redact-secret · Report

PEM-encoded private key

RFC 7468 textual encoding of private key material (any algorithm), not tied to a single provider.

Not provider-specific
Detectors: private-key
Run 2026-10-07
Mode published · redact-secret 0.1.0-beta.14

Dossier verdictReady
Dossier evidence levelT1 · Provider-documented
Dossier researched2026-09-23

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
Researched2026-09-23

3 events in the review history: 2 observed, 1 reviewed. Latest: observed on 2026-10-03 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

Shape not recorded.

Format facts

Provider documented · provider-source · current · observed 2026-09-17
RFC 7468 textual encodings: BEGIN/END PRIVATE KEY labels and base64 body; the reviewed control is additionally parsed as PKCS#8 offline
- www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7468provider-documentation · last read 2026-10-03 · latest outcome read · supports BEGIN/END PRIVATE KEY labels and base64 body; the reviewed control is additionally parsed as PKCS#8 offline
Unresolved · tool-corroboration · current · observed 2026-09-17
Pinned scanner rules are consistent with the contract grammar (1 artifact: trufflehog 3.97.4).
- trufflesecurity/trufflehog @ v3.97.4: pkg/detectors/privatekey/privatekey.goscanner-rule-source · last read 2026-09-17 · latest outcome read · supports trufflehog 3.97.4: privatekey/privatekey
Provider documented · dossier-research · current · observed 2026-09-23
Legacy dossier research (verdict ready, tier T1) cited 2 sources; the dossier does not attribute sources to individual properties.
- redact-secret/redact-secret @ 8b6a5fde52ecb4dfce13f09c7a947062d21483c7: docs/audits/evidence/650/README.mdproject-research-note · last read 2026-09-26 · latest outcome read · supports Final research evidence recorded by the legacy dossier
- www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7468provider-documentation · last read 2026-10-03 · latest outcome read · supports Cited by the legacy dossier research for this family

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: RFC 7468 textual encoding: a -----BEGIN <label>----- line, base64 body lines, a matching -----END <label>----- line. The BEGIN and END lines fall inside the secret span. JSON exports (GCP and Firebase service-account keys) embed the PEM as a string with literal \n escapes; that variant was already detected, as redact-secret#163 proved with two regression fixtures (PR #169).
Basis: T1, RFC 7468 §2. The #650 record names it as one of the two accepted RFC-backed T1 contracts, with the reviewed control parsed as PKCS#8 offline; legacy PEM bodies in the corpus decode to public prose, so only the parseable Ed25519 control is a positive.
Issuance: synthetic keys can be generated locally; no provider is involved.
Contract in core: detector-families.md; acceptance is recorded in the #650 record. No dedicated research issue carries the T1 judgement; redact-secret#107 covers grammar depth (labels, termination, line endings).

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: 36
Left readable: 0
Redacted too much: 0
False alarms: 0

36 fixtures: 2 expect a redaction, 13 must stay quiet, 21 record project policy. See every row

redact-secret fixture counts by evidence level
Evidence level	Fixtures	Left readable	Too much	False alarms
T1Provider-documented	5	0	0	0
T2Tool-corroborated	7	0	0	0
T3Project policy	24	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
flare-redactRuntime library · 1.6.1 · Published npm package · secrets-only (pii, generic_assignment disabled) · JavaScript engine1 rule targets it	36	0
gitleaksRepository scanner · 8.30.1 · Directory scan · default rules1 rule targets it	36	0
redact-secretProduct measured here · 0.1.0-beta.14 · Published npm package · default detectors1 detector mapped	36	0
trufflehogRepository scanner · 3.97.4 · Filesystem scan · verification disabled1 rule targets it	36	23

Looks like it, but isn't

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

Collisions: PEM certificates and public keys share the envelope and are negatives; the label decides.

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.

Peer scanner rules that target this family
Scanner	Rule	What the rule matches
flare-redact · rules 1.6.1	`private_key`	-----BEGIN ... PRIVATE KEY----- block
gitleaks · rules 8.30.1	`private-key`	-----BEGIN ... PRIVATE KEY----- block
openredaction · rules 1.1.5	`PRIVATE_KEY`	-----BEGIN (RSA or EC) PRIVATE KEY----- block
openredaction · rules 1.1.5	`SSH_PRIVATE_KEY`	-----BEGIN OPENSSH PRIVATE KEY----- block
trufflehog · rules 3.97.4	`privatekey`	-----BEGIN ... PRIVATE KEY----- block

Find

Evidence level

Scanners

36 of 36 rows

Fixtures in this family

36 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 PEM-encoded private key
Fixture	Kind and evidence	redact-secret
`private-key-dsa-private-key-bare`generic · documented-format-literal	Project policyT3 · Project policy	Redacted
`private-key-dsa-private-key-quoted`generic · documented-format-literal	Project policyT3 · Project policy	Redacted
`private-key-dsa-private-key-unicode-crlf`generic · documented-format-literal	Project policyT3 · Project policy	Redacted
`private-key-ec-private-key-bare`generic · documented-format-literal	Project policyT3 · Project policy	Redacted
`private-key-ec-private-key-quoted`generic · documented-format-literal	Project policyT3 · Project policy	Redacted
`private-key-ec-private-key-unicode-crlf`generic · documented-format-literal	Project policyT3 · Project policy	Redacted
`private-key-ed25519-plain`generic · documented-format-literal	Must redactT1 · Provider-documented	Redacted
`private-key-ed25519-unicode-crlf`generic · documented-format-literal	Must redactT1 · Provider-documented	Redacted
`private-key-encrypted-private-key-bare`generic · documented-format-literal	Project policyT3 · Project policy	Redacted
`private-key-encrypted-private-key-quoted`generic · documented-format-literal	Project policyT3 · Project policy	Redacted
`private-key-encrypted-private-key-unicode-crlf`generic · documented-format-literal	Project policyT3 · Project policy	Redacted
`private-key-k8s-tls-secret`generic · documented-format-literal	Project policyT3 · Project policy	Redacted
`private-key-openssh-private-key-bare`generic · documented-format-literal	Project policyT3 · Project policy	Redacted
`private-key-openssh-private-key-quoted`generic · documented-format-literal	Project policyT3 · Project policy	Redacted
`private-key-openssh-private-key-unicode-crlf`generic · documented-format-literal	Project policyT3 · Project policy	Redacted
`private-key-openssl-genpkey-stdout`generic · documented-format-literal	Project policyT3 · Project policy	Redacted
`private-key-private-key-bare`generic · documented-format-literal	Project policyT3 · Project policy	Redacted
`private-key-private-key-quoted`generic · documented-format-literal	Project policyT3 · Project policy	Redacted
`private-key-private-key-unicode-crlf`generic · documented-format-literal	Project policyT3 · Project policy	Redacted
`private-key-python-signing-key-literal`generic · documented-format-literal	Project policyT3 · Project policy	Redacted
`private-key-rsa-private-key-bare`generic · documented-format-literal	Project policyT3 · Project policy	Redacted
`private-key-rsa-private-key-quoted`generic · documented-format-literal	Project policyT3 · Project policy	Redacted
`private-key-rsa-private-key-unicode-crlf`generic · documented-format-literal	Project policyT3 · Project policy	Redacted
`pem-label-only`generic · bare-prefixes-and-truncated-tokens	Must not flagT1 · Provider-documented	Quiet
`private-key-authorized-keys-line-public-id`generic · public-identifier	Must not flagT2 · Tool-corroborated	Quiet
`private-key-ed25519-plain-twin`generic · public-sibling-prefix	Must not flagT1 · Provider-documented · twin	Quiet
`private-key-ed25519-unicode-crlf-twin`generic · public-sibling-prefix	Must not flagT1 · Provider-documented · twin	Quiet
`private-key-label-prose`generic · benign-lookalike	Must not flagT3 · Project policy	Quiet
`private-key-prefix-only`generic · benign-lookalike	Must not flagT2 · Tool-corroborated	Quiet
`private-key-private-key-bare-twin`generic · prefix-near-miss	Must not flagT2 · Tool-corroborated · twin	Quiet
`private-key-private-key-quoted-twin`generic · prefix-near-miss	Must not flagT2 · Tool-corroborated · twin	Quiet
`private-key-private-key-unicode-crlf-twin`generic · prefix-near-miss	Must not flagT2 · Tool-corroborated · twin	Quiet
`private-key-public-block`generic · benign-lookalike	Must not flagT2 · Tool-corroborated	Quiet
`private-key-reference`generic · benign-lookalike	Must not flagT3 · Project policy	Quiet
`private-key-rotation-note-prose`generic · prose-mention	Must not flagT3 · Project policy	Quiet
`private-key-ssh-fingerprint-encoded-value`generic · benign-encoded-value	Must not flagT2 · Tool-corroborated	Quiet

Sources

Researched 2026-09-23.

Documentation and code

www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc7468

Research log

redact-secret/redact-secret#107Research issue
redact-secret/redact-secret#163Research issue
redact-secret/redact-secret#650Research issue
Final evidence, pinned to a commit/redact-secret/redact-secret/blob/8b6a5fde52ecb4dfce13f09c7a947062d21483c7/docs/audits/evidence/650/README.md