Use when performing secrets rotation audit — audits the rotation status of all
secrets, credentials, API keys, and certificates across services and
environments. This template identifies stale secrets, missing rotation
policies, and non-compliant credential management practices, producing a
remediation plan to strengthen secrets hygiene.
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---
name: secrets-rotation-audit
enabled: true
description: |
Use when performing secrets rotation audit — audits the rotation status of all
secrets, credentials, API keys, and certificates across services and
environments. This template identifies stale secrets, missing rotation
policies, and non-compliant credential management practices, producing a
remediation plan to strengthen secrets hygiene.
required_connections:
- prefix: vault
label: "Secrets Manager"
- prefix: cloud
label: "Cloud Provider"
config_fields:
- key: environment
label: "Environment"
required: true
placeholder: "e.g., production"
- key: rotation_policy_days
label: "Max Secret Age (days)"
required: true
placeholder: "e.g., 90"
features:
- SECRETS_MANAGEMENT
- SECURITY_AUDIT
- SRE_OPS
---
# Secrets Rotation Audit
## Phase 1: Secrets Inventory
Catalog all secrets and credentials in scope.
| Secret ID | Type | Service/Owner | Created | Last Rotated | Age (days) | Rotation Policy | Compliant |
|-----------|------|---------------|---------|-------------|------------|-----------------|-----------|
| | | | | | | | |
**Secret Types:** API Key, Database Credential, TLS Certificate, SSH Key, OAuth Token, Service Account Key, Encryption Key, Webhook Secret
## Phase 2: Compliance Assessment
Evaluate each secret against the rotation policy.
- [ ] Total secrets inventoried: ___
- [ ] Secrets within rotation policy: ___
- [ ] Secrets overdue for rotation: ___
- [ ] Secrets with no rotation policy: ___
- [ ] Secrets with unknown last rotation date: ___
**Compliance by Type:**
| Secret Type | Total | Compliant | Non-Compliant | Compliance Rate |
|-------------|-------|-----------|---------------|-----------------|
| API Keys | | | | |
| DB Credentials | | | | |
| TLS Certificates | | | | |
| SSH Keys | | | | |
| Service Account Keys | | | | |
| Other | | | | |
## Phase 3: Risk Assessment
For each non-compliant secret, assess risk.
**Decision Matrix:**
| Risk | Criteria | Action |
|------|----------|--------|
| Critical | Secret >2x policy age, has broad permissions, no MFA protection | Rotate immediately, investigate for compromise |
| High | Secret >policy age, used in production, shared across services | Rotate within 48 hours |
| Medium | Secret >policy age, limited scope, single-service use | Rotate within 7 days |
| Low | Secret approaching policy age, rotation scheduled | Ensure scheduled rotation proceeds |
- [ ] Check for secrets stored in plaintext (code repos, config files, wikis)
- [ ] Identify secrets shared across multiple services or teams
- [ ] Verify secrets are accessed only by authorized principals
- [ ] Check for leaked secrets in public repositories or logs
## Phase 4: Automation Assessment
- [ ] Percentage of secrets with automated rotation: ___%
- [ ] Secrets manager integration coverage: ___%
- [ ] Rotation automation tool: ___
- [ ] Gaps in automation (manual rotation still required): list
## Phase 5: Remediation Plan
For each non-compliant secret:
1. - [ ] Rotate the secret
2. - [ ] Update all consumers of the secret
3. - [ ] Verify service continuity after rotation
4. - [ ] Enable automated rotation if not already configured
5. - [ ] Document rotation procedure
## Counter-Rationalizations
| Shortcut | Counter | Why |
|----------|---------|-----|
| "We can skip some steps for this case" | Adapt the workflow steps, don't skip them | Skipped steps are where incidents and oversights originate |
| "The user seems to already know what to do" | Complete all workflow phases with the user | The workflow catches blind spots that experience alone misses |
| "This is a minor case, full process is overkill" | Scale the process down, don't turn it off | Minor cases become major when unstructured; the process scales, not disappears |
| "I'll fill in the details later" | Complete each section before moving on | Deferred details are forgotten; real-time capture is more accurate |
| "The template output isn't necessary" | Always produce the structured output format | Structured output enables comparison, audit trails, and handoff to other teams |
## Output Format
### Summary
- **Total secrets audited:** ___
- **Overall compliance rate:** ___%
- **Critical/High risk secrets requiring immediate rotation:** ___
- **Automated rotation coverage:** ___%
### Action Items
- [ ] Rotate all Critical risk secrets immediately
- [ ] Rotate all High risk secrets within 48 hours
- [ ] Enable automated rotation for all eligible secrets
- [ ] Remove any plaintext secrets from code or config
- [ ] Establish quarterly secrets rotation audit cadence
- [ ] Report compliance status to security team