Implement secure secrets management for CI/CD pipelines using Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, or native platform solutions. Use when handling sensitive credentials, rotating secrets, or securing CI/CD environments.

name: secrets-management description: Implement secure secrets management for CI/CD pipelines using Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, or native platform solutions. Use when handling sensitive credentials, rotating secrets, or securing CI/CD environments. ---

Secrets Management

Secure secrets management practices for CI/CD pipelines using Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, and other tools.

Purpose

Implement secure secrets management in CI/CD pipelines without hardcoding sensitive information.

When to Use

Store API keys and credentials
Manage database passwords
Handle TLS certificates
Rotate secrets automatically
Implement least-privilege access

Secrets Management Tools

HashiCorp Vault

Centralized secrets management
Dynamic secrets generation
Secret rotation
Audit logging
Fine-grained access control

AWS Secrets Manager

AWS-native solution
Automatic rotation
Integration with RDS
CloudFormation support

Azure Key Vault

Azure-native solution
HSM-backed keys
Certificate management
RBAC integration

Google Secret Manager

GCP-native solution
Versioning
IAM integration

HashiCorp Vault Integration

Setup Vault

# Start Vault dev server
vault server -dev

# Set environment
export VAULT_ADDR='http://127.0.0.1:8200'
export VAULT_TOKEN='root'

# Enable secrets engine
vault secrets enable -path=secret kv-v2

# Store secret
vault kv put secret/database/config username=admin password=secret

GitHub Actions with Vault

name: Deploy with Vault Secrets

on: [push]

jobs:
  deploy:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4

      - name: Import Secrets from Vault
        uses: hashicorp/vault-action@v2
        with:
          url: https://vault.example.com:8200
          token: ${{ secrets.VAULT_TOKEN }}
          secrets: |
            secret/data/database username | DB_USERNAME ;
            secret/data/database password | DB_PASSWORD ;
            secret/data/api key | API_KEY

      - name: Use secrets
        run: |
          echo "Connecting to database as $DB_USERNAME"
          # Use $DB_PASSWORD, $API_KEY

GitLab CI with Vault

deploy:
  image: vault:1.17
  before_script:
    - export VAULT_ADDR=https://vault.example.com:8200
    - export VAULT_TOKEN=$VAULT_TOKEN
    - apk add curl jq
  script:
    - |
      DB_PASSWORD=$(vault kv get -field=password secret/database/config)
      API_KEY=$(vault kv get -field=key secret/api/credentials)
      echo "Deploying with secrets..."
      # Use $DB_PASSWORD, $API_KEY

AWS Secrets Manager

Store Secret

aws secretsmanager create-secret \
  --name production/database/password \
  --secret-string "super-secret-password"

Retrieve in GitHub Actions

- name: Configure AWS credentials
  uses: aws-actions/configure-aws-credentials@v4
  with:
    aws-access-key-id: ${{ secrets.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }}
    aws-secret-access-key: ${{ secrets.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }}
    aws-region: us-west-2

- name: Get secret from AWS
  run: |
    SECRET=$(aws secretsmanager get-secret-value \
      --secret-id production/database/password \
      --query SecretString \
      --output text)
    echo "::add-mask::$SECRET"
    echo "DB_PASSWORD=$SECRET" >> $GITHUB_ENV

- name: Use secret
  run: |
    # Use $DB_PASSWORD
    ./deploy.sh

Terraform with AWS Secrets Manager

data "aws_secretsmanager_secret_version" "db_password" {
  secret_id = "production/database/password"
}

resource "aws_db_instance" "main" {
  allocated_storage    = 100
  engine              = "postgres"
  instance_class      = "db.t3.large"
  username            = "admin"
  password            = jsondecode(data.aws_secretsmanager_secret_version.db_password.secret_string)["password"]
}

GitHub Secrets

Organization/Repository Secrets

- name: Use GitHub secret
  env:
    API_KEY: ${{ secrets.API_KEY }}
    DATABASE_URL: ${{ secrets.DATABASE_URL }}
  run: |
    # Secrets are injected as env vars — never print them to logs
    ./deploy.sh

Environment Secrets

deploy:
  runs-on: ubuntu-latest
  environment: production
  steps:
    - name: Deploy
      env:
        PROD_API_KEY: ${{ secrets.PROD_API_KEY }}
      run: |
        # Secret injected as env var — never print to logs
        ./deploy.sh

GitLab CI/CD Variables

Project Variables

deploy:
  script:
    - echo "Deploying with $API_KEY"
    - echo "Database: $DATABASE_URL"

Protected and Masked Variables

Protected: Only available in protected branches
Masked: Hidden in job logs
File type: Stored as file

Best Practices

Never commit secrets to Git
Use different secrets per environment
Rotate secrets regularly
Implement least-privilege access
Enable audit logging
Use secret scanning (GitGuardian, TruffleHog)
Mask secrets in logs
Encrypt secrets at rest
Use short-lived tokens when possible
Document secret requirements

Secret Rotation

Automated Rotation with AWS

import boto3
import json

def lambda_handler(event, context):
    client = boto3.client('secretsmanager')

    # Get current secret
    response = client.get_secret_value(SecretId='my-secret')
    current_secret = json.loads(response['SecretString'])

    # Generate new password
    new_password = generate_strong_password()

    # Update database password
    update_database_password(new_password)

    # Update secret
    client.put_secret_value(
        SecretId='my-secret',
        SecretString=json.dumps({
            'username': current_secret['username'],
            'password': new_password
        })
    )

    return {'statusCode': 200}

Manual Rotation Process

Generate new secret
Update secret in secret store
Update applications to use new secret
Verify functionality
Revoke old secret

External Secrets Operator

Kubernetes Integration

apiVersion: external-secrets.io/v1beta1
kind: SecretStore
metadata:
  name: vault-backend
  namespace: production
spec:
  provider:
    vault:
      server: "https://vault.example.com:8200"
      path: "secret"
      version: "v2"
      auth:
        kubernetes:
          mountPath: "kubernetes"
          role: "production"

---
apiVersion: external-secrets.io/v1beta1
kind: ExternalSecret
metadata:
  name: database-credentials
  namespace: production
spec:
  refreshInterval: 1h
  secretStoreRef:
    name: vault-backend
    kind: SecretStore
  target:
    name: database-credentials
    creationPolicy: Owner
  data:
    - secretKey: username
      remoteRef:
        key: database/config
        property: username
    - secretKey: password
      remoteRef:
        key: database/config
        property: password

Secret Scanning

Pre-commit Hook

#!/bin/bash
# .git/hooks/pre-commit

# Check for secrets with TruffleHog
docker run --rm -v "$(pwd):/repo" \
  trufflesecurity/trufflehog:3.88 \
  filesystem --directory=/repo

if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
  echo "❌ Secret detected! Commit blocked."
  exit 1
fi

CI/CD Secret Scanning

secret-scan:
  stage: security
  image: trufflesecurity/trufflehog:3.88
  script:
    - trufflehog filesystem .
  allow_failure: false

Related Skills

github-actions-templates - For GitHub Actions integration
gitlab-ci-patterns - For GitLab CI integration
deployment-pipeline-design - For pipeline architecture