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AssemblyAI API Key

An AssemblyAI API Key is a credential used to authenticate requests to AssemblyAI's speech-to-text services. This key allows applications to access various features such as transcription, sentiment analysis, and more. Exposure of this API key is a significant security concern because it can lead to unauthorized access to the service, potentially resulting in misuse of resources and unauthorized data access.

How Does It Look​

AssemblyAI API keys can appear in various contexts, such as:

  • Environment variables:

    export ASSEMBLYAI_API_KEY="a1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8i9j0"

  • Configuration files (JSON, YAML, .env):

    {
      "apiKey": "a1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8i9j0"
    }
    api_key: a1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8i9j0

  • Code snippets:

    headers = {
        "authorization": "a1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8i9j0"
    }

Severity​

  • 🟠 High

This severity level is due to the potential for unauthorized access to AssemblyAI's services, which could lead to misuse of resources and unauthorized data processing. The blast radius includes any application or service that relies on AssemblyAI for transcription and analysis, potentially affecting data integrity and privacy.

What Can an Attacker Do?​

With immediate access to an AssemblyAI API key, an attacker can:

  • Process unauthorized data: Submit audio files for transcription or analysis (if the key has access to these services).
  • Consume resources: Utilize the API to its limits, potentially incurring costs (if the account is billed per usage).
  • Access sensitive information: Retrieve transcriptions or analysis results (if the key has read permissions).
  • Modify service configurations: Change settings or configurations (if the key has administrative permissions).

An attacker could potentially escalate their access by using the API to gather more information about the account or service configurations, leading to further exploitation or lateral movement within the affected environment.

Real-World Impact​

Exposure of an AssemblyAI API key poses significant business risks, including:

  • Data Exposure: Unauthorized access to transcriptions and analysis results (if the credential has read access to sensitive data).
  • Financial Loss: Increased billing due to unauthorized API usage (if billing/resource creation is permitted).
  • Operational Disruption: Service interruptions or degraded performance due to resource exhaustion (if the attacker consumes API limits).
  • Reputational Damage: Loss of trust from clients and partners due to data breaches or service misuse.

In worst-case scenarios, prolonged exposure could lead to extensive data breaches and significant financial and reputational damage, especially if sensitive client data is involved.

Prerequisites for Exploitation​

  • Network access requirements: Internet access to reach AssemblyAI's API endpoints.
  • Additional context needed: Knowledge of the API endpoint and any specific parameters required for requests.
  • Rate limits or restrictions: API rate limits may restrict the volume of requests an attacker can make.

How to Verify If It's Active​

To verify if an AssemblyAI API key is active, use the following command:

curl -X GET "https://api.assemblyai.com/v2/account" -H "authorization: [API_KEY]"

Valid credential response: A successful response will include account details, such as usage limits and remaining credits.

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

Detection Patterns​

Common Variable Names:

  • ASSEMBLYAI_API_KEY
  • API_KEY
  • ASSEMBLYAI_KEY
  • AUTH_TOKEN
  • ASSEMBLYAI_AUTH
  • ASSEMBLYAI_SECRET

File Locations:

  • .env
  • config.json
  • settings.yaml
  • credentials.py
  • app.config

Regex Pattern:

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

Remediation Steps​

  1. Revoke immediately - Go to AssemblyAI's dashboard and delete the compromised API key.
  2. Audit access logs - Review AssemblyAI usage logs for unauthorized requests or data processing 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 API key in AssemblyAI and ensure it has 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 in AssemblyAI and require secure connections.
  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​