How Non-Human Identity Security Breaches Happen and How to Prevent Them

Executive Summary

The article addresses a significant security breach involving a supply-chain attack on GitHub Actions, impacting over 23,000 organizations. Attackers exploited a maintainer’s account to alter package tags, leading to widespread credential exposure including AWS keys and GitHub personal access tokens. This incident emphasizes the vulnerabilities associated with mutable tags and long-lived credentials, highlighting the urgent necessity for securing non-human identities in CI/CD environments and implementing just-in-time credential solutions.

 Read the full article from Aembit here for comprehensive insights.

Main Highlights

Overview of the Attack

• A supply-chain attack was executed on GitHub Actions, a popular tool used by thousands of organizations.
• Attackers gained access through a compromised maintainer’s privileged account, enabling malicious modifications.

Consequences of the Breach

• Dozens of enterprise repositories were confirmed compromised, revealing a variety of leaked credentials.
• Security researchers found exposed AWS keys, GitHub PATs, npm tokens, and private RSA keys within CI/CD workflows.

Vulnerabilities Identified

• The attack exposed dangers associated with trusting mutable tags rather than pinned commit hashes.
• Long-lived credentials presented considerable risks, leading to persistent exposure vulnerabilities.

Recommendations for Improved Security

• Emphasize the importance of securing non-human identities in CI/CD environments to ward off similar attacks.
• Advocate for the implementation of just-in-time credentials to minimize risks associated with credential exposure.

 Access the full expert analysis and actionable security insights from Aembit here.