Skip to content

CKV_AWS_45 false positives #7310

@solita-mao

Description

@solita-mao

Describe the issue
CKV_AWS_45 "Lambda function’s environment variables expose secrets" reports findings even there are no secrets in Lambda environment.

Examples
Example A: (CDK Bucket Deployment)
{ "Environment": { "Variables": { "AWS_CA_BUNDLE": "/etc/pki/ca-trust/extracted/pem/tls-ca-bundle.pem" } } }

Debug logs:
2025-09-23 09:43:54,798 [MainThread ] [DEBUG] should_run_check CKV_AWS_45: True 2025-09-23 09:43:54,798 [MainThread ] [DEBUG] Running check: Ensure no hard-coded secrets exist in Lambda environment on file /tf/demoStack0668BA2D.template.json 2025-09-23 09:43:54,798 [MainThread ] [DEBUG] File /tf/demoStack0668BA2D.template.json, resource "AWS::Lambda::Function.CustomCDKBucketDeployment8693BB64968944B69ACFB0CB9EB8756C81C01536" check "Ensure no hard-coded secrets exist in Lambda environment" Result: {'result': <CheckResult.FAILED: 'FAILED'>, 'evaluated_keys': ['Properties/Environment/Variables/__file__']}

EXAMPLE B: (Secrets Manager used for secrets handling)
{ "Environment": { "Variables": { "DB_USER": "demo", "DB_HOST": { "Fn::GetAtt": ["demoDatabaseClusterA918C4BA", "Endpoint.Address"] }, "DB_NAME": "demo", "DB_SECRET_NAME": { "Fn::Join": [ "-", [ { "Fn::Select": [ 0, { "Fn::Split": [ "-", { "Fn::Select": [ 6, { "Fn::Split": [ ":", { "Ref": "demoDatabaseSecretB0AB457E" } ] } ] } ] } ] }, { "Fn::Select": [ 1, { "Fn::Split": [ "-", { "Fn::Select": [ 6, { "Fn::Split": [ ":", { "Ref": "demoDatabaseSecretB0AB457E" } ] } ] } ] } ] } ] ] }, "DB_PORT": { "Fn::GetAtt": ["demoDatabaseClusterA918C4BA", "Endpoint.Port"] } } } }
Debug logs:
2025-09-23 09:48:51,214 [MainThread ] [DEBUG] should_run_check CKV_AWS_45: True 2025-09-23 09:48:51,214 [MainThread ] [DEBUG] Running check: Ensure no hard-coded secrets exist in Lambda environment on file /tf/demoStackB73D57F6.template.json 2025-09-23 09:48:51,214 [MainThread ] [DEBUG] File /tf/demoStackB73D57F6.template.json, resource "AWS::Lambda::Function.demoPostgreSQLIamUserD2E888BF" check "Ensure no hard-coded secrets exist in Lambda environment" Result: {'result': <CheckResult.FAILED: 'FAILED'>, 'evaluated_keys': ['Properties/Environment/Variables/__file__']}

Version (please complete the following information):

  • Checkov Version 3.2.439 onwards

Additional context

Metadata

Metadata

Assignees

No one assigned

    Labels

    checksCheck additions or changes

    Type

    No type

    Projects

    No projects

    Milestone

    No milestone

    Relationships

    None yet

    Development

    No branches or pull requests

    Issue actions