From Static to Dynamic Secrets — The Path to Zero Standing Privileges

Read full article here: https://www.akeyless.io/blog/using-dynamic-secrets-to-achieve-zero-standing-privileges/?utm_source=nhimg

In every digital system—whether it’s a legacy application, a modern microservice, or a cloud workload—access depends on authentication credentials known as secrets. These include API tokens, SSH keys, encryption keys, and database passwords. They are the foundation of trusted communication between machines, users, and services.

However, as systems scale, these credentials multiply. Teams often store them across multiple repositories, configuration files, or CI/CD pipelines—sometimes even hardcoded into scripts or embedded in source code. This uncontrolled proliferation of credentials, known as secrets sprawl, creates serious security and operational challenges.

The first step to controlling this sprawl is implementing centralized secrets management. A modern vaulting solution such as Akeyless Vault consolidates and encrypts all secrets across environments, giving teams unified control, access visibility, and secure automation. But while traditional secrets management is essential, it only solves half the problem.

The Problem with Static Secrets

Even when securely stored in a vault, static secrets—credentials that remain valid until manually rotated or revoked—introduce persistent risk. Their weaknesses are inherent:

• They tend to leak. Plain-text credentials often end up in logs, scripts, or repositories. Each time they’re shared or referenced, exposure risk grows.
• They create standing privileges. A static secret typically provides 24/7 access to a system or resource. If compromised, attackers gain ongoing, unrestricted access until the secret is rotated.
• They encourage operational inertia. Static secrets require continuous tracking, rotation, and cleanup—a process prone to human error and delay.

Centralized vaults encrypt static secrets but cannot eliminate the problem of persistent privileges. That’s where dynamic secrets come in.

The Solution: Dynamic Secrets

Dynamic secrets are temporary, on-demand credentials generated in real time for a specific user, workload, or session. Instead of storing long-lived keys, a dynamic secret is created just when access is needed—and automatically expires after a short duration.

For example:
A Kubernetes pod spins up and needs to query a database. Instead of using a shared or pre-stored database password, Akeyless generates a unique, time-limited credential for that pod. Once the job completes or the TTL (time to live) expires, the credential is revoked and deleted.

This model transforms access control from static entitlement to Just-in-Time (JIT) authentication, reducing the attack surface dramatically.

How Dynamic Secrets Enforce Zero Standing Privileges (ZSP)

Dynamic secrets are a cornerstone of achieving Zero Standing Privileges—a security state where no user, machine, or service holds continuous privileged access by default.

Here’s how they deliver that outcome:

• Ephemeral by design: Credentials exist only for the duration of a single session.
• Least privilege by policy: Every dynamic secret grants the minimum permissions required for a specific task.
• Zero exposure: Secrets are never stored in plain text or shared; they are created and injected in memory.
• Automatic revocation: Credentials are deleted immediately after use or upon session termination.

This model replaces static, broad, and persistent access with just-in-time, just-enough privileges—turning one of the most exploited attack vectors into a controlled, auditable process.

Dynamic secrets also enable human-to-machine Zero Trust access (e.g., secure remote administration or DevOps operations) by issuing temporary credentials for privileged tasks, without exposing long-term secrets or VPN credentials.

Implementing Dynamic Secrets with Akeyless Vault

Akeyless’ Vaultless® Platform provides a seamless way to adopt dynamic secrets without infrastructure overhead. Using predefined connectors for platforms such as AWS, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Kubernetes, and more, Akeyless automatically provisions and deletes credentials with minimal configuration.

Example Configuration Steps

For administrators, configuring a dynamic secret through Akeyless is straightforward:

1. Select the target — Choose the resource (e.g., database, AWS account, or API endpoint).
2. Provide connection details — Supply the IP address, port, or hostname, along with superuser credentials authorized to create temporary users.
3. Apply Zero-Knowledge Encryption — Akeyless never sees or stores your credentials; all encryption is performed locally.
4. Define privileges — Specify the exact roles and permissions for the temporary credential.
5. Set the TTL (Time to Live) — Determine how long the credential remains valid before it’s automatically deleted.

Once configured, Akeyless takes care of the lifecycle—from issuance to deletion—without manual involvement.

(Note: For private networks, all communication occurs through the secure Akeyless API Gateway, ensuring zero direct access from the SaaS platform to customer resources.)

Requesting and Using Dynamic Credentials

For developers or workloads, requesting a dynamic secret is as simple as a single API call or CLI command:

1. The application requests access to a specific secret via the Akeyless API.
2. Akeyless authenticates the client, validates the policy, and securely generates a new credential.
3. The credential is delivered back to the application and used to establish a session with the target resource.
4. The credential expires automatically after the TTL period—no manual cleanup needed.

This workflow is identical regardless of whether the resource is a database, cloud account, or infrastructure component, simplifying cross-environment automation.

The Bottom Line

Dynamic secrets represent the next stage of identity and access security. By shifting from static credentials to ephemeral, just-in-time access, organizations can enforce Zero Standing Privileges and drastically reduce the window of attack.

With Akeyless, teams gain:

• Centralized secret automation across all environments
• Zero-knowledge security for full data privacy
• Audit-ready visibility into every access request and credential lifecycle
• Compliance alignment with Zero Trust and least-privilege principles

In a world where credential theft remains one of the top causes of breaches, dynamic secrets provide a clear path to eliminating persistent risk—ensuring access exists only when it’s needed, and never longer than necessary.