Securing Secret Distribution

Securing Secret Distribution

Secret distribution from the API server to pods presents attack opportunities. Network encryption protects secrets in transit, but additional measures ensure end-to-end security. Service mesh integration can provide mutual TLS between all components. Admission webhooks can validate secret access patterns and prevent unauthorized distribution.

Pod-to-secret binding strengthens distribution security by ensuring secrets are only available to intended pods. Rather than broad access policies, each pod receives access only to its required secrets. This fine-grained approach limits blast radius from pod compromises. Implementation requires careful RBAC configuration and potentially custom controllers.

Ephemeral secrets reduce exposure by creating short-lived credentials for each pod instance. Rather than sharing long-lived secrets across multiple pods, each pod receives unique credentials valid only for its lifetime. This pattern works particularly well with external secret management systems that support dynamic secret generation.