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Risk R-009 - Exposure of Credentials or Secrets

FieldValue
Risk IDR-009
AssetCredentials / Secrets Storage (Information – Owner: Sec)
ScenarioS-008 - Exposure of credentials or secrets
Likelihood🟨 Medium - secrets may be exposed if repositories or vaults are misconfigured, or credentials are leaked
Impact🟥 High - compromised credentials allow unauthorized access to critical systems, escalation, and lateral movement
Risk Level🟥 High
OwnerSec
Last Review2026-03-08
Next Review2026-09-08

Associated Controls:

  • Enforce strong encryption for all secrets at rest and in transit.
  • Use short-lived credentials and secret rotation policies.
  • Apply strict RBAC for secret stores and audit all access events.
  • Monitor for suspicious access or exfiltration attempts.
  • Isolate production credentials from development environments.

References:

  • ISO 27001 - Control 5.1 Policies for information security.
  • ISO 27001 - Control 8.2 Privileged access rights.
  • ISO 27001 - Control 8.3 Information access restriction.
  • NIST CSF - PR.AC Identity Management, Authentication and Access Control.
  • NIST CSF - PR.DS Data Security.
  • NIST CSF - DE.CM Continuous Monitoring.
  • EBIOS RM - Analysis of risks related to exposure or misuse of secrets and credentials.

Response Actions:

  • Containment - Immediately revoke exposed credentials and secrets.
  • Eradication - Rotate compromised secrets and audit repository access.
  • Recovery - Verify system integrity and re-establish secure credentials.
  • Post-incident - Conduct root cause analysis, update secret management policies, and reinforce monitoring.