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Overview

Regular secret rotation is a critical security practice that limits the window of exposure if credentials are compromised. This guide covers automated rotation strategies for API keys, passwords, tokens, and certificates.
Improper secret rotation can cause service disruptions. Always test rotation procedures in non-production environments first.

Why Rotate Secrets?

Security

  • Limit exposure window
  • Mitigate credential compromise
  • Comply with security policies
  • Reduce blast radius of breaches

Compliance

  • GDPR requirements
  • SOC 2 controls
  • PCI DSS standards
  • Industry best practices

Operational

  • Automated processes
  • Reduce manual errors
  • Audit trail
  • Policy enforcement

Risk Management

  • Defense in depth
  • Insider threat mitigation
  • Supply chain security
  • Zero trust principles

Rotation Schedule

Infisical Secret Rotation

Automatic Rotation

Infisical supports automatic secret rotation:

Zero-Downtime Rotation

Implement graceful rotation without service interruption:

Database Password Rotation

PostgreSQL Password Rotation

Redis Password Rotation

JWT Signing Key Rotation

RSA Key Pair Rotation

JWKS Endpoint Update

API Key Rotation

LLM Provider Keys

TLS Certificate Rotation

Cert-Manager Auto-Renewal

Manual Certificate Rotation

Kubernetes Secret Rotation

Using External Secrets Operator

Restart Pods After Rotation

Rotation Workflow Automation

Complete Rotation Pipeline

Monitoring & Alerts

Track Rotation Status

Rotation Alerts

Best Practices

Always test in non-production first:
Keep old secrets valid during rotation:
  • Database passwords: Support both old and new for 5 minutes
  • JWT keys: Keep old key for token validation (24 hours)
  • API keys: Overlap period of 1 hour
Automate rotation for:
  • Database passwords
  • JWT signing keys
  • TLS certificates
  • Internal service credentials
Require manual approval for:
  • External API keys
  • Root credentials
  • Encryption keys
Maintain runbooks:
  • Rotation procedures
  • Rollback steps
  • Verification checks
  • Emergency contacts
  • Incident response

Next Steps

Infisical Setup

Secret management platform

Security Best Practices

Security hardening guide

Disaster Recovery

Backup and restore

Production Checklist

Pre-deployment security

Secret Rotation Ready: Automated, secure credential rotation for enhanced security!