Unable to Push to GitHub Due to Secret Scanning

[anna-rosew]

Code Security

Bug

Body

I am trying to push a large set of changes to a new GitHub repository, but my pushes are being rejected due to GitHub's Push Protection detecting secrets in previous commits. The push fails with the following error: `remote: error: GH013: Repository rule violations found for refs/heads/main.

• Push cannot contain secrets
• Sendinblue API Key detected` The error references an old API key in multiple commits, specifically in deleted files (secrets.env). Despite removing this file from the working directory, the key is still detected in the commit history.

Troubleshooting Methods Tried (All Failed)

1. Initial Push Attempt
   Tried pushing the repository normally after removing the sensitive file.
   Result: GitHub Push Protection blocked the push due to the presence of API keys in the Git history.

2. Increased Buffer Size
   Increased the http.postBuffer size using:git config --global http.postBuffer 524288000
   Result: The push still failed due to detected secrets.

3. Forced Push to New Repository
   Created a new GitHub repository with the URL: https://github.com/anna-rosew/return-to-the-source.git
   Attempted to push the changes using: git push new-origin main --force
   Result: The push failed due to both the size of the repository and the Push Protection error regarding the same API key in the commit history.

4. Tried Git Interactive Rebase
   Used git rebase -i to manually edit old commits containing the sensitive information:
   Ran:git rebase -i HEAD~n
   Marked the problematic commits for editing and removed sensitive data using git rm and git commit --amend.
   Result: This method did not solve the problem, as the secrets were from older commits not easily accessed via this approach.

5. Used git filter-repo to Remove Sensitive Data
   Installed and used git filter-repo to remove the sensitive file from the history:
   git filter-repo --path secrets.env --invert-paths Result: This seemed to rewrite the history locally, but pushing still failed due to GitHub detecting the same API key.

At this point, I have attempted numerous methods to clean the commit history and push the project, but I am blocked by the detection of secrets. I’ve tried filtering the repo, increasing buffer size, and pushing to a new repository, all of which have failed.

[ghostinhershell]

Hi @anna-rosew! The best place to go for answers to account-specific questions like this one is opening a ticket on our Support page. Please open a ticket with them :)

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