# credential-brokering

Source: https://startwithidentity.com/glossary/credential-brokering/
Last updated: 2026-11-05
License: content by Start with Identity. Cite the source URL.

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Credential brokering is the pattern in which an intermediary fetches a credential from a vault or credential store at the moment of access and hands it to an already-authorized user or workload, instead of that user or workload holding the credential permanently. [HashiCorp Boundary's documentation](https://developer.hashicorp.com/boundary/docs/concepts/credential-management) defines it this way and contrasts it with credential injection: brokering "returns credentials to the user", while injection "authenticates on the user's behalf without ever exposing the credential".

The distinction matters most for AI agents and other non-human identities. A brokered credential still reaches the client, so an agent that reads untrusted input can be steered into leaking or misusing it. Injection, or better, short-lived tokens issued for one audience (OAuth [token exchange](https://startwithidentity.com/glossary/token-exchange/) or [ID-JAG](https://startwithidentity.com/standards/id-jag-cross-app-access/)), keeps the secret out of the agent's reach entirely. Brokering is still a large improvement over static [API keys](https://startwithidentity.com/glossary/api-key/) in config files, which is the failure behind several [exposed-secret incidents](https://startwithidentity.com/breaches/incidents/) and the [static API key abuse](https://startwithidentity.com/techniques/static-api-key-abuse/) technique. When evaluating a broker, ask whether the credentials it hands out are dynamic and short-lived, scoped to one target, and logged per session.

See also: [secrets management](https://startwithidentity.com/glossary/secrets-management/), [just-in-time access](https://startwithidentity.com/glossary/jit-access/), [HashiCorp Boundary](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/pam/hashicorp-boundary/), [HashiCorp Vault](https://startwithidentity.com/vendors/machine-identity/hashicorp-vault/), [MCP authorization](https://startwithidentity.com/standards/mcp-authorization/), [securing AI agent identities](https://startwithidentity.com/guides/machine-identity/securing-ai-agent-identities/)