Programming Code Secret Remediation With False-Positive Filtering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing programming code scanning tools generate high rates of false positives when identifying secrets, leading to inefficient and time-consuming remediation efforts, and existing solutions fail to differentiate between actual secrets and false positives effectively.
Innovation Solution
A programming code remediation system that utilizes entropy, context, and history risk scores to filter false positives, securely stores secrets in a vault platform, and replaces them with access mechanisms in the code, ensuring only authorized access.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If code scanning tools identify all potential secrets, then security coverage is improved, but false positive rate increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by implementing multiple specialized detection mechanisms (entropy analysis, context analysis, history analysis) that operate locally on different aspects of potential secrets. Each mechanism evaluates specific local characteristics of the code and secret patterns to determine authenticity, allowing the system to maintain high security coverage while reducing false positives through localized specialized analysis.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback through the history analysis component, which uses information from previous scanning sessions to improve current detection accuracy. The system learns from past false positives and true positives, adjusting its detection behavior accordingly. This feedback loop enables the system to maintain high security coverage while progressively reducing false positive rates through iterative improvement.
2Reliability
If manual remediation of identified secrets is performed, then security is improved, but time consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-generating remediated code versions during the scanning process itself. Instead of requiring manual remediation after identification, the system proactively creates corrected code versions that replace hardcoded secrets with secure vault references. This preliminary action eliminates the time-consuming manual remediation step while maintaining security improvements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements self-service through automated remediation where the system performs the remediation process automatically without human intervention. The automated code modification process generates secure code versions by replacing identified secrets with vault-based access mechanisms, allowing the system to service its own security needs without requiring manual security expertise for each remediation task.
3Ease of manufacture
If hardcoded secrets are used in code, then ease of implementation is improved, but security vulnerability increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a secret vault as an intermediary component between the code and the actual secrets. Instead of hardcoding secrets directly in the source code, the system uses vault references as intermediaries that point to securely stored secrets. This maintains ease of implementation through simple reference usage while eliminating security vulnerabilities by removing secrets from the codebase entirely.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts secrets from the codebase and stores them externally in a secure vault. By taking out the sensitive secret data from the source code and replacing it with external references, the system maintains implementation simplicity (developers still use secrets in code) while eliminating the security vulnerability of hardcoded secrets. The extraction separates the secret storage from the code execution environment.
Data Source
AI summary
A code remediation system accesses a programming code including vulnerabilities such as potential secrets and remediates at least a subset of the potential secrets to generate modified programming code wherein the subset of potential secrets which are determined to be actual secrets are replaced with access mechanisms to storage locations on a vault wherein the actual secrets are secured. To identify the subset of potential secrets forming the actual secrets to be remediated, the code remediation system is configured to filter out false positives among the potential secrets and identify true positives. When an application executing the modified code encounters an access mechanism, it accesses the vault to retrieve the actual secrets.