Can KV secret engine keys reference another key (single source value)?

Vault
1

Hi everyone,

I am exploring the KV secret engine in Vault and wondering if it supports referencing another key within the same secret.

What I want is something conceptually like this:

temp = 1

a = temp
b = temp
c = temp

If I later change:

temp = 2

then automatically:

a = 2
b = 2
c = 2

So essentially a, b, and c would reference temp rather than storing independent values.

Is there a recommended pattern in Vault to achieve this?
For example:

  • referencing another key in KV
  • templating
  • Vault Agent
  • another secret engine feature

Or is the recommended approach to store only temp and let the application derive the other values?

Thanks!

2

Hello,

That is not possible - the value is just the value. If you enter temp as the value, that is what Vault returns.

It seems like you’re describing a solution you want to solve a problem, can you backup and explain the problem your trying to solve with this? There may be other solutions.