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Adobe OAuth Client Secret

An Adobe OAuth Client Secret is a credential used to authenticate applications to Adobe's suite of services, such as Adobe Creative Cloud and Adobe Document Cloud. This secret, in conjunction with a client ID, allows applications to securely access Adobe APIs on behalf of a user. Exposure of this credential is a significant security concern as it can lead to unauthorized access to Adobe services, potentially compromising sensitive user data and application integrity.

How Does It Look​

Adobe OAuth Client Secrets can appear in various contexts, such as:

  • Environment variables:

    export ADOBE_CLIENT_SECRET="abcd1234efgh5678ijkl9012mnop3456"

  • Configuration files (JSON):

    {
      "adobe": {
        "client_id": "your-client-id",
        "client_secret": "abcd1234efgh5678ijkl9012mnop3456"
      }
    }

  • Code snippets:

    const adobeClientSecret = "abcd1234efgh5678ijkl9012mnop3456";

  • Connection strings (if applicable):

    adobe://client_id:abcd1234efgh5678ijkl9012mnop3456@api.adobe.com

Severity​

  • 🔴 Critical

The Adobe OAuth Client Secret is classified as critical because it provides access to Adobe services, potentially allowing an attacker to impersonate the application. The blast radius includes unauthorized access to user data, manipulation of documents, and potential misuse of Adobe services, which could lead to significant data breaches and financial losses.

What Can an Attacker Do?​

With immediate access to an Adobe OAuth Client Secret, an attacker can impersonate the application and access Adobe services without user consent.

Key actions an attacker can perform:

  • Access user data: Retrieve or modify user documents and assets (if the credential has read/write permissions).
  • Manipulate documents: Alter or delete documents stored in Adobe services (if write access is enabled).
  • Generate API requests: Execute API calls to Adobe services, potentially incurring costs (if billing is enabled).
  • Access user accounts: View or modify user account settings (if the credential has account management permissions).

An attacker could escalate their access by leveraging the compromised credential to gain further access to connected systems or services, potentially leading to a broader compromise of the organization's infrastructure.

Real-World Impact​

Exposure of an Adobe OAuth Client Secret poses significant business risks, including unauthorized access to sensitive data and potential financial losses.

Potential consequences include:

  • Data Exposure: User documents and assets could be accessed or leaked (if the credential has read access to sensitive data).
  • Financial Loss: Unauthorized API usage could lead to increased costs (if billing/resource creation is permitted).
  • Operational Disruption: Critical workflows could be interrupted if documents are altered or deleted (if the attacker has delete/modify permissions).
  • Reputational Damage: Loss of trust and brand impact due to unauthorized access and data breaches.

In the worst-case scenario, the exposure could lead to cascading effects, such as further exploitation of connected systems and services, amplifying the impact of the initial breach.

Prerequisites for Exploitation​

To exploit an exposed Adobe OAuth Client Secret, an attacker needs:

  • Network access: Ability to send requests to Adobe's API endpoints.
  • Additional context: Knowledge of the client ID and relevant API endpoints.
  • No rate limits: Exploitation is easier if there are no strict rate limits or IP restrictions in place.

How to Verify If It's Active​

To verify if an Adobe OAuth Client Secret is active, use the following command:

curl -X POST https://api.adobe.com/auth/token \
  -d "client_id=[CLIENT_ID]" \
  -d "client_secret=[CLIENT_SECRET]" \
  -d "grant_type=client_credentials"

Valid credential response: A successful response will include an access token and token type.

Invalid/expired credential response: An error message indicating invalid credentials or expired token.

Detection Patterns​

Common Variable Names:

  • ADOBE_CLIENT_SECRET
  • ADOBE_SECRET
  • CLIENT_SECRET
  • ADOBE_OAUTH_SECRET
  • OAUTH_CLIENT_SECRET
  • ADOBE_API_SECRET

File Locations:

  • config.json
  • .env
  • settings.yaml
  • secrets.json
  • credentials.txt

Regex Pattern:

[a-zA-Z0-9]{32,}

Remediation Steps​

  1. Revoke immediately - Go to Adobe Developer Console > Credentials and delete the compromised client secret.
  2. Audit access logs - Review Adobe API logs for unauthorized access attempts during the exposure window.
  3. Assess blast radius - Identify all systems, applications, and environments that used the exposed credential.
  4. Rotate credential - Generate a new client secret in Adobe Developer Console with least-privilege permissions.
  5. Update dependent systems - Deploy the new credential to all applications and update CI/CD pipelines securely.
  6. Harden access controls - Enable IP allowlisting and enforce strict rate limits in Adobe services.
  7. Implement secrets management - Migrate credentials to a secrets manager (HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager) to prevent hardcoding.
  8. Add detection controls - Set up pre-commit hooks and repository scanning to catch credential leaks before they reach production.

Credential exposures often go undetected for extended periods, increasing the window for exploitation. As a long-term strategy, plan to establish an internal process or engage an external vendor for continuous external exposure monitoring. This helps identify leaked secrets across public repositories, paste sites, dark web forums, and other external sources before attackers can leverage them. Proactive detection and rapid response are essential to minimizing the impact of credential leaks.

References​