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CloudSight API Key

CloudSight API Keys are used to authenticate requests to the CloudSight image recognition service. This service allows applications to analyze and identify images, providing valuable insights and metadata. Exposure of a CloudSight API Key is a significant security concern because it can lead to unauthorized access to the service, resulting in potential misuse of resources and data leakage.

How Does It Look​

CloudSight API Keys can appear in various contexts, such as:

  • Environment variables:

    export CLOUDSIGHT_API_KEY="cs_1234567890abcdef"

  • Configuration files (JSON):

    {
      "cloudsight": {
        "apiKey": "cs_1234567890abcdef"
      }
    }

  • Code snippets:

    cloudsight_api_key = "cs_1234567890abcdef"

  • Connection strings:

    cloudsight://cs_1234567890abcdef@api.cloudsight.ai

Severity​

  • 🟠 High

The severity of a CloudSight API Key exposure is high because it grants access to the image recognition service, which could lead to unauthorized data processing and potential financial costs. The blast radius includes any application or service that relies on CloudSight for image analysis.

What Can an Attacker Do?​

With immediate access to a CloudSight API Key, an attacker can perform unauthorized operations on the CloudSight platform.

Key actions an attacker can perform:

  • Process images: Submit images for analysis (if the credential has active service permissions)
  • Access metadata: Retrieve metadata and insights from processed images (if read access is enabled)
  • Incur costs: Generate excessive API requests leading to increased billing (if rate limits are not enforced)
  • Exploit data: Use image data for malicious purposes (if sensitive data is processed)

An attacker could potentially escalate their access by leveraging the API to gather more information about the service usage, which might lead to further exploitation or lateral movement within the affected systems.

Real-World Impact​

The exposure of a CloudSight API Key poses significant business risks, including:

Primary impact includes unauthorized access to image processing capabilities.

Potential consequences include:

  • Data Exposure: Unauthorized access to image metadata and insights (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 due to API rate limit exhaustion (if the attacker has high usage permissions)
  • Reputational Damage: Loss of trust if customer data is mishandled

In the worst-case scenario, the exposure could lead to cascading effects such as compromised customer data and significant financial liabilities.

Prerequisites for Exploitation​

To exploit a CloudSight API Key, an attacker needs:

  • Network access: Ability to send requests to the CloudSight API endpoint
  • Additional context: Knowledge of the API endpoint and any required parameters
  • Rate limits: Awareness of any rate limits or restrictions that might be in place

How to Verify If It's Active​

To verify if a CloudSight API Key is active, use the following command:

curl -X GET "https://api.cloudsight.ai/v1/images" -H "Authorization: Bearer [API_KEY]"

Valid credential response: A successful response will return a list of images or a status message indicating access.

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

Detection Patterns​

Common Variable Names:

  • CLOUDSIGHT_API_KEY
  • CS_API_KEY
  • CLOUDSIGHT_KEY
  • API_KEY
  • CS_KEY
  • CLOUDSIGHT_SECRET

File Locations:

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

Regex Pattern:

cs_[a-zA-Z0-9]{16,32}

Remediation Steps​

  1. Revoke immediately - Go to CloudSight Dashboard > API Keys and delete the compromised key.
  2. Audit access logs - Review CloudSight access logs for unauthorized image processing requests 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 the CloudSight Dashboard 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 in CloudSight 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​