What method of secure storage for credentials in automated CI/CD processes would you choose?

For secure storage of credentials in CI/CD processes, specialized secret storage solutions are typically used, such as HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, Azure Key Vault, or built-in secrets in CI/CD systems (e.g., GitHub Actions Secrets, GitLab CI/CD Variables).

Main principles:

• Secrets are stored encrypted and are only accessible during pipeline execution.
• Access to secrets is limited to the minimum necessary permissions.
• Secrets are not stored in code or repositories.
• Secret rotation is used to enhance security.

Example: in GitHub Actions, secrets can be defined in repository settings and used in workflows as follows:

jobs:
  build:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - name: Checkout code
        uses: actions/checkout@v2
      - name: Use secret
        run: echo ${{ secrets.MY_SECRET }}

Thus, secure storage involves using specialized services and mechanisms that prevent credentials from becoming publicly accessible.