** Solving the First Secret Problem in Pipelines with Modern Authentication Protocols

The increasing complexity of modern software development has led to a growing issue known as the "first secret problem." This occurs when multiple systems, such as cloud providers and infrastructure-as-code platforms, require authentication, resulting in a sprawl of secrets. To combat this, secret management platforms like HashiCorp Vault and AWS Secrets Manager have been developed.

However, these solutions often rely on a first secret to authenticate with the secret management platform itself. Recent advancements in modern authentication protocols, such as OpenID Connect (OIDC), offer a more secure solution. OIDC enables systems to act as identity providers, reducing the need for long-lived credentials and mitigating the risk of credential compromise.

Multiple vendors, including GitLab and GitHub, support OIDC, allowing pipelines to authenticate with external systems using JSON Web Tokens (JWTs). This approach provides a standardized authentication protocol that can be leveraged by custom-built API authentication/authorization logic.

The use of OIDC has broader implications for pipeline security, enabling features like artifact attestations and reducing the need for multiple API keys. As the technology space continues to evolve, innovative approaches like OIDC are helping to move us toward more secure solutions.

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Source: https://dev.to/prince_of_pasta/just-trust-me-solving-the-first-secret-problem-in-pipelines-with-modern-authentication-protocols-ofd