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feat: add reusable secrets-scan workflow + template #91

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78 changes: 78 additions & 0 deletions .github/workflows/secrets-scan.yaml
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name: Secrets scan

# Reusable secrets-scan workflow for DVSA repositories.
# Standardised on awslabs/git-secrets with the AWS provider patterns —
# matches the convention used across DVSA (MOT, CVS, RSP, theory-test, …).
#
# Invoke from a repo via:
# jobs:
# secrets:
# uses: dvsa/.github/.github/workflows/secrets-scan.yaml@main

on:
workflow_call:
inputs:
fail-on-detection:
description: Fail the job when leaks are found.
type: boolean
default: true
scan-history:
description: Also run `git secrets --scan-history` (full git log). Slower; off by default for PR runs.
type: boolean
default: false

permissions:
contents: read
pull-requests: read

jobs:
git-secrets:
name: git-secrets
runs-on: ubuntu-latest
steps:
- name: Checkout (full history)
uses: actions/checkout@v6
with:
fetch-depth: 0
Comment on lines +33 to +36
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Copilot AI Apr 28, 2026

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The workflow always checks out full git history (fetch-depth: 0) even when inputs.scan-history is false, which undermines the “fast on PRs” intent and can be slow for large repositories. Consider using a conditional/parameterized fetch-depth (0 only when scan-history is true; otherwise default/shallow).

Suggested change
- name: Checkout (full history)
uses: actions/checkout@v6
with:
fetch-depth: 0
- name: Checkout
uses: actions/checkout@v6
with:
fetch-depth: ${{ inputs.scan-history && 0 || 1 }}

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- name: Install git-secrets
run: |
set -euo pipefail
tmp="$(mktemp -d)"
git clone --quiet --depth 1 https://github.com/awslabs/git-secrets "$tmp"
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This installs git-secrets by cloning and executing build scripts from GitHub at runtime and then running sudo make install. To reduce supply-chain risk and improve reproducibility, pin the clone to a specific tag/commit (or use a packaged/released artifact with integrity verification) rather than the repo’s moving default branch.

Suggested change
git clone --quiet --depth 1 https://github.com/awslabs/git-secrets "$tmp"
git clone --quiet --depth 1 --branch 1.3.0 --single-branch https://github.com/awslabs/git-secrets "$tmp"

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sudo make -C "$tmp" install >/dev/null
git secrets --version || git --exec-path
# Register canonical AWS patterns into the workspace's repo config.
git secrets --register-aws

- name: Scan working tree
id: scan-tree
continue-on-error: ${{ !inputs.fail-on-detection }}
run: |
set +e
out="$(git secrets --scan -r 2>&1)"
rc=$?
if [ -n "$out" ]; then
printf '%s\n' "$out"
fi
if [ $rc -ne 0 ]; then
echo
echo "::error::git-secrets found potential secrets in the working tree."
fi
exit $rc

- name: Scan full history
if: ${{ inputs.scan-history }}
continue-on-error: ${{ !inputs.fail-on-detection }}
run: |
set +e
out="$(git secrets --scan-history 2>&1)"
rc=$?
if [ -n "$out" ]; then
printf '%s\n' "$out"
fi
if [ $rc -ne 0 ]; then
echo
echo "::error::git-secrets found potential secrets in repository history."
fi
exit $rc
7 changes: 7 additions & 0 deletions workflow-templates/secrets-scan.properties.json
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{
"name": "Secrets scan (git-secrets)",
"description": "Scan the repository for committed secrets using awslabs/git-secrets with the canonical AWS pattern set. Calls the shared dvsa/.github reusable workflow.",
"iconName": "octicon shield-lock",
"categories": ["Security"],
"filePatterns": [".*"]
}
21 changes: 21 additions & 0 deletions workflow-templates/secrets-scan.yaml
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name: Secrets scan

on:
pull_request:
push:
branches: [main, master]
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This template hard-codes branches: [main, master] for push. Other workflow templates in this repo use the $default-branch placeholder so the template works in repos whose default branch is neither main nor master (e.g. workflow-templates/php-security.yml:5). Consider switching to branches: [ $default-branch ] for consistency and correctness.

Suggested change
branches: [main, master]
branches: [ $default-branch ]

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schedule:
# Weekly on Monday at 00:00 UTC, matching workflow-templates/php-security.yml.
- cron: 0 0 * * 1
workflow_dispatch:

permissions:
contents: read
pull-requests: read

jobs:
secrets:
uses: dvsa/.github/.github/workflows/secrets-scan.yaml@main
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The template references the reusable workflow with @main. In this repo’s other templates, reusable workflows are pinned to a released version tag (e.g. workflow-templates/php-security.yml:13 uses @v5.0.6) to avoid unexpected breaking changes for consumers. Consider pinning to a version tag and updating it on release.

Suggested change
uses: dvsa/.github/.github/workflows/secrets-scan.yaml@main
uses: dvsa/.github/.github/workflows/secrets-scan.yaml@v5.0.6

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@sdh100shaun sdh100shaun Apr 28, 2026

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yes would want to do that @fibble

with:
# Run a full-history scan on the weekly cron only (fast on PRs).
scan-history: ${{ github.event_name == 'schedule' }}
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