How to Scan OpenClaw Skills for API Key Leaks
Recent security research revealed that 7.1% of ClawHub skills contain critical security flaws including API key leaks and hardcoded credentials. Skills with system-level access can exfiltrate your secrets to external servers, leading to account compromise and data breaches. This guide shows you how to detect leaked secrets in installed skills before they are exploited.
Why This Is Hard to Do Yourself
These are the common pitfalls that trip people up.
Hardcoded API keys
Developers accidentally commit keys directly in skill source code or configuration files.
Credential exfiltration
Malicious skills read environment variables or config files and transmit keys to attacker-controlled servers.
Encoded secrets
Keys are obfuscated using base64, hex encoding, or split across multiple files to evade simple grep searches.
Time-delayed theft
Skills wait days or weeks before exfiltrating keys to avoid detection during initial installation reviews.
Step-by-Step Guide
Install a secrets scanning tool
Use TruffleHog or Gitleaks for automated secret detection.
Scan all installed skills
Run a comprehensive scan across your skills directory.
Warning: Scanning may take several minutes depending on skill count. Review the JSON output for high-confidence detections.
Check for common key patterns manually
Search for API key patterns that automated tools might miss.
Search for environment variable access
Identify skills reading sensitive environment variables.
Look for encoded secrets
Check for base64-encoded or obfuscated credentials.
Rotate compromised credentials immediately
If you find leaked keys, rotate them through provider dashboards.
Warning: Assume any discovered key is already compromised. Rotate immediately, even if you don't see evidence of unauthorized usage.
Remove or quarantine affected skills
Isolate skills containing leaked secrets until remediated.
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