What does Scrub do in a repository?

• A. Archives old commits.
• B. Adds metadata to commits.
• C. Removes sensitive data from a repository.
• D. Encrypts repository contents.

Answer: (C)

Scrub is the process of removing sensitive information from a repository. It targets data like API keys, credentials, or secrets that were accidentally committed and rewrites the project’s history so that those values no longer exist in any past commits. This often means rewriting multiple branches and tags and then force-pushing the cleaned history to the remote so future clones won’t contain the exposed data. Because the data may have already been exposed, it’s also essential to rotate or revoke the affected credentials and notify collaborators, since forks or clones may still retain the sensitive information. In short, scrub focuses on purge and redaction of secrets from the repository’s history, not on archiving, metadata addition, or encryption.