redact-secret · Report

Cloud API secret (cflt-prefixed)

API secret created after 2025-07-30: literal cflt prefix, then 54 base64-alphabet body bytes and a 6-byte checksum (standard Base64 of the little-endian CRC32 of those 54 bytes), 64 in total.

Confluent Cloud
Detectors: confluent-cloud-api-secret
Run 2026-10-07
Mode published · redact-secret 0.1.0-beta.14

All providers

Dossier verdictReady
Dossier evidence levelT1 · Provider-documented
Dossier researched2026-09-24

redact-secret#309 (product PR #667) landed on the product main after 0.1.0-beta.6 and checks the prefix and length only. #209 (research #234): the provider publishes the checksum algorithm, so the contract validates it. The API key ID ("not considered secret information") is never a positive.

New pipelineAuthority

Built from the new pipeline

The new pipeline is the authority for credential qualification. These numbers are read from the qualification view derived from the official credential-eval run of the public-evidence-snapshot population. The regression and policy populations keep their own counts on the qualification pages and are not added in here.

Authority: new
Population: public-evidence-snapshot
Engine: credential-eval 0.1.0-alpha.16
Evidence: snapshot-2026.10.06.4
Run: sha256:4bec6e539482…
Recorded: 2026-10-07
Authorised for: @redact-secret/core@0.1.0-beta.14

Maintainer-reviewed (independent review pending)

598 fixtures of the 7,041 in evidence release snapshot-2026.10.06.4 carry this label. They are counted in the numbers on this page.

Passed the project’s own verification (source evidence, automated checks, recorded counter-arguments); not yet independently reviewed.

OpenRedaction default (all patterns): not measured in this run (optional)

The default (all-pattern) profile is slow and noisy for credential evaluation: personal data and resource identifiers dominate its findings, and its last official measurement took 7 minutes of scanner time on a population the credential profile scans in seconds (its methods run takes 40+ minutes), so it is a manual measurement and never blocks other scanners or core verification (#763). Its earlier results stay as history with their run identity; the credential profile is a separate scanner, never spliced with it.

Last measurement: policy-corpus@linux-x64 (configuration sha256:2451ce7bf380), public-evidence-snapshot+methods@linux-x64 (configuration sha256:d47d081ce5fb), public-evidence-snapshot@linux-x64 (configuration sha256:2451ce7bf380), regression-corpus@linux-x64 (configuration sha256:2451ce7bf380) · engine 0.1.0-alpha.5 · recorded 2026-10-05 · retained record, no longer listed by the run registry. It stays labelled with that run identity and is never combined with another profile or another run.

Open the qualification page for this pointer

OpenRedaction credential profile (33 types): not measured in an official run (local exploratory diagnostics only: see ADR)

The credential profile is the comparison profile chosen in docs/decisions/2026-10-06-choose-the-openredaction-credential-bearing-profile-as-the-comparison-scanner.md. It is optional in the official run class because no pinned engine configuration measures it yet: making it required would refuse every official view until the owner approves the one profile-only run. Its own history starts with that run; nothing of the default's is reused for it.

No earlier measurement of it is recorded. Nothing is shown in its place.

Official measurement: pending: requires owner approval (one profile-only run; see the decision).

Open the qualification page for this pointer

Every population and its qualification

Research record

From credential-evidence snapshot-2026.10.06.4 · records at 77ce761 · schema 1.8.0. It describes the research on the format, not what any scanner or the product does, and not a support status.

Review stateDraft, not reviewed
Format revision1 · current
ResearchResearched
Researched2026-09-24

3 events in the review history: 2 observed, 1 reviewed. Latest: observed on 2026-09-24 by automation, project maintainer. Project-maintained review is not independent validation. The family record at this release.

Format

Provider format research from credential-evidence snapshot-2026.10.06.4 · records at 77ce761 · schema 1.8.0.

What it looks like

Descriptive pattern: ^cflt[A-Za-z0-9+/]{60}$

Parts are shown as recorded. Evidence classes belong to the facts below; no class is assigned to a part.

Format facts

Provider documented · provider-source · current · observed 2026-09-23
cflt-prefixed API secret (created after 2025-07-30): the page states "API secrets created after July 30, 2025 have a cflt prefix followed by 60 characters consisting of A-Z, a-z, 0-9, + or /" and that "the final 6 characters contain a Base64-encoded CRC32 checksum of the prior 54 characters"; its own secret-detection snippet fixes the algorithm (CRC32 over the 54 characters after cflt, little-endian bytes, standard Base64, first 6 characters), so the checksum is recomputable and `validate` enforces it (#209, research #234)
- docs.confluent.io/cloud/current/security/authenticate/workload-identities/service-accounts/api-keys/overview.htmlprovider-documentation · last read 2026-09-24 · latest outcome read · supports the page states "API secrets created after July 30, 2025 have a cflt prefix followed by 60 characters consisting of A-Z, a-z, 0-9, + or /" and that "the final 6 characters contain a Base64-encoded CRC32 checksum of the prior 54 characters"; its own secret-detection snippet fixes the algorithm (CRC32 over the 54 characters after cflt, little-endian bytes, standard Base64, first 6 characters), so the checksum is recomputable and `validate` enforces it (#209, research #234)
Tool corroborated · tool-corroboration · current · observed 2026-09-23
Pinned scanner rules are consistent with the contract grammar (2 artifacts: gitleaks 8.30.1; trufflehog 3.97.4).
- gitleaks/gitleaks @ v8.30.1: config/gitleaks.tomlscanner-rule-source · last read 2026-10-04 · latest outcome read · supports gitleaks 8.30.1: gitleaks.toml
- trufflesecurity/trufflehog @ v3.97.4: pkg/detectors/confluent/confluent.goscanner-rule-source · last read 2026-09-23 · latest outcome read · supports trufflehog 3.97.4: confluent/confluent
Provider documented · field-prefix · current · observed 2026-09-24
prefix: cflt
- docs.confluent.io/cloud/current/security/authenticate/workload-identities/service-accounts/api-keys/overview.htmlprovider-documentation · last read 2026-09-24 · latest outcome read · supports prefix: cflt
Provider documented · field-total-length · current · observed 2026-09-24
total-length: 64 characters: cflt plus 60
- docs.confluent.io/cloud/current/security/authenticate/workload-identities/service-accounts/api-keys/overview.htmlprovider-documentation · last read 2026-09-24 · latest outcome read · supports total-length: 64 characters: cflt plus 60
Provider documented · field-alphabet · current · observed 2026-09-24
alphabet: [A-Za-z0-9+/] after the prefix
- docs.confluent.io/cloud/current/security/authenticate/workload-identities/service-accounts/api-keys/overview.htmlprovider-documentation · last read 2026-09-24 · latest outcome read · supports "A-Z, a-z, 0-9, + or /"
Provider documented · field-checksum · current · observed 2026-09-24
checksum: the final 6 characters are a Base64-encoded CRC32 of the 54 characters before them
- docs.confluent.io/cloud/current/security/authenticate/workload-identities/service-accounts/api-keys/overview.htmlprovider-documentation · last read 2026-09-24 · latest outcome read · supports checksum: the final 6 characters are a Base64-encoded CRC32 of the 54 characters before them
Provider documented · field-checksum-algorithm · current · observed 2026-09-24
checksum-algorithm: CRC32 over the 54 body characters after cflt (prefix excluded), 4 bytes little-endian, standard Base64, first 6 characters (Published as code on the provider's documentation page, so it is recorded as provider code, not prose. Corrects the earlier claim that the checksum could not be recomputed.)
- docs.confluent.io/cloud/current/security/authenticate/workload-identities/service-accounts/api-keys/overview.htmlprovider-documentation · last read 2026-09-24 · latest outcome read · supports the page's own secret-detection snippet
- github.com/redact-secret/redact-secret-benchmarks/issues/234provider-sdk-source · last read 2026-09-24 · latest outcome read · supports the page's example validates little-endian and fails big-endian or prefix-included
Unresolved · field-final-character · current · observed 2026-09-24
final-character: one of A, Q, g, w (6 Base64 characters carry 36 bits for 32 CRC bits) (Derived from the published algorithm; not separately fixtured.)
- github.com/redact-secret/redact-secret-benchmarks/issues/234provider-sdk-source · last read 2026-09-24 · latest outcome read · supports final-character: one of A, Q, g, w (6 Base64 characters carry 36 bits for 32 CRC bits)
Unresolved · field-generation-boundary · current · observed 2026-09-24
generation-boundary: cflt secrets are those created after (or on and after) 2025-07-30 (Wording drift between the two pages; a drift note, not a blocker.)
- docs.confluent.io/cloud/current/security/authenticate/workload-identities/service-accounts/api-keys/overview.htmlprovider-documentation · last read 2026-09-24 · latest outcome read · supports "after July 30, 2025"
- docs.confluent.io/cloud/current/release-notes/index.htmlprovider-documentation · last read 2026-09-24 · latest outcome read · supports "on or after July 30, 2025"
Provider documented · field-key-id · current · observed 2026-09-24
key-id: the 16-character API key ID is "not considered secret information" (Backs the public-id controls.)
- docs.confluent.io/cloud/current/security/authenticate/workload-identities/service-accounts/api-keys/overview.htmlprovider-documentation · last read 2026-09-24 · latest outcome read · supports key-id: the 16-character API key ID is "not considered secret information"
Unresolved · field-scope-coverage · current · observed 2026-09-24
scope-coverage: every API-key scope (cloud, Kafka, Schema Registry, ksqlDB, Flink, Tableflow, global) issues cflt secrets
- github.com/redact-secret/redact-secret-benchmarks/issues/234provider-sdk-source · last read 2026-09-24 · latest outcome read · supports scope-coverage: every API-key scope (cloud, Kafka, Schema Registry, ksqlDB, Flink, Tableflow, global) issues cflt secrets
Provider documented · dossier-research · current · observed 2026-09-24
Legacy dossier research (verdict ready, tier T1) cited 3 sources; the dossier does not attribute sources to individual properties.
- docs.confluent.io/cloud/current/security/authenticate/workload-identities/service-accounts/api-keys/overview.htmlprovider-documentation · last read 2026-09-24 · latest outcome read · supports Cited by the legacy dossier research for this family
- docs.confluent.io/cloud/current/security/authenticate/identity-faq.htmlprovider-documentation · last read 2026-09-24 · latest outcome read · supports Cited by the legacy dossier research for this family
- docs.confluent.io/cloud/current/release-notes/index.htmlprovider-documentation · last read 2026-09-24 · latest outcome read · supports Cited by the legacy dossier research for this family
Provider documented · taxonomy-sources · current · observed 2026-09-24
The legacy taxonomy lists 1 source for this family. The taxonomy records no date; the dossier researchedAt is used as the observed-at date.
- docs.confluent.io/cloud/current/security/authenticate/workload-identities/service-accounts/api-keys/overview.htmlprovider-documentation · last read 2026-09-24 · latest outcome read · supports Listed as a source for this family in the legacy taxonomy

Open questions

No open question is recorded for this revision.

Benchmark dossier notes

From the provider dossier, as written. The evidence level above says how well the format is backed; a fact the dossier does not record is not shown.

Shape: literal cflt, then 60 characters from A-Z a-z 0-9 + / (64 in all). The final 6 characters are a Base64-encoded CRC-32 checksum of the 54 body characters before them. The provider's own detection snippet fixes the recipe: CRC-32 over the 54 body characters excluding the prefix, little-endian bytes, standard Base64, first 6 characters. The #234 pass recomputed the documented example this way and found big-endian or prefix-included variants fail it. Six Base64 characters carry 36 bits and the CRC is 32, so the last character can take only four values (derived by the #234 pass, unchecked against an issued secret).
Basis: T1: the overview page (prefix, length, alphabet, checksum and snippet). The boundary day is worded three ways ("after", "on or after", "starting") across the page, the release notes and the identity FAQ, and older secrets are said to "may not" carry the prefix on one page and "do not" on another. Kingfisher has a checksum-validating rule; gitleaks and trufflehog match 64 characters with no cflt or checksum handling.
Issuance: Cloud API keys created from the Console or CLI. Not attempted.
Contract in core: detector-families.md (evidence-backed table: T1 on prefix, body and checksum, #738).

In this benchmark

Fixture rows on the current run. Counts are for redact-secret in published · redact-secret 0.1.0-beta.14 mode.

Fixtures: 31
Left readable: 0
Redacted too much: 0
False alarms: 0

31 fixtures: 13 expect a redaction, 18 must stay quiet. See every row

redact-secret fixture counts by evidence level
Evidence level	Fixtures	Left readable	Too much	False alarms
T1Provider-documented	13	0	0	0
T2Tool-corroborated	14	0	0	0
T3Project policy	4	0	0	0

Every scanner on the same fixtures

In run order. Counts are what each scanner recorded on this family's fixtures, whichever rules it has; a scanner with no rule for the family has nothing to report on it.

Counts per scanner on this family's fixtures
Scanner	Fixtures	Left readable	Too much	False alarms
flare-redactRuntime library · 1.6.1 · Published npm package · secrets-only (pii, generic_assignment disabled) · JavaScript engineNo rule maps to it	31	13	0	0
gitleaksRepository scanner · 8.30.1 · Directory scan · default rulesNo rule maps to it	31	4	1	2
redact-secretProduct measured here · 0.1.0-beta.14 · Published npm package · default detectors1 detector mapped	31	0	0	0
trufflehogRepository scanner · 3.97.4 · Filesystem scan · verification disabledNo rule maps to it	31	13	0	1

Benchmark dossier questions

Things the sources do not settle. They are listed so nobody reads them as settled.

Open caveat: The checksum recipe is recomputed from the provider's own snippet, not yet checked against a freshly issued secret; every scope is assumed to issue the same shape.

Looks like it, but isn't

Values the dossier records as resembling this credential without being one.

Collisions: the 16-character key id (public), resource ids (lkc-, lsrc-, env-, sa-), the SCIM token cflt-scim_<JWT>, and the NASDAQ ticker in prose. The legacy 64-character shape overlaps this family's alphabet and length.

Scanner rules for this family

Mapped by hand (reviewed 2026-09-30) from each scanner's pinned rule file, never from what a scanner found on the fixtures.

No peer rule maps to this family

None of the reviewed peer scanners has a rule that can match a credential of this family.

None mapped

Find

Evidence level

Scanners

31 of 31 rows

Fixtures in this family

31 rows, redact-secret's outcome on each. Rows that need a look come first (0), then the rest in corpus order. Choose "Every scanner" to see each scanner's outcome for the same rows.

Fixtures in Cloud API secret (cflt-prefixed)
Fixture	Kind and evidence	redact-secret
`confluent-cloud-api-secret-cli-api-key-create-json`confluent · documented-format-literal	Must redactT1 · Provider-documented	Redacted
`confluent-cloud-api-secret-confluent-api-key-store`confluent · documented-format-literal	Must redactT1 · Provider-documented	Redacted
`confluent-cloud-api-secret-curl-basic-auth`confluent · documented-format-literal	Must redactT1 · Provider-documented	Redacted
`confluent-cloud-api-secret-env-cloud-secret`confluent · documented-format-literal	Must redactT1 · Provider-documented	Redacted
`confluent-cloud-api-secret-env-cloud-secret-checksum-twin`confluent · invalid-checksum	Must not flagT2 · Tool-corroborated · twin	Quiet
`confluent-cloud-api-secret-github-actions-connector-deploy`confluent · documented-format-literal	Must redactT1 · Provider-documented	Redacted
`confluent-cloud-api-secret-k8s-secret-stringdata`confluent · documented-format-literal	Must redactT1 · Provider-documented	Redacted
`confluent-cloud-api-secret-kafka-client-properties`confluent · documented-format-literal	Must redactT1 · Provider-documented	Redacted
`confluent-cloud-api-secret-prefixed-shape-bare`confluent · documented-format-literal	Must redactT1 · Provider-documented	Redacted
`confluent-cloud-api-secret-prefixed-shape-quoted`confluent · documented-format-literal	Must redactT1 · Provider-documented	Redacted
`confluent-cloud-api-secret-prefixed-shape-unicode-crlf`confluent · documented-format-literal	Must redactT1 · Provider-documented	Redacted
`confluent-cloud-api-secret-public-id`confluent · benign-lookalike	Must not flagT2 · Tool-corroborated	Quiet
`confluent-cloud-api-secret-python-producer-config`confluent · documented-format-literal	Must redactT1 · Provider-documented	Redacted
`confluent-cloud-api-secret-secrets-manager-json`confluent · documented-format-literal	Must redactT1 · Provider-documented	Redacted
`confluent-cloud-api-secret-shell-export-secret`confluent · documented-format-literal	Must redactT1 · Provider-documented	Redacted
`confluent-cloud-api-secret-cli-api-key-create-json-checksum-prefix-included-twin`confluent · invalid-checksum	Must not flagT2 · Tool-corroborated · twin	Quiet
`confluent-cloud-api-secret-kafka-client-properties-checksum-byte-order-twin`confluent · invalid-checksum	Must not flagT2 · Tool-corroborated · twin	Quiet
`confluent-cloud-api-secret-label-prose`confluent · benign-lookalike	Must not flagT3 · Project policy	Quiet
`confluent-cloud-api-secret-mask`confluent · benign-lookalike	Must not flagT3 · Project policy	Quiet
`confluent-cloud-api-secret-prefix-only`confluent · benign-lookalike	Must not flagT2 · Tool-corroborated	Quiet
`confluent-cloud-api-secret-prefixed-shape-bare-twin`confluent · wrong-length	Must not flagT2 · Tool-corroborated · twin	Quiet
`confluent-cloud-api-secret-prefixed-shape-prefix-bare-twin`confluent · prefix-near-miss	Must not flagT2 · Tool-corroborated · twin	Quiet
`confluent-cloud-api-secret-prefixed-shape-prefix-quoted-twin`confluent · prefix-near-miss	Must not flagT2 · Tool-corroborated · twin	Quiet
`confluent-cloud-api-secret-prefixed-shape-prefix-unicode-crlf-twin`confluent · prefix-near-miss	Must not flagT2 · Tool-corroborated · twin	Quiet
`confluent-cloud-api-secret-prefixed-shape-quoted-twin`confluent · wrong-length	Must not flagT2 · Tool-corroborated · twin	Quiet
`confluent-cloud-api-secret-prefixed-shape-unicode-crlf-twin`confluent · wrong-length	Must not flagT2 · Tool-corroborated · twin	Quiet
`confluent-cloud-api-secret-reference`confluent · benign-lookalike	Must not flagT3 · Project policy	Quiet
`confluent-cloud-api-secret-sasl-username-only-public-id`confluent · public-identifier	Must not flagT2 · Tool-corroborated	Quiet
`confluent-cloud-api-secret-secrets-manager-json-alphabet-twin`confluent · wrong-alphabet	Must not flagT2 · Tool-corroborated · twin	Quiet
`confluent-cloud-api-secret-short-body`confluent · benign-lookalike	Must not flagT2 · Tool-corroborated	Quiet
`confluent-cloud-api-secret-ticker-note-prose`confluent · prose-mention	Must not flagT3 · Project policy	Quiet

Sources

Researched 2026-09-24.

Documentation and code

docs.confluent.io/cloud/current/security/authenticate/workload-identities/service-accounts/api-keys/overview.html
docs.confluent.io/cloud/current/release-notes/index.html
docs.confluent.io/cloud/current/security/authenticate/identity-faq.html

Research log

redact-secret/redact-secret-benchmarks#234Research issue
redact-secret/redact-secret#738Research issue

Other Confluent Cloud families

Cloud API secret (unprefixed, pre-2025-07-30)