Security & Privacy · THE NO-PANIC PLAN
Maintain a credential inventory without copying secrets
Teams cannot rotate or revoke credentials reliably if they do not know which service uses them, who owns them or how to recover safely. This workflow tracks only non-secret metadata in an approved, access-controlled system; never paste passwords, API tokens, private keys, recovery codes or secret-bearing connection strings into the register, a ticket or a Nirmion tool. OWASP, NIST, GitHub and AWS guidance below supports secure lifecycle and least-privilege practices; follow the documentation for the actual provider and your organization?s policy. Nirmion?s Access Review Checklist helps review who can access systems, but it does not manage credentials or store secrets.
MISSION Give service owners a reliable, secret-free register for credential ownership, scope, approved storage, rotation, access review and recovery without exposing credential values.
Review credential accessTHE REAL-WORLD BIT
What happens outside this browser tab?
Define the scope and safe metadata fields; record each credential?s service, owner, storage reference and consumer without its value; set risk-based review and rotation triggers; use an access review to reduce unnecessary access; and rehearse a controlled rotate/revoke and recovery process.
YOUR CHECKLIST, WITH FEWER DRAMATIC SIGHES
One step at a time.
Follow the order below. If a step names a Nirmion tool, its link is right there with it.
- 01
Set the boundary: inventory references, never secret values
List the systems and environments in scope, then identify credential classes such as service-account passwords, API tokens, database credentials, certificates, signing keys and CI/CD secrets. Explicitly prohibit storing the secret itself, partial secret strings, recovery codes or unredacted logs in the inventory, email, issue tracker or spreadsheet. Store the register only in an approved access-controlled system, separate from the secret store, and protect it because metadata can reveal architecture and ownership. OWASP recommends documenting which secrets exist and why while keeping secrets in an appropriate management system. NIST key-management guidance applies specifically to cryptographic keys; use the issuing system?s policy for other credential types. (Sources 1, 4)
- 02
Record non-secret fields that let an owner act
For each item, record a unique asset ID; service and environment; credential type; accountable owner and backup; consuming application or workflow; approved secret-store reference or provider console path; permissions and scope; creation or last-rotation date if known; expiry or review trigger; dependency and recovery notes; and status. Use a secret-manager name or immutable record identifier, not the secret value or a URL that embeds it. Mark unknown fields as unknown and assign an owner and due date to resolve them. Keep evidence links access-controlled and scrub tokens from screenshots, command output and ticket history. OWASP calls for a documented inventory and lifecycle policy, while GitHub warns that automatic log redaction is not guaranteed; do not rely on masking to make disclosure safe. (Sources 1, 2)
- 03
Choose review and rotation triggers based on risk and dependency
Set a named owner, review cadence and trigger for each credential based on privilege, exposure, service criticality, provider capability and operational impact. Define immediate incident handling for suspected exposure or unauthorized use; a normal scheduled review is not an adequate response to a compromise. For routine rotation, follow the identity or secret-manager provider?s supported procedure and account for every consumer, overlap window, rate limit and rollback path. Avoid an arbitrary one-size-fits-all interval: NIST key-management guidance treats cryptoperiods as risk decisions for cryptographic keys, and the OWASP guide recommends using the actual secret-management system documentation for implementation details. Record the policy source and approver so the schedule can be audited and revised. (Sources 1, 3, 4)
- 04
Review who can read, change or use each credential
Compare the inventory?s owners and consumers with current permissions in the secret store, cloud account, repository, CI/CD platform and target service. Remove access that no longer matches a person?s role, narrow permissions to the required service and environment, and separate administrative rotation rights from application use where the provider supports it. Use Nirmion Access Review Checklist (tool 853) to structure the review actions and record accountable reviewers; perform the actual checks and changes in the authoritative provider consoles. GitHub documents that write access to a repository can expose configured secrets and recommends least privilege, so include maintainers and workflow permissions in the review. Do not paste any secret into the checklist or attach an unredacted export. (Sources 2, 3)
- 05
Test rotation, revoke obsolete credentials and rehearse recovery
Before routine rotation, confirm the owner, affected consumers, maintenance window, monitoring and fallback; stage the new credential through the approved secret manager, update consumers, verify successful authentication and service health, then revoke the old credential and confirm it no longer works. For suspected exposure, follow the incident-response process to contain and revoke promptly, investigate access and replace dependent credentials as needed; do not wait for the ordinary rotation date. AWS documents rotation as an update to both the secret and the consuming database or service, and its workflow verifies the new credential before completion. Record completion timestamps and provider references without values, test recovery from the approved backup path, and update the next review date. Keep rotation logs free of secret material. (Sources 1, 3, 5)
THE HELPER CREW
Tools for the fiddly bits.
These are the currently published Nirmion tools matched to this guide. Open a tool page for its accepted inputs and limits.
RECEIPTS, PLEASE
Sources & review notes
Each source is linked to the steps it supports. Open it to check its scope and current guidance.
Source checked 2026-10-08