OCI Vault – Securing Secrets, Keys & Credentials the Oracle Way

In today’s cloud-native and hybrid architectures, securing secrets, passwords, and encryption keys is no longer optional—it’s foundational. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) addresses this with its Vault service, a robust, enterprise-grade solution for managing secrets and encryption keys across your OCI tenancy.

Whether you’re managing Oracle EBS, ATP, ADW, Object Storage, or integrating 3rd-party systems, OCI Vault plays a critical role in enabling secure, compliant operations.

Why Use OCI Vault?

OCI Vault centralizes your security key and secret management, allowing fine-grained access control, automatic key rotation, and secure integration with OCI and third-party workloads.

Key Use Cases:

·       Encrypt databases (ATP, ADW, EBS on DBCS/Exadata) using customer-managed keys

·       Securely store and retrieve API keys, passwords, OAuth tokens

·       Manage secrets used by automation scripts and DevOps pipelines

·       Integrate with OCI Functions, Object Storage, and OKE for pulling credentials securely

·       Rotate keys automatically to meet compliance and security standards

·       KMS Integration for custom applications needing envelope encryption

Core Components of OCI Vault

How to Implement OCI Vault (High-Level Steps)

Here’s how to get started using OCI Vault securely and effectively:

1. Plan Your Vault Architecture

·       Decide which region and compartment the vault should reside in.

·       Choose between default or dedicated HSM depending on compliance needs (e.g., FIPS 140-2 Level 3).

2. Create a Vault

·       In OCI Console: Go to Security > Vault, create a new vault.

·       Choose vault type: Default (shared HSM) or Dedicated (isolated HSM cluster).

3. Create a Master Encryption Key (MEK)

·       Select AES or RSA, assign meaningful names and tags.

·       Enable key rotation policy (e.g., rotate every 90 days).

4. Store Secrets

·       Add new secrets: API tokens, passwords, JSON blobs.

·       Define secret metadata like version, rotation schedule, and expiration.

·       Secrets are stored encrypted using the master key.

5. IAM Policies

• Grant access to Vaults, Keys, and Secrets using fine-grained IAM policies.
• Example:

Allow dynamic-group MyFunctionsGroup to use secret-family in compartment MyCompartment

6. Use Secrets in Applications

·       Apps can retrieve secrets using OCI SDKs, CLI, or OCI Functions.

·       For example, a shell script can securely fetch a password using:

oci secrets secret-bundle get –secret-id <ocid> –query ‘data.secret-bundle-content.content’ –raw-output

7. Audit Access and Usage

·       Enable Audit Service to track who accessed or modified Vault resources.

·       Use Logging and SIEM tools to detect anomalies.

 Security Best Practices

·       Rotate secrets & keys regularly

·       Use dynamic groups and resource principals instead of static credentials

·       Avoid hardcoding secrets in code or scripts

·       Implement alerting and monitoring for access and changes to secrets

·       Prefer asymmetric keys for signing operations when possible

Real-World Example: Oracle EBS with OCI Vault

If you’re managing EBS on OCI, here’s how Vault can help:

·       Store DB passwords as secrets (retrieved dynamically by automation scripts)

·       Use customer-managed keys (CMKs) to encrypt EBS DB backups

·       Secure Object Storage buckets (used for logs, backups) with custom keys

·       Enable envelope encryption in your custom integration extensions or REST APIs

Cost Considerations

• Vault service itself is free
• You only pay for:
  • Key versions stored (for symmetric/asymmetric keys)
  • Secret versions stored
  • HSM capacity (if using Dedicated Vault)
  • API calls if at high volume

OCI Vault is not just for storing passwords—it’s a cornerstone of a zero-trust security architecture. Whether you’re running legacy workloads like EBS or modern cloud-native applications, Vault helps enforce secure-by-default practices. With proper IAM policies, secret rotation, and integration with automation, Vault brings both operational efficiency and regulatory compliance to your OCI environments.

• Author
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Brijesh Gogia

I’m an experienced Cloud and AI Architect with over 19 years in Oracle Applications, Databases, and Cloud ecosystems. My work spans large-scale, global projects where I’ve designed and optimized solutions across both Oracle and non-Oracle stacks—on-prem and in the cloud. Lately, my focus has shifted toward integrating AI into enterprise architectures, leveraging GenAI, automation, and data intelligence to drive performance, resilience, and modernization. I’m passionate about exploring emerging AI tools, agentic workflows, and practical use cases—and I'm fortunate that my role gives me space to experiment and share my learnings.

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