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Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Assume a publicly exposed API key is compromised. Remove the exposure, but also disable or revoke the key through the provider that issued it; deleting a file or repository commit cannot invalidate a copy someone may already have taken. Then replace the credential in every dependent service, verify those services, and investigate whether the key was used.
What to do first when an API key leaks
Start containment promptly. If the key is actively exposed, provider-side revocation or disablement is the action that stops new use of that credential. Don’t treat an exposed key as safe just because you have not found evidence of abuse.
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- Record what happened: note where the key appeared, when it may have become accessible, its issuing provider and credential type, and the account or project associated with it. Preserve relevant incident evidence.
- Identify owners and dependencies: notify the relevant service owner and security contact. Determine which applications or processes rely on the credential and what could fail if it is disabled.
- Contain it at the issuer: follow the provider’s current procedure for that specific credential. For an actively exploitable key, do not leave it enabled simply because an immediate change could cause an outage; coordinate the response and restore affected services with a replacement.
GitHub Docs puts the central action plainly: “The most important remediation step is revoking the secret with the secret’s provider.” Its guidance also recommends assessing where a secret was exposed, whether it remains valid, evidence of use, dependent services, and the disruption that revocation could cause.
Revoke or rotate the credential with its issuing provider
There is no universal command or cross-provider workflow. “Rotate,” “disable,” “delete,” and “revoke” can have different effects depending on the provider and credential type. Use the issuer’s instructions and confirm the old credential is no longer active; repository cleanup or an alert is not proof of revocation.
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- AWS: AWS Prescriptive Guidance advises rotating or revoking an exposed secret in the originating service immediately. It also recommends removing exposed secrets from source-control history and using managed storage such as AWS Secrets Manager or Systems Manager Parameter Store for secrets.
- Stripe: Stripe advises rotating a compromised secret API key as soon as possible.
- Google Cloud: Google recommends rotating project-level credentials when someone with access leaves, and updating dependent applications and services. Its service-account-key exposure policy can automatically disable detected leaked keys if configured, but Google warns that detection is not guaranteed.
These examples are provider-specific, not interchangeable instructions. Confirm whether you are dealing with an API key, a service-account key file, a short-lived access token, or another credential. Google Cloud’s incident guidance notes that a service-account compromise can involve both persistent key files and short-lived tokens, which may require different containment steps.
Find every consumer and restore service safely
A replacement is only effective when all legitimate consumers stop using the exposed key. Search source code and deployment configuration, and ask service owners about workloads that may not be visible in a single repository.
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- Application configuration and deployment environments
- Build and release pipelines
- Scheduled jobs, scripts, and operational tools
- Other services or teams that use the same account or project
Where the provider supports overlapping credentials and the risk permits it, a lower-disruption rollout is to create a replacement, distribute it to consumers, deploy and verify them, then disable the old key. Do not assume overlap is available or safe: leaving a known-compromised credential active extends the exposure. If the risk is active or safe overlap is unavailable, revoke promptly and restore consumers with the replacement.
- Create a replacement credential at the issuing provider, if needed.
- Update each identified consumer and store the new secret in an appropriate secrets store when practical. Limit access to the workloads or people that need it.
- Deploy the changes and test affected services. Confirm they are using the replacement rather than merely checking that they start.
- Disable or revoke the exposed credential and confirm its status in the provider’s controls.
Check whether the leaked key was used
After containment, review the provider’s audit logs and usage records for the period from the likely exposure until confirmed revocation. The available records and retention vary by provider; not every service records every event.
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- Look for calls, access locations, or activity that do not match expected service use.
- Check for unexpected resource changes and, where usage or billing records are available, unusual spending.
- Follow your incident process and escalate suspicious activity to the appropriate security or service owners.
GitHub recommends reviewing both GitHub audit logs and the secret provider’s logs, citing AWS CloudTrail as an example. Google Cloud’s incident guidance also advises reviewing resource access and audit logs after restoring service. An absence of suspicious entries in the records available to you does not establish that every form of use would have been logged.
Google Cloud warns that API keys are bearer credentials: someone who obtains a publicly exposed key may be able to use it, potentially causing unexpected charges or unauthorized data access. That describes possible impact, not proof that a particular leaked key was abused.
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Remove exposed copies and reduce the chance of another leak
Once the credential is contained, remove it from active files and, where appropriate, repository history. History cleanup helps remove copies from the places you control, but it does not revoke copies already obtained elsewhere. Preserve incident evidence and document the exposure window, actions taken, and affected services.
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For prevention, restrict keys to the resources and uses that require them, monitor their usage, and consider separate credentials for different applications or teams. Google Cloud recommends key restrictions, monitoring, and isolating keys. It also warns that authorization keys can obscure end-user identity in audit logs, a reason to assess whether a key is the right identity mechanism for a workload.
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The right response depends on how quickly the issuer can invalidate the credential, whether it supports safe replacement overlap, which services depend on the key, what outage an update could cause, and what evidence its logs can provide. Check the issuer’s current instructions for the exact credential rather than assuming all API keys behave alike.
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