platform-compat VS sops

DotNet offers the SecureString class to keep a string encrypted in Memory, but as long as the OS does not natively support this concept, the only advantage is that it resides in memory for a shorter time, the disadvantage is that SecureStrings are easier to search for.

Note the KeePass's resistance to the attack mentioned depends on the security of .NET's secure string, which, here's what Microsoft has to say about it (https://github.com/dotnet/platform-compat/blob/master/docs/D...)

As for KeePassXC, last I checked it didn't even bother.

TIL. Looks like the deprecation note recommends MailKit.

Well of course, but it does have to be passed to the module that generates the hashes AD uses in the first place. And as I said, the standard password reset screen is bound to store the password in plain text somewhere as well.

This won’t help you with your question, but I figured I should warn against using send-mailmessage.

points you here.

Some of the reasons for not using Hashtable or other non-generic collection types are outlined here. That's why Microsoft doesn't recommend their usage in new implementations across all of its API documentation.

And if you really want to be secure you need to something better than a SecureString: https://github.com/dotnet/platform-compat/blob/master/docs/DE0001.md

My script just sets up default .sops.yaml for https://github.com/getsops/sops

You can further edit .sops.yaml(eg have multiple of them) and decide how you split secrets in your directory tree to further customize who can decrypt the secrets.

It works pretty well for prod/dev splits, etc

Mozilla SOPS (Secrets OPerationS) is an open-source command-line tool for managing and storing secrets. It uses secure encryption methods to encrypt secrets at rest and decrypt them at runtime. SOPS supports a variety of key management systems, including AWS KMS, GCP KMS, Azure Key Vault, and PGP. It's particularly useful in a DevOps context where sensitive data like API keys, passwords, or certificates need to be securely managed and seamlessly integrated into application workflows.

Encrypted secrets thanks to SOPS and Age

We do the exact same thing to keep track of some credentials we use sops[1] and AWS KMS to separate credentials by sensitivity, then use the git differ to view the diffs between the encrypted secrets

Definitely not best practice security-wise, but it works well

[1] https://github.com/getsops/sops

For anyone new to SOPS like I was - https://github.com/getsops/sops

I've found this is largely solved by strictly separating plain config and secrets, and then having secrets pull from GCP secret manager / vault / whatever.

You can then commit all the config (including the secret identifiers) and it all just works so long as you're authenticated with your secret storage system.

We do this for the live configuration as well in line with Gitops and find it to work well.

If you don't want to use a cloud secret manager you can also use something like https://github.com/getsops/sops to commit the encrypted secrets safely

Basically, the simpler the better --just encrypt your secrets and check them in to version control.

We use SOPS[0] for this, and have found it to be pretty nice.

[0]: https://github.com/getsops/sops

The answer is that secrets shouldn't be stored in the git repo at all, but somewhere safe like a password manager or Mozilla's SOPS which people seem to love.

Unfortunately, the SOPS project is in some sort of a limbo state and there has been quite a long period with limited maintenance and unclear position from Mozilla. Despite the project being accepted into the CNCF, it's still unclear what will happen with it going forward.