Sharing and Access Control
Providing access to PAM resources through KeeperPAM policies
Overview
Access to resources and features in KeeperPAM is governed by a robust cloud-based access control plane, leveraging multiple layers of policies and configuration settings. Devices and gateways are assigned specific permissions, enabling them to access and decrypt data allocated to them from the vault. Users with KeeperPAM management privileges can assign access rights to managed resources with flexibility, offering permanent, time-limited, or just-in-time (JIT) access based on organizational needs.
Planning your Deployment
For optimal use of KeeperPAM, it is recommended to create a dedicated service account user within the Keeper Admin Console. This account will oversee the creation and management of Applications, Shared Folders, Gateways, Resources and their associated rights and permissions.
A scheduled update in Q1 2025 will introduce the capability to assign multiple administrators to Applications and Gateways, offering enhanced flexibility for larger teams.
Role-Based Enforcement Policies
Enforcement Policies determine what overall permissions a user has associated to their role. A role can have administrative abilities, or they can be limited to only using resources assigned to them.
From the Admin Console, visit Admin > Roles
Either create a new role or modify an existing role
Under Enforcement Policies, visit the "Privileged Access Manager" tab
A more in-depth look at Admin Console nodes, roles and permissions can be found in the Keeper Enterprise admin guide:
PAM Configuration Settings
The PAM Configuration acts as a set of "parental controls" for PAM records. It enables or disables specific PAM features for all resources using the configuration.
More information on PAM Configuration
Application and Device Access Control
When creating an application with its devices and gateways, the admin assigns access to specific shared folders with record permissions. This setup allows controlled vault access for both the gateways and the connected devices interacting with the Keeper vault. By managing permissions at both the application and gateway levels, an extra security layer is added.
Multiple applications can be associated to a Shared Folder with different levels of permission.
Device and Gateway IP Locking
When creating a new Device or Gateway on a Windows or Linux-based installation method, Keeper provides the option to apply IP locking upon first access. This added security measure is layered on top of the existing device authorization model.
PAM Resource Sharing and Permissions
In the Keeper Vault, Shared Folders control access to any resource managed by KeeperPAM. Resources can be placed inside shared folders just like any other Keeper record.
One of the key benefits of the KeeperPAM platform is the ability to share access to a resource without exposing credentials to the recipient.
A Shared Folder contains PAM Resources, such as:
PAM Machine
PAM Database
PAM Directory
PAM Remote Browser
PAM User
To ensure least privilege, we recommend splitting the PAM Users into a separate shared folder, in order to restrict what users and devices can access the underlying secrets. When launching our Quick Start Sandbox or using our Gateway wizard, Keeper will automatically place the resources and users into separate shared folders.
For example, this demo environment as seen below provides full access to DevOps, but limits access to only viewing and using resources to the Developers team:
In this scenario, only the DevOps team has access to the Users folder. The Developers are restricted from accessing these credentials.
Record Level Permissions
Resource-level permissions in a shared folder limit members from editing or sharing records. Users with view-only access can still use PAM features, like launching sessions, if their role allows it.
To ensure least privilege access, the recommendation is to reduce record-level permissions in a Shared Folder to "View Only". Only the Keeper service account user responsible for building Applications and Gateways should have full administrative capabilities.
Direct Resource Sharing
A record can be shared to an individual user with persistent or time-limited access.
To share an individual record, click on Share and then select the user. Providing view-only access to a resource allows the recipient to launch connections and tunnels to the target without having access to the underlying credentials.
A user can be assigned standing access or time-limited access to a resource.
Team Level Permissions
From the Admin Console, a team can optionally be restricted in their ability to edit or re-share records that have been provisioned to the team via shared folders across the entire environment. This only applies to shared folders that have been assigned to a specific team.
Share Admin Permissions
Managing ownership and permissions of resources and records within the Keeper Vault can be delegated to other Keeper admins through the Share Admin permission.
Read more about the Share Admin feature in the Keeper Enterprise docs
Record Linking
A PAM User record containing credentials can be "linked" to a PAM Resource. Sharing a PAM Resource record to another user does not automatically share the linked credentials. This allows the recipient with view-only access with the ability to launch zero-trust connections without having access to the underlying credentials.
Sharing a resource to a user with view-only access only gives them the ability to launch connections and tunnels.
Keeper's zero-trust architecture provides access to the target systems without sharing the credential, ensuring least privilege access.
In the example below, a PAM Database is linked to a specific user sqluser. Connections to the database using that account is available to users without access to the actual credential.
Here's another example which provides SSH access to a Linux machine without sharing the key:
Time-Limited Access
Folder and record access can be either persistent or time-limited.
Access to the resource can be revoked at a specific date and time.
Revoking Access
Removing a user from a Shared Folder or removing the user from a direct share of the resource will immediately destroy any active sessions or tunnels.
To remove a user from a Shared Folder:
Select the Shared Folder
Select "Edit" and then remove the user or team from the "Users" tab
Click Save
To remove a user from an individual resource
Select the record
Click on "Sharing"
Delete the share
If you select "Remove ... from all your shared records", this will revoke access to all resources and destroy any active sessions or tunnels for that user.
Automatic Rotation after Share Expiration
If you have a use case where a PAM User credential needs to be shared to another user, you have the option of automatically rotating the credential after the sharing has expired.
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