This checklist synthesizes the OWASP recommendations into operational checks:
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- Keep secrets out of source code and CI/CD configuration; scan for accidental exposure and monitor for it.
- Check logs, console output, shell history, container layers, and compiled artifacts for unintended persistence or disclosure.
- Encrypt secrets at rest and use a managed secret store where appropriate.
- Prefer temporary credentials where feasible, and restrict where and how credentials can be used.
- Limit permissions for the credential, pipeline step, and runner operating-system identity.
- Track identity ownership, use, permissions, and lifecycle so obsolete or excessive access can be removed.
- Address credential hygiene alongside the other nine OWASP CI/CD risk areas, including flow control, dependency risk, artifact integrity, and logging.
When selecting a secrets-management approach, assess integration with the CI/CD platform and identity provider, support for short-lived credentials, access-policy granularity, audit and logging, operational fit, and deployment requirements. These are useful evaluation criteria, not comparative claims about any particular product.
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