Suspicious GitHub CLI Token Extraction With Secret Scanner in CI Pipeline

ATT&CK techniques

Cred Access

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
- T1552.001Credentials In Files
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule detects use of the GitHub CLI to print an authentication token alongside execution of a secret scanning tool inside a runner as described in Elastic CI CD pipeline abuse research. Pairing gh auth token with TruffleHog indicates an actor mining the pipeline for reusable credentials and repository secrets.

Reporting behind it

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Suspicious GitHub CLI Token Extraction With Secret Scanner in CI Pipeline

Pivot detection · T1552.001 · 9 related

Detection content is published as a reviewed draft. Tune thresholds and exclusions against your own telemetry before enabling this rule for alerting.

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