Secret Rotation Patterns

When to Use This Skill

Secrets don't age well. Automate rotation before credentials become liabilities.

The Risk

Long-lived credentials are time bombs. Every day a secret remains unchanged increases the probability it has already leaked. Rotation limits blast radius when compromise happens, not if.

Implementation

See the full implementation guide in the source documentation.

Techniques

Why Rotate Secrets?

Static credentials persist in memory, logs, backups, and artifacts long after you think they're gone.

Rotation Benefits:

• Limit blast radius: Compromised credentials expire automatically
• Detect breaches: Failed rotation indicates credential misuse
• Compliance: Meet regulatory requirements for credential lifecycle
• Reduce sprawl: Forces inventory of what secrets exist and where
• Audit trail: Rotation events signal credential usage patterns

Without Rotation:

• Credentials persist indefinitely in GitHub audit logs
• Ex-employees retain access via copied credentials
• Leaked credentials remain valid forever
• No mechanism to detect unauthorized usage
• Compliance violations accumulate

Rotation Schedule Recommendations

Not all secrets require the same rotation frequency. Risk-based scheduling balances security and operational overhead.

Rotation Tiers

Tier	Access Scope	Rotation Frequency	Examples
Critical	Production write access, infrastructure control	7-14 days	Production deploy keys, cloud admin credentials, database root passwords
High	Production read access, sensitive data	30 days	Production API tokens, secrets managers, monitoring credentials
Medium	Non-production environments, limited scope	90 days	Staging credentials, package registry tokens, integration test accounts
Low	Read-only access, public services	180 days	Artifact storage, CDN tokens, external API read keys

Event-Driven Rotation

Rotate immediately when:

• Employee departure: Any team member with access leaves
• Breach detected: Credential found in logs, artifacts, or public repos
• Service compromise: Upstream service reports security incident
• Workflow changes: Modifications to .github/workflows/ with secret access
• Access expansion: Secret shared with additional repositories or teams

Zero-Downtime Rotation Strategy

Rotating secrets without breaking active workflows requires overlapping validity periods.

Dual-Secret Pattern

Maintain two versions of each secret during rotation window.

gantt

%% Ghostty Hardcore Theme
    title Zero-Downtime Secret Rotation
    dateFormat  YYYY-MM-DD
    axisFormat %m-%d

    section Old Secret
    Active (OLD_SECRET)           :a1, 2026-01-01, 7d
    Grace period (both valid)     :a2, 2026-01-08, 7d
    Revoked                       :crit, 2026-01-15, 1d

    section New Secret
    Created (NEW_SECRET)          :b1, 2026-01-08, 7d
    Active (promoted to primary)  :b2, 2026-01-15, 30d

Implementation:

1. T-0: Generate new credential, store as SECRET_NAME_NEW
2. T+1h: Update service to accept both old and new credentials
3. T+24h: Update GitHub secret SECRET_NAME with new value
4. T+48h: Verify all workflows using new credential
5. T+7d: Revoke old credential from service
6. T+14d: Remove SECRET_NAME_NEW from GitHub (cleanup)

Rotation Workflow

Automate rotation with scheduled GitHub Actions workflow.

name: Rotate Production Secrets

on:
  schedule:
    # Run monthly on 1st at 02:00 UTC
    - cron: '0 2 1 * *'
  workflow_dispatch:  # Manual trigger

permissions:
  contents: read

jobs:
  rotate-deploy-key:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    environment: production  # Requires approval
    steps:
      # google-github-actions/auth v2.1.0
      - uses: google-github-actions/auth@f112390a2df9932162083945e46d439060d66ec2
        with:
          workload_identity_provider: ${{ secrets.GCP_WIF_PROVIDER }}
          service_account: 'secret-rotator@project.iam.gserviceaccount.com'

      - name: Generate new SSH key
        id: keygen
        run: |
          ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -N '' -f deploy_key -C "deploy-$(date +%Y%m%d)"
          echo "public_key=$(cat deploy_key.pub)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
          echo "private_key<<EOF" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
          cat deploy_key >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
          echo "EOF" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT

      - name: Store new key in Secret Manager
        run: |
          # Store with version suffix for dual-key pattern
          echo "${{ steps.keygen.outputs.private_key }}" | \
            gcloud secrets versions add deploy-key-new --data-file=-

      - name: Update authorized_keys on servers
        run: |
          # Add new key to authorized_keys (old key still valid)
          gcloud compute ssh deploy-target \
            --command="echo '${{ steps.keygen.outputs.public_key }}' >> ~/.ssh/authorized_keys"

      - name: Verify new key works
        run: |
          # Test deployment with new key
          ssh -i deploy_key -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no deploy@target 'echo "New key verified"'

      - name: Update GitHub secret
        env:
          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.ROTATION_GITHUB_TOKEN }}
        run: |
          # Update repository secret via GitHub CLI
          gh secret set DEPLOY_KEY --body "${{ steps.keygen.outputs.private_key }}"

      - name: Schedule old key revocation
        run: |
          # Store revocation timestamp in Secret Manager
          date -d '+7 days' -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ | \
            gcloud secrets versions add deploy-key-revoke-at --data-file=-

Revocation Workflow (7 days later):

name: Revoke Old Secrets

on:
  schedule:
    # Run daily at 03:00 UTC
    - cron: '0 3 * * *'
  workflow_dispatch:

permissions:
  contents: read

jobs:
  revoke-expired:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    environment: production
    steps:
      # google-github-actions/auth v2.1.0
      - uses: google-github-actions/auth@f112390a2df9932162083945e46d439060d66ec2
        with:
          workload_identity_provider: ${{ secrets.GCP_WIF_PROVIDER }}
          service_account: 'secret-rotator@project.iam.gserviceaccount.com'

      - name: Check revocation schedule
        id: check
        run: |
          revoke_at=$(gcloud secrets versions access latest --secret=deploy-key-revoke-at || echo "")
          if [[ -z "$revoke_at" ]]; then
            echo "No revocation scheduled"
            exit 0
          fi

          if [[ $(date -u +%s) -ge $(date -d "$revoke_at" +%s) ]]; then
            echo "revoke=true" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
          else
            echo "Not yet time to revoke (scheduled for $revoke_at)"
            exit 0
          fi

      - name: Remove old key from authorized_keys
        if: steps.check.outputs.revoke == 'true'
        run: |
          # Remove all but most recent key from servers
          gcloud compute ssh deploy-target \
            --command="tail -n1 ~/.ssh/authorized_keys > ~/.ssh/authorized_keys.new && mv ~/.ssh/authorized_keys.new ~/.ssh/authorized_keys"

      - name: Delete revocation marker
        if: steps.check.outputs.revoke == 'true'
        run: |
          gcloud secrets delete deploy-key-revoke-at --quiet

Notification Patterns

Alert teams before credentials expire. Proactive notifications prevent outages.

Expiration Tracking

Store secret metadata with expiration dates.

name: Secret Expiration Monitor

on:
  schedule:
    # Run weekly on Monday at 09:00 UTC
    - cron: '0 9 * * 1'
  workflow_dispatch:

permissions:
  contents: read
  issues: write  # Create expiration warnings

jobs:
  check-expiration:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@b4ffde65f46336ab88eb53be808477a3936bae11  # v4.1.1

      - name: Check secret ages
        id: check
        run: |
          # Read secret inventory with last rotation dates
          expiring=$(python3 << 'EOF'
          import json
          from datetime import datetime, timedelta

          with open('.github/secret-inventory.json') as f:
              inventory = json.load(f)

          now = datetime.now()
          expiring_secrets = []

          for secret in inventory['secrets']:
              last_rotated = datetime.fromisoformat(secret['last_rotated'])
              age_days = (now - last_rotated).days
              max_age = secret['rotation_tier_days']

              days_remaining = max_age - age_days

              if days_remaining <= 7:
                  expiring_secrets.append({
                      'name': secret['name'],
                      'days_remaining': days_remaining,
                      'tier': secret['tier']
                  })

          print(json.dumps(expiring_secrets))
          EOF
          )

          echo "expiring=$expiring" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT

      - name: Create warning issue
        if: steps.check.outputs.expiring != '[]'
        env:
          GH_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
        run: |
          expiring='${{ steps.check.outputs.expiring }}'

          body=$(cat << EOF
          ## ⚠️ Secrets Expiring Soon

          The following secrets require rotation:

          $(echo "$expiring" | jq -r '.[] | "- **\(.name)** (Tier \(.tier)): \(.days_remaining) days remaining"')

          **Action Required**: Trigger rotation workflows in the next 7 days.

          See [Secret Rotation Patterns](https://adaptive-enforcement-lab.com/secure/github-actions-security/secrets/rotation/) for procedures.
          EOF
          )

          gh issue create \
            --title "Secret Rotation Required" \
            --label "security,secrets,rotation" \
            --body "$body"

Slack Notification Integration

      - name: Send Slack alert
        if: steps.check.outputs.expiring != '[]'
        run: |
          expiring='${{ steps.check.outputs.expiring }}'

          payload=$(cat << EOF
          {
            "text": "🔐 Secret Rotation Alert",
            "blocks": [
              {
                "type": "header",
                "text": {
                  "type": "plain_text",
                  "text": "⚠️ Secrets Expiring Soon"
                }
              },
              {
                "type": "section",
                "text": {
                  "type": "mrkdwn",
                  "text": "The following secrets need rotation:\n\n$(echo "$expiring" | jq -r '.[] | "• *\(.name)* (Tier \(.tier)): \(.days_remaining) days"')"
                }
              },
              {
                "type": "actions",
                "elements": [
                  {
                    "type": "button",
                    "text": {
                      "type": "plain_text",
                      "text": "Rotate Now"
                    },
                    "url": "${{ github.server_url }}/${{ github.repository }}/actions/workflows/rotate-secrets.yml"
                  }
                ]
              }
            ]
          }
          EOF
          )

          curl -X POST -H 'Content-type: application/json' \

*See [reference.md](reference.md) for additional techniques and detailed examples.*


## Examples

See [examples.md](examples.md) for code examples.


## Full Reference

See [reference.md](reference.md) for complete documentation.
## References

- [Source Documentation](https://adaptive-enforcement-lab.com/secure/github-actions-security/)
- [AEL Secure](https://adaptive-enforcement-lab.com/secure/)