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Cloud-native SaaS platform for unified secrets management and machine identity security
Hashicorp Vault
Secure secrets management with encryption and access control
Vault provides unified secrets management with encrypted storage, dynamic credential generation, data encryption, automated leasing, and comprehensive audit logging for modern infrastructure.
Overview
Secure Secrets Management for Modern Systems
Vault is a secrets management tool designed to control access to sensitive data such as API keys, passwords, certificates, and database credentials. It provides a unified interface for managing secrets across diverse platforms while maintaining strict access controls and detailed audit trails.
Core Capabilities
Vault encrypts data before writing to persistent storage, ensuring raw storage access alone cannot compromise secrets. It generates dynamic, short-lived credentials on-demand for systems like AWS and SQL databases, automatically revoking them when leases expire. The platform also functions as an encryption-as-a-service layer, allowing teams to encrypt and decrypt data without storing it, enabling developers to leverage enterprise-grade encryption without building custom solutions.
Deployment and Audience
Designed for security teams, platform engineers, and DevOps practitioners managing secrets at scale, Vault supports multiple storage backends including disk and Consul. The leasing and renewal system provides time-bound access to secrets, while built-in revocation capabilities enable rapid response to security incidents by revoking individual secrets or entire trees of credentials. Comprehensive documentation, tutorials, and certification programs support both new users and experienced practitioners.
Highlights
Encrypted secret storage with support for multiple backend systems
Dynamic secret generation with automatic revocation and lease management
Encryption-as-a-service for data protection without custom development
Granular revocation controls and comprehensive audit logging
Pros
- Unified interface for managing diverse secret types across platforms
- Automatic credential rotation and time-bound access reduce exposure risk
- Encryption happens before persistence, protecting against storage compromise
- Detailed audit logs provide visibility into secret access patterns
Considerations
- Requires careful operational planning for high availability deployments
- Learning curve for teams new to centralized secrets management
- Dynamic secret generation requires integration with target systems
- Unsealing process adds complexity to disaster recovery procedures
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Fit guide
Great for
- Organizations managing secrets across multiple cloud providers and platforms
- Teams requiring automated credential rotation and short-lived access tokens
- Security-conscious environments needing comprehensive audit trails
- Infrastructure requiring encryption services without custom cryptography
Not ideal when
- Simple applications with minimal secret management requirements
- Teams lacking operational expertise for distributed system management
- Environments where additional infrastructure dependencies are prohibitive
- Use cases requiring offline access to secrets without network connectivity
How teams use it
Dynamic Database Credentials
Applications request time-bound database credentials from Vault, which automatically generates and revokes them, eliminating static credential sprawl and reducing breach impact.
Cloud Provider Access Management
Services obtain short-lived AWS or Azure credentials on-demand, ensuring credentials expire automatically and reducing the risk of leaked long-term access keys.
Encryption-as-a-Service
Development teams encrypt sensitive data before storing it in databases without implementing custom encryption, while security teams maintain centralized control over encryption policies.
Certificate Management
Automated certificate generation and renewal for microservices eliminates manual certificate handling and ensures consistent PKI practices across infrastructure.
Tech snapshot
Go69%
JavaScript19%
Handlebars5%
HCL3%
TypeScript3%
Shell1%
Frequently asked questions
What types of secrets can Vault manage?
Vault manages API keys, passwords, certificates, database credentials, cloud provider access keys, and arbitrary key-value pairs. It supports both static secrets and dynamically generated credentials for integrated systems.
How does Vault protect secrets at rest?
Vault encrypts all data before writing to persistent storage backends. Even with direct access to the storage layer, secrets remain protected without Vault's encryption keys.
What are dynamic secrets and why use them?
Dynamic secrets are credentials generated on-demand with automatic expiration. They reduce risk by eliminating long-lived credentials, providing time-bound access, and enabling automatic revocation when leases expire.
Can Vault integrate with existing applications?
Yes, Vault provides HTTP APIs and client libraries for multiple programming languages. Applications can request secrets programmatically, and the vault-examples repository demonstrates integration patterns.
What storage backends does Vault support?
Vault supports multiple storage backends including local disk, Consul, and other systems. The choice of backend affects availability, scalability, and operational characteristics of your deployment.
Project at a glance
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Repo age10 years old
Last commit14 hours ago
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