Oops, I Just Pushed a Secret!! 🔑💀

Patrick Bashizi
DevOps GCP github humour Security

You know that heart-dropping, soul-leaving-the-body moment when you realize…
You just pushed an API key to GitHub.
Raw. Unfiltered. Exposed to the internet like a bare butt on a frosty bench.

Step 1: Don’t Panic (But Also… Panic a Bit)

Let’s be honest. We’ve all done it.
One minute you’re vibing with git push origin main, the next minute, you’re on page 3 of a Google search trying to reverse-engineer time travel.

The good news? You can fix it.
The bad news? If it's public, bots have probably already seen it.
Those bots are faster than your brain processing "did I just...?"

Step 2: Revoke the Key Immediately 🚨

That key is now public property. Treat it like your ex’s Netflix password—cut it off immediately.

Whether it’s:

  • A Google Cloud service account key

  • An AWS access key

  • A Slack bot token

  • Or God forbid… a GitHub PAT

Go to the provider’s console, revoke it, and generate a new one.
Do it now. I’ll wait. cue elevator music

Step 3: Remove It from Git History 🧹

Just deleting it from your file and pushing again isn’t enough.
Git remembers. Git never forgets.

Use git filter-repo (preferred over the older filter-branch) to scrub that secret like you’re bleaching bad decisions from your 2011 Facebook posts:

git filter-repo --replace-text <(echo "YOUR_SECRET_KEY==>REMOVED_FOR_BEING_DUMB")

Or if you’re old school:

git filter-branch --force --index-filter \
"git rm --cached --ignore-unmatch path/to/file" \
--prune-empty --tag-name-filter cat -- --all

Then, force push the cleaned repo:

git push origin --force --all
git push origin --force --tags

Step 4: Tell GitHub to Forget Too 🧠

If your repo is public, GitHub might’ve indexed it.
Go to your repo's Security > Secrets Scanning Alerts to see what got flagged.

You can also ask GitHub support to help purge the commit from their cache if needed.
(Yes, they’ve seen worse. No, they won’t judge.)

Step 5: Automate for the Future 🔐

Because we all suck at remembering:

  • Use git-secrets or gitleaks to scan commits before pushing.

  • Add pre-commit hooks to catch sensitive strings.

  • Store secrets in Vaults, not .env files inside your repo like it's 2013.

Bonus: Add a Touch of Shame 😅

If it helps you sleep at night, write a postmortem titled:

“The Day I Learned Why GitHub Isn’t My Diary”

Or better yet, share this post and remind others that secrets don’t belong in version control.
Unless, of course, you want to share your AWS bill with the world. 💸

In Summary:

  1. Revoke the key.

  2. Clean the Git history.

  3. Force push.

  4. Tell GitHub.

  5. Lock your secrets down moving forward.

  6. Laugh through the tears.

💬 Have a war story of your own? Drop it in the comments—because if we can’t laugh at our mistakes, we’ll just cry into our logs.