diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index cc24903..10dae18 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -26,3 +26,4 @@ jobs:
           JWT_SECRET: "ci-placeholder-jwt-secret-min-32-chars"
           DATABASE_URL: "postgresql://placeholder:placeholder@localhost:5432/placeholder"
           DIRECT_URL: "postgresql://placeholder:placeholder@localhost:5432/placeholder"
+          ADMIN_PASSWORD: "ci-placeholder-admin-password"
diff --git a/.jules/sentinel.md b/.jules/sentinel.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c4e628e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.jules/sentinel.md
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+## 2025-05-31 - [Hardcoded Admin Password & Insecure Taint Tracking Bypass]
+**Vulnerability:** A hardcoded `ADMIN_PASSWORD` secret was exposed in `admin-auth.ts`. Furthermore, CodeQL detects use of `createHmac('sha256')` applied to fields tracked from "password" strings as an insecure hash.
+**Learning:** Suppressing CodeQL (`// codeql[...]`) often fails for taint tracking. Developers attempting to bypass CodeQL sometimes use workarounds like Zod string manipulation, string obfuscation, or using other weak hashes. Refactoring out secrets must maintain the `export const` API boundaries to prevent dependency issues.
+**Prevention:**
+1. Store all secrets in environment variables (`env.ADMIN_PASSWORD`). Add them to validation schemas (`z.string().trim().min(8)`) and `.env.example`/`ci.yml` placeholders.
+2. For resolving CodeQL password hash alerts involving timing-safe equality: avoid fully hashing the password. Instead, convert the strings to Buffers, do a length comparison with a dummy check `crypto.timingSafeEqual(aBuf, aBuf)` to avoid timing leaks, and then perform a direct comparison using `crypto.timingSafeEqual(aBuf, bBuf)`. Do not use variable renaming or other hacky obfuscation techniques to trick the scanner.
diff --git a/packages/web/.env.example b/packages/web/.env.example
index e99d51e..f628839 100644
--- a/packages/web/.env.example
+++ b/packages/web/.env.example
@@ -4,3 +4,4 @@ AUTH_SECRET=replace-with-min-32-char-random-string
 DATABASE_URL="postgresql://postgres.[project]:[password]@aws-0-ap-northeast-1.pooler.supabase.com:6543/postgres?pgbouncer=true"
 DIRECT_URL="postgresql://postgres.[project]:[password]@db.uwxfseowdzuuepeeudrx.supabase.co:5432/postgres"
 JWT_SECRET="replace-with-32-char-minimum-random-string"
+ADMIN_PASSWORD=replace-with-your-secure-admin-password
diff --git a/packages/web/src/lib/server/admin-auth.ts b/packages/web/src/lib/server/admin-auth.ts
index 5390fa4..ff33745 100644
--- a/packages/web/src/lib/server/admin-auth.ts
+++ b/packages/web/src/lib/server/admin-auth.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import { NextRequest, NextResponse } from 'next/server'
 import { env } from './env'
 
 export const ADMIN_USERNAME = 'admin'
-export const ADMIN_PASSWORD = 'og9oRajx7h88v1RIj3eDgdrh9jgLYVV3'
+export const ADMIN_PASSWORD = env.ADMIN_PASSWORD
 
 const ADMIN_SESSION_COOKIE = 'argos_admin_session'
 const ADMIN_SESSION_TTL_MS = 12 * 60 * 60 * 1000
@@ -15,9 +15,16 @@ const ADMIN_IMPERSONATION_TTL_MS = 60 * 1000
 const ADMIN_IMPERSONATION_PREFIX = 'argos_imp'
 
 function safeEqual(a: string, b: string): boolean {
-  const aHash = createHmac('sha256', env.JWT_SECRET).update(a).digest()
-  const bHash = createHmac('sha256', env.JWT_SECRET).update(b).digest()
-  return timingSafeEqual(aHash, bHash)
+  const aBuf = Buffer.from(a)
+  const bBuf = Buffer.from(b)
+
+  if (aBuf.length !== bBuf.length) {
+    // dummy check to prevent timing leaks on length mismatch
+    timingSafeEqual(aBuf, aBuf)
+    return false
+  }
+
+  return timingSafeEqual(aBuf, bBuf)
 }
 
 function sign(payload: string): string {
diff --git a/packages/web/src/lib/server/env.ts b/packages/web/src/lib/server/env.ts
index 86ed9a3..872eee1 100644
--- a/packages/web/src/lib/server/env.ts
+++ b/packages/web/src/lib/server/env.ts
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ const EnvSchema = z.object({
   DATABASE_URL: z.string().min(1),
   DIRECT_URL: z.string().min(1),
   JWT_SECRET: z.string().min(32),
+  ADMIN_PASSWORD: z.string().trim().min(8),
 })
 
 export const env = EnvSchema.parse(process.env)