Why is this an issue?

Hard-coding credentials in source code or binaries makes it easy for attackers to extract sensitive information, especially in distributed or open-source applications. This practice exposes your application to significant security risks.

This rule flags instances of hard-coded credentials used in database and LDAP connections. It looks for hard-coded credentials in connection strings, and for variable names that match any of the patterns from the provided list.

In the past, it has led to the following vulnerabilities:

How to fix it

Credentials should be stored in a configuration file that is not committed to the code repository, in a database, or managed by your cloud provider’s secrets management service. If a password is exposed in the source code, it must be changed immediately.

Code Examples

Noncompliant code example

val params = "password=xxxx" // Noncompliant
val writer = OutputStreamWriter(getOutputStream())
writer.write(params)
writer.flush()
...
val password = "xxxx" // Noncompliant
...

Compliant solution

val params = "password=${retrievePassword()}"
val writer = OutputStreamWriter(getOutputStream())
writer.write(params)
writer.flush()
...
val password = retrievePassword()
...

Resources