A Deep Dive into CyberArk’s Central Credential
Provider (CCP)

Introduction

Hardcoded credentials are still among the most critical and overlooked security flaws in modern software development. From leaked Git repos to reverse-engineered binaries, static passwords are easy targets. They also make rotation and access control almost impossible.

Enter CyberArk’s Central Credential Provider (CCP): a secure, centralized gateway that delivers credentials just-in-time to applications via encrypted REST or SOAP calls. In other words, no more secrets in scripts, no more embedded passwords, but just-in-time, secure delivery.

In this post, we will explain CCP’s fundamentals, walk through a typical implementation flow, and revisit a real-world use case where we integrated Nessus to leverage dynamic credential access.

What is Central Credential Provider (CCP)?

The Central Credential Provider (CCP) is a component of the CyberArk suite that enables applications, automation tools, and scripts to securely retrieve credentials on demand, without ever storing them locally. It acts as a secure intermediary, enforcing authentication and policy rules before releasing any secret, and acts as a middleman:

Figure 1. CCP Module Diagram

The following three bullet points explain each element in Fig. 1:

• Application: can be any code, script, CI/CD job, or tool needing credentials. It can also be DevOps and Automation Tools, Application Servers and Services (Java, .NET, Python, Node.js applications), Scripts and CLI Tools (Shell scripts, PowerShell, Python scripts), or Custom-Built Applications (any custom internal or third-party application that supports HTTP requests).
• CCP: Enforces authentication, policy, and secure delivery.
• Vault: Holds the encrypted secrets in Safes.

CCP eliminates the need for embedded passwords, enables immediate rotation, and ensures every access is tracked.

Users include:

• App developers escaping hardcoded secrets in config files,
• DevOps engineers automating credential injection in CI/CD pipelines,
• Security and Ops teams ensuring compliance and auditability at scale.

Common Use Cases for CCP

Some of the most common account types with hard coded credentials are Service Accounts used by applications or background services to interact with systems (e.g., databases and file servers). These account types are commonly found in Windows/Linux services, enterprise apps, and middleware.

One of the main reasons that Service Accounts need special security auditing is that frequently they have elevated privileges. This is exactly where the CCP module steps in and can provide enhanced security in the various installations of service accounts.

Figure 2. Service Account

How CCP Works – Simplified

1. App Authentication
   The app identifies itself using an AppID, client certificate, or token.
2. AuthN & AuthZ Checks
   CCP validates the identity, then checks Vault policies to verify access rights.
3. Policy Enforcement
   Controlled Safes and objects are defined per AppID (e.g., App-Prod-Secrets).
4. Real-Time Retrieval
   Credentials are fetched over HTTPS and never cached locally—just-in-time delivery.
5. Auditing
   Every request is logged (AppID, Safe, object, timestamp, outcome), and can be fed to SIEM.

Deployment Flow

The following diagram illustrates deployment of CCP module in 6 basic steps:

Figure 3. CCP Deployment flow

Tenable Use Case

One practical example of CCP integration can be seen in vulnerability management. Nessus scanner often relies on service accounts to authenticate into target systems (especially Windows servers) to perform authenticated vulnerability scans. Service accounts allow Nessus to log in to the target system and count installed software, patches, registry keys, file permissions, local users, services, etc. This provides deeper visibility than unauthenticated scans. The service account used by Tenable must be a member of the local “Administrators’ group” on the target systems (or have equivalent permissions). Therefore, this is a good case for CCP integration.

Here we explain how we used CCP to securely manage scan credentials in Tenable deployment:

1. CCP Deployment
   The CyberArk Central Credential Provider is installed on a centrally accessible Windows server within the infrastructure, acting as the broker for secure credential retrieval.
2. Network Enablement
   Network access is configured to allow secure REST API communication between Nessus scan engines and the CCP Web Service.
3. CyberArk Configuration

Tenable is registered as an application in CyberArk. Dedicated service accounts should be onboarded. Access is tightly scoped: AppIDs are mapped to their respective credentials using policy definitions, and safe permissions should also be granted to designated account owners to allow credential maintenance.

4. Tenable Configuration

SSL certificates are installed to secure communication. In Tenable, credential objects are configured to dynamically pull secrets from CCP just before each scan.

5. Testing & Validation

Scans are launched using the new credential profile. Nessus requests credentials in real time from CCP — nothing is stored locally. All targets are reached and authenticated successfully, and logs confirm that each request is recorded and auditable.

Why this matters
This setup removes the need for hardcoded or static credentials in scanning tools. Passwords are rotated automatically by CyberArk, and every request is logged. The result: more secure scans, better audit trails, and reduced operational risk.

Conclusion

If you are building secure, compliant, and scalable infrastructure, CyberArk CCP is not just helpful — it is essential. Whether you are securing CI/CD pipelines or orchestrating privileged scans, CCP brings control, automation, and accountability into the heart of your secrets management strategy.

About the authors

Published August 1, 2025August 1, 2025