High entropy strings

Information

High entropy strings are strings with a high level of randomness, often used in cryptographic contexts or as obfuscated content. While such strings may have legitimate uses (e.g., API keys, encrypted payloads, or binary data), they can also indicate potential security risks, such as:

• Leaked Secrets: Inclusion of sensitive data like passwords, API keys, or tokens in the package.
• Encrypted or Obfuscated Code: Hidden or encoded functionality that may conceal malicious behavior or vulnerabilities.

Recommended actions

Inspect the High Entropy Strings:

• Review the flagged strings to determine their purpose.
• Ensure that any high entropy strings are not exposing sensitive information, such as secrets or private keys.

Clarify Their Purpose:

• If the strings serve a legitimate purpose, document their role within the codebase for transparency.
• Add comments or documentation explaining why these strings exist and what they represent.

Remove or Replace Secrets:

• If sensitive data is found, immediately remove it from the codebase.
• Replace it with environment variables or secure configuration mechanisms to avoid accidental exposure.

Audit the Codebase:

• Conduct a thorough audit of the package to ensure that no secrets or obfuscated malicious code are present.
• Use tools to detect and prevent inclusion of sensitive information in the future.

Communicate with Maintainers:

• If you are consuming this package, reach out to the maintainers for clarification on the presence of high entropy strings.

Examples

Here is an example of a package flagged for high entropy stringsdue to its dense and seemingly random nature (a large collection of unrelated Chinese characters), which could resemble obfuscated data. It's best to review these instances to ensure they are benign before including these dependencies in your code base.

Detection Method

Socket detects high entropy strings by analyzing the randomness and structure of the strings within the code or package. Entropy can be calculated with a length threshold and detected via common patterns and contextual indicators.

Additional resources

• GitHub's Secret Scanning
• Blog post on detecting phishing sites using high-entropy strings: While focused on phishing detection, this article explains why high-entropy strings in code can be problematic.
• TruffleHog GitHub Repository: TruffleHog is a tool that searches through git repositories for high-entropy strings, which may indicate the presence of sensitive information.
• Don't store secrets in code - Remove secrets from code: AWS' documentation discusses the risks of hardcoding secrets and offers strategies for managing them effectively.