A recent discovery by GitGuardian researchers has exposed a significant security risk in n8n instances, with 321 live instances found to be accepting API tokens that were leaked in public GitHub commits. This vulnerability allows attackers to access sensitive data and downstream credentials without needing to exploit a software vulnerability, such as a CVE. The researchers identified 4,576 unique credentials associated with 1,255 hostnames, highlighting the scope of the issue. By leveraging these exposed API tokens, attackers can gain unauthorized access to n8n instances, potentially leading to credential theft and other malicious activities. The fact that these tokens were exposed in public GitHub commits1 underscores the importance of securing sensitive information in development environments. This matters to practitioners because it highlights the need for robust secrets management and regular audits to prevent similar exposure of sensitive credentials, which can have devastating consequences for organizations relying on n8n instances.