Claude Code "don't ask again" file leaks passwords and keys: 1,122 public copies of .claude/settings.local.json on GitHub hold secrets
Published Sources: pwn.watch
What is affected, what to do
When a Claude Code user picks "Yes, and don't ask again" on a shell command, Claude Code can save the exact command, including any password or token typed into it, as an allow rule in .claude/settings.local.json in the project. Claude Code adds that file to the user's global git excludes on one machine, but never to the project's own .gitignore, and does nothing for a file that is already tracked.
The available sources name no fixed version. Check the vendor guidance in the references below.
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Metrics
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Priority
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CVSS v3
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EPSS score
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- Severity
- High
Priority (0–325)
The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?
Read in glossary- 30.00 Methodology
Exploit maturity
An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.
Read in glossary- no public PoC known
KEV status
The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.
Read in glossary- —
- Published
Classification under NIS2 and CRA
Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.
NIS2
NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.
Read in glossary- High technical severity: assess and remediate the vulnerability in vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2 and document the decision.
CRA
The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.
Read in glossary- From 11.12.2027, Annex I Part II CRA requires manufacturers of affected products with digital elements to handle vulnerabilities without delay and provide security updates.
ISO/IEC 27001
ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.
Read in glossary- Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.
Description
When a Claude Code user picks "Yes, and don't ask again" on a shell command, Claude Code can save the exact command, including any password or token typed into it, as an allow rule in .claude/settings.local.json in the project. Claude Code adds that file to the user's global git excludes on one machine, but never to the project's own .gitignore, and does nothing for a file that is already tracked. Apiiro researchers Shmulik Cohen and Matan Giladi published research on Nov 5 2026 that found 104,185 public copies of the file on GitHub, 1,122 of them (about 1.1%) holding at least one secret, 1,379 distinct secrets in total, including 379 database passwords, 43 SSH logins, 42 GitHub/GitLab/npm tokens and 23 AWS keys. Counting git history, the shared .claude/settings.json and saved agent chat logs, they counted 2,539 secrets across 1,994 repositories. Apiiro did not test the credentials, but one notified company confirmed its key had been live. Earlier bug reports about the behavior were closed by an automated bot without a reply from Anthropic.
Source: pwn.watch