Claude Code settings files expose secrets on public GitHub
Original title: Claude Code settings files expose thousands of secrets on GitHub
About 1,100 of more than 100,000 uploaded files, from 63 organizations, held API tokens, passwords, or private keys.
Apiiro says Claude Code stores approved shell commands, often verbatim, in .claude/settings.local.json, including embedded secrets. Anthropic documents that the file is added to a global gitignore, but that setting is not applied at the repo level, so it can be committed accidentally. Researchers found more than 100,000 public uploads; about 1,100 from 63 organizations contained secrets. Those secrets can remain in forks after the files are removed.
Unconfirmed: The upload and secret counts, and the claim that Claude Code commits the file itself, come from Apiiro.
- More than 100,000 local settings files appeared on public GitHub.
- About 1,100 files from 63 organizations contained secrets.
- Exposed data included API tokens, database passwords, and private keys.
- Apiiro says Claude Code sometimes commits the settings file without user input.
- Secrets can persist in forks after removal from the original repository.
Impact: API tokens, database passwords, and private keys exposed
| Product | Affected |
|---|---|
| Anthropic Claude Code | — |
- 1.Search repositories for .claude/settings.local.json and remove it from history.
- 2.Rotate any tokens, passwords, or keys found in those files.
- 3.Confirm repo-level gitignore covers the local settings file.
- Vendors
- Anthropic
- Products
- Claude Code
From the original article
2 min read at arstechnica.com
"Do not ask again" prompt leads to passwords, API keys, and more being shared.
By Kyle Orland · arstechnica.com
A short excerpt; the article and its images belong to the publisher. Summary, key facts and assessment above are AI-written from the article and can be wrong.