Upgrade to Pro
— share decks privately, control downloads, hide ads and more …
Speaker Deck
Features
Speaker Deck
PRO
Sign in
Sign up for free
Search
Search
Behind Closed Doors: Managing Passwords in a Da...
Search
Noah Kantrowitz
April 27, 2016
Technology
0
3.5k
Behind Closed Doors: Managing Passwords in a Dangerous World
Noah Kantrowitz
April 27, 2016
Tweet
Share
More Decks by Noah Kantrowitz
See All by Noah Kantrowitz
The Long Hello World
coderanger
0
14
The Long Hello World (with notes)
coderanger
0
51
What Python Can Learn From Other Languages
coderanger
0
76
What Python Can Learn From Other Languages (with notes)
coderanger
0
190
Swiss Army Django: Small Footprint ETL (with notes) - DjangoCon US
coderanger
0
300
Swiss Army Django: Small Footprint ETL - DjangoCon US
coderanger
0
76
How to look at space: PyCon AU
coderanger
0
130
Swiss Army Django: Small Footprint ETL
coderanger
0
110
Swiss Army Django: Small Footprint ETL (with notes)
coderanger
0
98
Other Decks in Technology
See All in Technology
Agentic AIが変革するAWSの開発・運用・セキュリティ ~Frontier Agentsを試してみた~ / Agentic AI transforms AWS development, operations, and security I tried Frontier Agents
yuj1osm
0
170
コールドスタンバイ構成でCDは可能か
hiramax
0
130
20251203_AIxIoTビジネス共創ラボ_第4回勉強会_BP山崎.pdf
iotcomjpadmin
0
160
ルネサンス開発者を育てる 1on1支援AIエージェント
yusukeshimizu
0
130
Oracle Database@Azure:サービス概要のご紹介
oracle4engineer
PRO
3
230
[Data & AI Summit '25 Fall] AIでデータ活用を進化させる!Google Cloudで作るデータ活用の未来
kirimaru
0
4.1k
2025年 山梨の技術コミュニティを振り返る
yuukis
0
130
M&Aで拡大し続けるGENDAのデータ活用を促すためのDatabricks権限管理 / AEON TECH HUB #22
genda
0
300
AR Guitar: Expanding Guitar Performance from a Live House to Urban Space
ekito_station
0
270
20251222_サンフランシスコサバイバル術
ponponmikankan
2
150
AWSの新機能をフル活用した「re:Inventエージェント」開発秘話
minorun365
2
520
小さく、早く、可能性を多産する。生成AIプロジェクト / prAIrie-dog
visional_engineering_and_design
0
240
Featured
See All Featured
Paper Plane
katiecoart
PRO
0
44k
So, you think you're a good person
axbom
PRO
0
1.9k
[Rails World 2023 - Day 1 Closing Keynote] - The Magic of Rails
eileencodes
38
2.7k
Measuring & Analyzing Core Web Vitals
bluesmoon
9
720
ピンチをチャンスに:未来をつくるプロダクトロードマップ #pmconf2020
aki_iinuma
128
55k
Google's AI Overviews - The New Search
badams
0
880
The Director’s Chair: Orchestrating AI for Truly Effective Learning
tmiket
1
69
Practical Tips for Bootstrapping Information Extraction Pipelines
honnibal
25
1.7k
A Guide to Academic Writing Using Generative AI - A Workshop
ks91
PRO
0
170
How to Get Subject Matter Experts Bought In and Actively Contributing to SEO & PR Initiatives.
livdayseo
0
37
Information Architects: The Missing Link in Design Systems
soysaucechin
0
720
<Decoding/> the Language of Devs - We Love SEO 2024
nikkihalliwell
0
100
Transcript
Noah Kantrowitz Behind Closed Doors Managing Passwords in a Dangerous
World
Me • Chef-y dude • @kantrn / coderanger • Bloomberg
FOSS
Secrets
Definition • Small • Radioactive • Required
Secrets • Passwords • Tokens • Keys • Other
Passwords • Computer to computer • 1 to ~1024 bytes
• "Internal" or human-y
Tokens • "External" or API • Like passwords
Keys • Whole files • Bigger, chunkier
Other • Kerberos tickets • PCI log files • HIPAA
records
Temperature
Hot / Online • Autonomous access • Used a lot
• Humans need not apply
Cold / Offline • Used rarely • Humans required
Spectrum
Speed
Slow • "Static" • Change is "big" • Less safe
Fast • Changes constantly • Automatic rotation • More safe
Properties of a Secrets Management System
– Jerome Saltzer, Communications of the ACM “Every program and every
privileged user of the system should operate using the least amount of privilege necessary to complete the job.”
Properties • Least privilege • Audit trail
Let's do it!
$ echo "P@s5wd" > secret.txt $ git commit -a -m
"yolo!" $ git push origin master To
[email protected]
:me/myapp.git f35a8c0..c2f0adf master -> master
Attack Surfaces
Surfaces • Brute force • Code leak • Backup leak
• Traversal • Code exec • Root exec • Laptop theft • Higher power
Brute Force • Always be wary • Rate-limit, restrict, rotate
• Make it impossible
Code Leak • Read-only access • No data • "GitHub
oops"
Backup Leak • Still read-only • With database, et al
Traversal • /show?n=about • /show?n=../../passwd • /search?q=;select…
An Aside • Environment variables • Logged, inherited, etc •
Unsafe at any speed
Code Exec • Beyond app security • Infrastructure hygiene •
Service users
Root Exec Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate
Laptop Theft • Use disk encryption • Rotate everything
Higher Power • Government • Advanced threat • Natural disaster
Cryptography
Symmetry • Symmetric vs asymmetric • Shared key vs pairs
• Public key not secret
Secret Symmetric Admin Server
Secret Symmetric Admin Server Key
Secret Encrypted Blob Symmetric Admin Server Key
Secret Encrypted Blob Symmetric Admin Server Key Key
Encrypted Blob Secret Encrypted Blob Symmetric Admin Server Key Key
Encrypted Blob Secret Encrypted Blob Secret Symmetric Admin Server Key
Key
Secret Asymmetric Admin Server
Secret Asymmetric Admin Server Key Pair
Secret Asymmetric Admin Server Public Key Key Pair
Secret Encrypted Blob Asymmetric Admin Server Public Key Key Pair
Encrypted Blob Secret Encrypted Blob Asymmetric Admin Server Public Key
Key Pair
Encrypted Blob Secret Secret Encrypted Blob Asymmetric Admin Server Public
Key Key Pair
Mode • Pre-encryption • Symmetric key distribution • Asymmetric key
identity • Trusted third party
Symmetric Pre Admin Servers Store
Symmetric Pre Admin Servers Store
Symmetric Pre Admin Servers Store
Symmetric Pre Admin Servers Store
Symmetric Pre Admin Servers Store
Symmetric Pre Admin Servers Store
Asymmetric Pre Admin Servers Store A B C
A B Asymmetric Pre Admin Servers Store A B C
A B Asymmetric Pre Admin Servers Store A B A
B C
A B Asymmetric Pre Admin Servers Store A B A
B A B C
A B A B Asymmetric Pre Admin Servers Store A
B A B A B C
A B A B B A Asymmetric Pre Admin Servers
Store A B A B A B C
A B A B B A Asymmetric Pre Admin Servers
Store A B A B A B C
Trusted Third Party Admin TTP Servers A B C D
Trusted Third Party B C Admin TTP Servers A B
C D
Trusted Third Party B C Admin TTP Servers A B
C D
Tools
Text Files • git add … • scp … •
Interns
git-crypt • Git file filter • Symmetric or asymmetric •
Footgun
Cluster Managers • ZooKeeper, Consul, Etcd • ACLs or bust
• Here be dragons
Chef Encrypted Bags • Symmetric, AES-256-GCM • Server vs git
• Turtles all the way down
Ansible Vault • AES-256-CTR + SHA-256 • Still turtles
Hiera Eyaml • PKCS7 (or GPG) • Trusted Third Party
Chef Vault • RSA(encrypted bags) • Asymmetric pre-encrypt • Kind
of still turtle-y
Hashicorp Vault • TTP service • New bar for fast
secrets • Modular design
Keywhiz • TTP • TLS keys, files • Battle tested
Private S3 • IAM roles • Complex policy • Easy
to get started
Amazon KMS • Kool-aid-tastic • Key escrow • Hosted encrypt/decrypt
Sneaker • KMS + S3 • Still kool
Confidant • KMS + DynamoDB • Web-based • Versioned w/
history
Trousseau • Asymmetric pre-encrypt • GPG + modular storage •
S3, GPG, GitHub
Sops • KMS or GPG • Manual storage
Red October • Cold secrets • N of M storage
Barbican Pining for the fjords
Conjur • And other closed source • Trust but verify
HSMs • TPMs otherwise $ $ $ • Dedicated hardware
• Bugs not unheard of
The Hard Problem
Identity • Who are you? • Who am I? •
Why are we in this hand basket?
Pure Identity • TLS client certificates • MySQL, Postgres •
Internal APIs
Integration
API Clients • Vault: HVAC, vault-rails • KMS: botocore, aws-sdk
HVAC # local_settings.py import hvac c = hvac.Client( url='https://vaultserver:8200') DATABASES
= { 'default': { # Other settings ... 'PASSWORD': c.read('secret/dbpass') } }
Config Management • Templates/commands • hiera-vault • Ruby/Python APIs
Chef # recipes/myapp.rb execute 'sneaker unpack ...' template 'local_settings.py' do
# Other properties ... variables pw: citadel['pw'] end
KeywhizFS • FUSE filesystem • Direct key usage • In-memory
Consul Templates • Standalone daemon • Sync Vault data to
files • CM → Templates → files
envconsul • Vault data in $ENV • Beware of logging
Summon • Secrets in $ENV • Modular providers • S3,
Keyring, Conjur
In Summary • Check your privilege and audit trail •
Pick types and temperatures • Think about attack surfaces • Have a disaster plan
Thank You
Questions? @kantrn coderanger.net