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Travis CI Token

A Travis CI token is a credential used to authenticate and interact with the Travis CI service, which is a continuous integration platform that automates the building and testing of software projects. These tokens are critical for accessing the Travis CI API and can be used to trigger builds, access build logs, and manage repositories. Exposure of a Travis CI token can lead to unauthorized access to your CI/CD pipeline, potentially allowing attackers to manipulate build processes or access sensitive information.

How Does It Look​

Travis CI tokens can appear in various contexts, such as:

  • Environment variables:

    export TRAVIS_TOKEN="abcd1234efgh5678ijkl"

  • Configuration files (YAML):

    travis:
      token: "abcd1234efgh5678ijkl"

  • Code snippets:

    travis_token = "abcd1234efgh5678ijkl"

  • Connection strings (if applicable): Not typically used in connection strings.

Severity​

  • 🟠 High

The severity of a Travis CI token exposure is high because it provides access to the CI/CD pipeline, allowing an attacker to manipulate builds, access sensitive environment variables, and potentially deploy malicious code. The blast radius includes any systems or applications that rely on the Travis CI pipeline for deployment.

What Can an Attacker Do?​

With immediate access to a Travis CI token, an attacker can:

  • Trigger unauthorized builds: Initiate builds to test malicious code or consume resources (if the token has build permissions).
  • Access build logs: View sensitive information in logs, such as environment variables or debug output (if logs contain sensitive data).
  • Modify build configurations: Change build scripts or configurations to introduce vulnerabilities (if write access is enabled).
  • Access repository data: Clone or modify repositories linked to the Travis CI account (if repository access is granted).

An attacker could escalate their access by injecting malicious code into the build process, potentially leading to further compromise of the application or infrastructure.

Real-World Impact​

The exposure of a Travis CI token poses significant business risks, including:

  • Data Exposure: Sensitive environment variables or build logs (if the token allows access to logs).
  • Financial Loss: Increased costs due to unauthorized builds consuming resources (if build permissions are abused).
  • Operational Disruption: Compromised build processes leading to deployment of faulty or malicious code (if build configurations are altered).
  • Reputational Damage: Loss of trust if customers or partners discover compromised builds or data leaks.

In the worst-case scenario, an attacker could gain persistent access to your infrastructure, leading to widespread data breaches or service disruptions.

Prerequisites for Exploitation​

To exploit a Travis CI token, an attacker needs:

  • Network access: Ability to interact with the Travis CI API.
  • Additional context: Knowledge of the associated Travis CI account or repository.
  • No rate limits: Exploitation is easier if there are no API rate limits or restrictions.

How to Verify If It's Active​

To verify if a Travis CI token is active, use the following command:

curl -H "Authorization: token [TOKEN]" https://api.travis-ci.com/user

Valid credential response: A successful response will return user information in JSON format.

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

Detection Patterns​

Common Variable Names:

  • TRAVIS_TOKEN
  • CI_TOKEN
  • TRAVIS_CI_TOKEN
  • TRAVIS_API_TOKEN
  • TRAVIS_AUTH_TOKEN
  • TRAVIS_SECRET

File Locations:

  • .travis.yml
  • config.yml
  • settings.json
  • .env

Regex Pattern:

travis[_-]?token['"]?\s*[:=]\s*['"]?[a-zA-Z0-9]{20,40}['"]?

Remediation Steps​

  1. Revoke immediately - Go to Travis CI > Settings > API Keys and delete the compromised token.
  2. Audit access logs - Review Travis CI build logs for unauthorized access or changes during the exposure window.
  3. Assess blast radius - Identify all systems, applications, and environments that used the exposed token.
  4. Rotate credential - Generate a new Travis CI token with least-privilege permissions.
  5. Update dependent systems - Deploy the new token to all applications and update CI/CD pipelines securely.
  6. Harden access controls - Enable IP allowlisting in Travis CI and require secure connections.
  7. Implement secrets management - Migrate tokens 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 token 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​