3.1.3. AWS Secrets Manager for Application Secrets
First Principle: AWS Secrets Manager securely stores, rotates, and retrieves sensitive application secrets, preventing hardcoding of credentials and enhancing the security posture of your applications.
Sensitive information such as API keys, database credentials, and OAuth tokens should never be hardcoded directly into your application code or stored in plain text configuration files. AWS Secrets Manager helps you protect access to your applications, services, and IT resources.
Key Features of AWS Secrets Manager:
- Secure Storage: Encrypts secrets at rest using AWS KMS.
- Automated Rotation: Automatically rotates secrets for supported databases (Amazon RDS, Amazon Redshift), Amazon DocumentDB, and other services via AWS Lambda functions. This significantly reduces the attack surface from long-lived credentials.
- Centralized Management: Manage all your secrets from a single place.
- Integration: Easily retrieve secrets programmatically using AWS SDKs or AWS CLI from your application code, Lambda functions, or CodeBuild projects.
- Least Privilege: Control access to secrets using IAM policies.
Scenario: You're developing an application that connects to an Amazon RDS database. The database credentials are highly sensitive and should not be stored directly in your application's configuration files. You also need these credentials to be rotated frequently for security best practices.
Reflection Question: How would you use AWS Secrets Manager to securely store, automatically rotate, and retrieve your application's database credentials, fundamentally preventing hardcoding and enhancing the security posture of your application?