The Ultimate Password Inventory Checklist for Security AuditsA thorough password inventory is a foundational element of any effective security audit. It provides visibility into where credentials are stored, how they’re protected, and who has access — information auditors need to assess risk, enforce policy, and prioritize remediation. This checklist walks through preparation, data collection, analysis, remediation, and documentation steps to help security teams build a complete, audit-ready password inventory.
1) Define scope and objectives
- Identify audit goals: compliance (e.g., PCI-DSS, SOC 2), risk reduction, or internal controls verification.
- Determine systems in scope: cloud platforms, on-prem servers, network devices, applications, service accounts, DevOps secrets, CI/CD pipelines, and third-party services.
- Decide timeframe and frequency: one-time audit, quarterly, or continuous monitoring.
- Assign owners and roles: inventory lead, collectors, approvers, and remediation owners.
2) Establish policies and standards
- Document password policies: complexity, length, rotation frequency, reuse restrictions, and MFA requirements.
- Define credential classification: human user accounts, service accounts, shared accounts, API keys, SSH keys, certificates, and tokens.
- Set storage standards: authorized vaults (e.g., enterprise password manager, secrets manager), prohibited storage (plain text files, spreadsheets, chat apps), and acceptable exceptions with compensating controls.
- Specify access control policies: least privilege principle, approval workflows, and periodic access reviews.
3) Prepare tools and data sources
- Inventory collection tools: MFA logs, IAM consoles, AD/LDAP exports, cloud provider IAM reports, configuration management databases (CMDB), and scanning tools.
- Secrets discovery tools: secrets scanners (e.g., git-secrets, truffleHog), endpoint DLP, file share scanners, and automated credential finders for code repositories.
- Vault/manager connectors: API access to password managers and secret stores (HashiCorp Vault, AWS Secrets Manager, Azure Key Vault).
- Scripting and automation: Python/PowerShell scripts for bulk exports and normalization.
- Secure storage for inventory: encrypted database or secure spreadsheet with restricted access.
4) Data collection checklist
Collect the following details for each credential discovered. Use a standardized template or CSV schema.
- Unique ID
- Credential type (password, API key, SSH key, certificate, token) — classify each item
- Account name/username
- Associated system/application/service
- Owner/department — assign an owner
- Access level/permissions (admin, read-only, service)
- Creation date and last rotated/changed date
- Storage location (vault, config file, environment variable, code repo, spreadsheet)
- Multi-factor authentication enabled (yes/no)
- Shared account (yes/no)
- Usage pattern (active, dormant, expired)
- Last observed use (timestamp)
- Known risks/notes (e.g., embedded in CI pipeline)
- Remediation status and due date
5) Discovery techniques and tips
- Start with authoritative sources (IAM, AD, cloud IAM) to capture formal accounts.
- Scan code repositories and CI/CD configs for hard-coded secrets; prioritize high-risk repos.
- Search network shares and endpoints for credential files and spreadsheets using DLP and file scanning.
- Query password managers and secret stores via APIs to enumerate stored secrets and access policies.
- Use log analysis to detect credentials used by automation or service accounts.
- Interview teams (DevOps, QA, support) to uncover shadow credentials and undocumented service accounts.
- Prioritize assets by risk: internet-facing services, privileged accounts, and accounts with broad permissions.
6) Analysis and risk scoring
- Assess exposure: whether credential is publicly accessible or embedded in code.
- Privilege level: higher privileges = higher risk.
- Authentication controls: passwords with MFA and rotation reduce risk.
- Age and reuse: old, never-rotated, or reused passwords increase risk.
- Storage method: passwords in plain text or spreadsheets = critical risk.
- Business criticality of associated system.
- Create a risk score (e.g., 1–10) using weighted criteria above to prioritize remediation.
7) Remediation actions
For each risk level, define standard remediation steps:
- Critical (publicly exposed, high privilege, plain text): immediate rotation, revoke keys, reissue credentials, enforce vaulting, and incident response if compromise suspected.
- High (privileged but not exposed): rotate, move to approved vault, enable MFA, tighten permissions.
- Medium (non-privileged but stored insecurely): move to vault, rotate on schedule, and monitor usage.
- Low (compliant and monitored): regular review and standard rotation.
Document who will perform the action and target completion dates.
8) Controls to implement post-remediation
- Centralize secrets in enterprise-grade vaults and use short-lived credentials where possible.
- Implement role-based access control and least privilege for secrets.
- Enforce MFA for all privileged accounts and service-critical access.
- Adopt automated secret rotation for keys and service credentials.
- Integrate secrets managers with CI/CD and automation to avoid hard-coding.
- Deploy monitoring and alerting for secret usage anomalies and exfiltration attempts.
- Apply DLP and repo scanning as part of the CI pipeline.
9) Documentation and evidence for auditors
- Inventory export with timestamps and signatures of owners.
- Policies and standards documents referenced in the audit scope.
- Logs showing discovery scans and API queries used for enumeration.
- Remediation tickets and closure evidence (ticket ID, dates, screenshots).
- Role-based access lists and proof of MFA enforcement.
- Vault access policies and rotation schedules.
- Periodic review records and next-review schedule.
10) Continuous monitoring and maintenance
- Schedule recurring inventory scans (weekly/monthly) and full audits quarterly or annually.
- Automate discovery and alerts for new or changed secrets.
- Integrate inventory results into risk dashboards and ticketing systems.
- Conduct annual training for developers and admins on secure secret handling.
- Run tabletop exercises for credential compromise scenarios.
11) Common pitfalls and how to avoid them
- Relying solely on manual discovery — use automated scanners.
- Ignoring service accounts and embedded secrets — interview and scan pipelines.
- Keeping rotation as a checkbox — enforce automated rotation where possible.
- Poor owner assignment — require accountable owners for every credential.
- Not tracking remediation — connect inventories to ticketing for closure proof.
12) Sample CSV schema (fields)
Use this schema to export/import inventory records:
- id, type, account_name, system, owner, department, privilege_level, created_at, last_rotated, storage_location, mfa_enabled, shared_account, usage_status, last_used, exposure, risk_score, remediation_status, remediation_due
13) Quick checklist (one-page audit view)
- Scope defined and owners assigned
- Password policy documented and enforced
- All identity sources and secret stores enumerated
- Code repos and CI/CD scanned for secrets
- Inventory contains owner, location, privilege, MFA, and last use
- Risk scoring applied and remediation tickets created
- Vaulting and rotation implemented for high-risk secrets
- Evidence packaged and dated for auditors
- Monitoring and recurring scans scheduled
This checklist gives auditors and security teams a practical, repeatable process to discover, classify, prioritize, and remediate credentials across an organization, helping prove compliance and reduce attack surface quickly and defensibly.