archive-credential-recovery

Mine Wayback Machine CDX archives for credentials and sensitive data from dead or replaced hosts.

7|4|Updated Jun 22, 2026
One-click install
npx skills add https://github.com/dbx0/skills --skill archive-credential-recovery-dbx0
Or copy as Structured Prompt for Agent
Please help me install this Agent Skill.
Skill: archive-credential-recovery
Source: https://github.com/dbx0/skills/tree/main/skills/methodology/triage/archive-credential-recovery
Command: npx skills add https://github.com/dbx0/skills --skill archive-credential-recovery-dbx0

SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION & REQUIREMENTS

What problem does it solve? Dead, replaced, or superseded hosts and deployments can still leak credentials and sensitive data through the Internet Archive, and live-host-only testing misses this entire disclosure surface. ## Core Features & Use Cases - CDX-based candidate discovery: Query the Wayback CDX API for dead or replaced hosts, filter to JS/JSON captures, and dedupe to the most recent capture per URL. - Archived bundle mining: Fetch raw bodies via the id_ endpoint and scan them with the same secret patterns used on live bundles, with gzip-decompression handling to avoid silent false negatives. - Rate-limit failover: Pace archive.org requests and fail over to urlscan.io, CommonCrawl, and Shodan/Censys when the source IP gets banned. - Use Case: During a bug bounty engagement, a target's old API host no longer resolves. Query the CDX index for its archived JS bundles, recover a still-valid API key, and verify it against the current in-scope service. ## Quick Start Check the Wayback Machine CDX index for archived JavaScript bundles from this target's dead hosts and tell me whether any recovered secrets still work against the live in-scope endpoints.

Frequently Asked Questions about archive-credential-recovery

High-intent search queries and answers about installing and using this skill.

FAQPage Schema
How do I find leaked credentials using the Wayback Machine?

Query web.archive.org/cdx/search/cdx for candidate hosts, filter to JS/JSON captures, dedupe per URL, then fetch raw bodies via the id_ endpoint and scan them with standard secret patterns. Verify any recovered credential against the current live in-scope service before reporting.

How to scan archived JavaScript bundles for secrets?

Fetch archived bundles with the id_ suffix URL to get original bytes, decompress gzip responses before scanning, and apply the same secret and build-env patterns used on live bundles. Filter out third-party library and CDN code to reduce noise.

What to do when archive.org rate-limits or bans my IP?

Pace CDX queries to one per apex domain and stop on 429s, since continuing deepens the IP-wide ban. Fail over to independent sources like urlscan.io search, CommonCrawl indexes, and Shodan or Censys, which are unaffected by an archive.org ban.

Why does my secret scan of archived files find nothing?

The id_ endpoint returns raw origin bytes, so gzip-encoded responses get written to disk compressed and regex scans silently match nothing. Check files for the 1f 8b gzip magic bytes and decompress before scanning.

Can archived API responses expose data after the endpoint is fixed?

Yes, archived 200 responses remain retrievable even after the live route returns 401 or 403. Prove exposure using CDX metadata alone (status codes, capture counts, date ranges) rather than bulk-downloading bodies containing real PII.

Should I test recovered credentials against the archived host?

No, only test recovered credentials against current, live, in-scope services. A credential found via an out-of-scope host's archive must never be tested against that host, and an archived secret only counts as a finding if it still works today.