What does the term 'dynamic secrets' refer to in Vault?

Dynamic secrets refer to secrets that are created in real-time in response to user requests and possess a limited lifetime. Unlike static credentials, which remain unchanged and can be reused indefinitely, dynamic secrets are unique and tailored for each session or request. This provides additional security as these secrets are often automatically revoked or expire after a specified duration, minimizing the risk of exposure related to long-lived credentials.

This characteristic makes dynamic secrets particularly useful in environments where security and authentication need to be tightly controlled, such as cloud applications or microservices architectures. By generating secrets on-the-fly, Vault enhances the security posture by ensuring that access credentials are short-lived and limited to the scope of the presently needed operations, thereby reinforcing the principle of least privilege.