PAM 
Many businesses confuse traditional password management tools with Privileged Access Management (PAM) solutions. While both aim to secure credentials and reduce the risk of unauthorized access,
3 min read
Published on April 18, 2025
Some of the most common mistakes in secrets management include hardcoding secrets, failing to rotate them, over-provisioning access, lacking centralized management and neglecting the lifecycle of secrets.
Organizations become vulnerable to data breaches when these mistakes are not properly addressed. This is where secrets management becomes crucial. Secrets management involves organizing, managing and securing IT infrastructure secrets such as passwords, API keys and database credentials. It ensures that only authenticated and authorized entities are granted access to sensitive resources.
Continue reading to learn more about the common mistakes to avoid in secrets management and what your organization can do to avoid them.
Mistake #1: Hardcoding secrets in code repositories
Hardcoding secrets involves embedding sensitive information directly within the source code. This practice is inherently insecure, as hardcoded secrets are often stored in version control repositories, which may be public or accessible to developers. This exposes sensitive information to unauthorized access.
How to avoid this mistake
Invest in a secrets management tool that securely manages secrets outside of the codebase and completely removes hardcoded credentials. A secrets manager like Keeper Secrets Manager eliminates hardcoded credentials by enabling developers to perform an environment variable substitution by executing a script. This essentially means that Keeper Secrets Manager can execute a script to perform a token replacement of hardcoded secrets, instead of rewriting code.
Mistake #2: Failing to rotate secrets regularly
Secrets rotation is the practice of periodically updating the secrets themselves. This is critical for minimizing the impact of a data leak or breach, as it ensures that, if credentials are compromised, the damage is limited. Without regular rotation, secrets become stale and remain accessible, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation by unauthorized users. And if these secrets were to be leaked or stolen, cybercriminals could gain access to sensitive information.
How to avoid this mistake
Organizations should implement automated secrets rotation policies. Automated rotations ensure that secrets are regularly updated without manual intervention, reducing the risk of a secret remaining valid. Consider implementing a secrets management solution, as it securely stores and automates the rotation of secrets across various systems within an organization.
Mistake #3: Over-provisioning access to secrets
Over-provisioning access to secrets means granting users or systems more access than necessary to perform their job. This practice significantly increases the risk of accidental exposure and unauthorized access, as creating unnecessary access points raises the likelihood that secrets may be left vulnerable. This is why it is important to implement the Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP), where users are granted access only to the resources necessary to perform their job functions.
How to avoid this mistake
Implement Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) to manage who can access which secrets. RBAC enables organizations to define user roles and assign specific access privileges based on their job functions. A Privileged Access Management (PAM) solution typically features granular access controls like RBAC and Just-in-Time (JIT) access. This ensures that users are granted elevated privileges only for the limited time required to complete a specific task. By combining RBAC with JIT access in a centralized PAM solution, organizations can minimize the attack surface by ensuring that only the right users have access to the right secrets, at the right time and for the right duration.
Mistake #4: Lack of centralized management and monitoring
A lack of centralized management and monitoring for secrets introduces significant security risks, as it becomes difficult to track, control and protect sensitive credentials across multiple systems. When various teams or services store secrets in different locations without a centralized repository, such as configuration files, environment variables and cloud services, it leads to secret sprawl. Organizations lose visibility over which secrets are in use, who has access to them and when they were last rotated or revoked. Without a centralized system, organizations are at risk of secrets being left exposed, forgotten or vulnerable to unauthorized access.
How to avoid this mistake
Invest in a centralized secrets management solution that can securely store, manage and monitor secrets across the entire organization. A good secrets management solution should support auditing, versioning and rotation of secrets – all of which are important for maintaining control and security. Auditing capabilities make it easier to detect any suspicious activity by recording all access to and modifications of secrets. Versioning helps track different versions of a secret over time, ensuring accountability and providing a clear history of secret changes. Lastly, secret rotation ensures that old or compromised credentials are updated.
Mistake #5: Ignoring secrets lifecycle management
Secrets lifecycle management refers to creating, storing, rotating, revoking and expiring secrets. Properly managing this lifecycle is essential to maintaining an organization’s security posture since it ensures that secrets are kept secure throughout their entire lifespan. However, failure to properly manage this lifecycle can introduce significant risks and weaken an organization’s security posture. For example, if secrets are never revoked or rotated, they can remain accessible even after they are no longer needed. Attackers can then exploit old, unmanaged secrets to gain unauthorized access to sensitive systems and databases.
How to avoid this mistake
A secrets management solution helps manage the lifecycle of secrets by securely storing, rotating and controlling access throughout their usage. It automates and centralizes the management of secrets, providing visibility and ensuring that sensitive information is handled safely throughout its entire lifecycle.
Avoid common secrets management mistakes with KeeperPAM
Protect your organization from poor secrets management, which can lead to costly security breaches and a damaged reputation. Without proper and centralized management, sensitive secrets are left vulnerable to misuse – often the first step toward compromising your security.
Take control by investing in KeeperPAM®, a zero-trust and zero-knowledge solution that helps organizations avoid these common mistakes by streamlining secrets management. KeeperPAM securely stores sensitive credentials, automates secret rotation and provides auditing capabilities for all your secrets. Additionally, it features granular access controls like JIT access and RBAC, ensuring that only authorized users and systems can access secrets when needed.
Request a demo of KeeperPAM today to enhance your organization’s secrets management.
