Ask HN: Is a file with both public and secret content a secret or not? This question showed up while debating whether a configuration file with public application settings and secret values should be stored in Hashicorp's Vault as a secret. |
Ask HN: Is a file with both public and secret content a secret or not? This question showed up while debating whether a configuration file with public application settings and secret values should be stored in Hashicorp's Vault as a secret. |
If storing the secrets securely doesn't cause the public settings to be inaccessible where/when they're needed, then you have nothing else to do.
Separate the secret and non-secret data. Don't even use files, just let each item be its own individual value with its own key and permissions.
Also, it doesn't sound like anyone debating this is experienced enough to be making security decisions, even very basic ones.
It's like saying, "If I put military secrets and my grocery list in a locked briefcase, is the briefcase a secret?"
First: yes, of course it is. Second: the secrets are not inherently tied together forever. You can separate them.