Bitwarden, the trusted leader in passkey, password, and secrets management, today announced Bitwarden Privileged Controls, a set of new privileged access capabilities available in private preview for select Bitwarden customers. Privileged Controls reduces complexity and shortens deployment timelines with a solution that can be set up in minutes, while providing a more familiar user experience than traditional Privileged Access Management (PAM) solutions. Built on top of Bitwarden Password Manager, the capabilities enable security and IT teams to quickly control when and how users access privileged and other business-critical credentials already stored in Bitwarden, automatically rotate passwords, and maintain a detailed audit trail of privileged credential access.
AI-enhanced phishing and automated attack workflows have made it easier for attackers to target credentials at scale. Human users are no longer the only identities interacting with enterprise systems and machines, and AI agents are increasingly creating additional access paths organizations must govern. As the identity landscape expands, meeting compliance requirements for least-privilege access, auditable records, and stronger protection of sensitive systems and information becomes increasingly critical for organizations. Privileged Controls helps organizations meet these requirements through advanced access rules and compliance-ready audit logs.
Recent Bitwarden research found a gap between the importance respondents placed on privileged access security and PAM adoption within their organizations. In a survey of Bitwarden customers, 84% rated securing privileged account access as extremely or very important, yet 55% said their organizations had no PAM solution in place. Among respondents without PAM, 40% cited cost as an adoption barrier, while 20% cited the IT resources required for implementation.
“Privileged users and accounts are multiplying as AI agents take on more work across the enterprise,” said Mary Writz, chief product officer, Bitwarden. “A legacy PAM approach that can take months to deploy cannot keep pace with that change. Bitwarden Privileged Controls gives teams a path to establish strong controls around critical credentials in minutes, making privileged access management more accessible to enterprises of all sizes.”
Privileged access within Bitwarden Password Manager
Privileged Controls enables employees to request temporary access to privileged credentials directly from Bitwarden Password Manager while administrators retain centralized oversight and access control.
The same safeguards can also protect business-critical credentials that may fall outside traditional PAM deployments, including shared administrative credentials for critical cloud services or SaaS applications containing sensitive financial, employee, or customer information. This broader approach helps teams strengthen access controls wherever credential misuse could create material business risk.
Key capabilities include:
- Credential leasing: The credential remains concealed until applicable conditions are met, and access ends automatically when the lease expires or an administrator revokes it. Each request includes a defined access period and reason.
- Advanced access rules: Administrators can apply templates or custom rules based on manager approval requirements, IP address checks, and lease duration, helping enforce just-in-time and least-privilege access.
- Password rotation: Privileged Controls can automatically rotate passwords when a lease ends or according to a pre-set schedule. At private preview launch, automated rotation supports Microsoft Entra ID, and customers can configure custom scripts for server-related credentials on Windows and Linux. Bitwarden can flag credentials outside current automated coverage for manual rotation.
- Compliance-ready audit logs: Timestamped records show who requested a credential, who approved the request, who accessed it, and when the lease ended, helping security teams answer audit questions without reconstructing activity across separate systems. Logs can be integrated with SIEM solutions for even more comprehensive auditing.
Privileged Controls builds on the trusted open source, end-to-end encrypted security architecture of Bitwarden Password Manager. The release also marks the first phase of a broader Bitwarden privileged access roadmap.
Availability
Bitwarden Privileged Controls is available in private preview for select Bitwarden customers. Customers interested in participating can contact a Bitwarden sales or customer success representative.
About Bitwarden:
Bitwarden equips enterprises and individuals with the power to securely manage and share information online with trusted open source security solutions. With a password manager for everyone, users can easily manage their entire online identity anywhere. Bitwarden Secrets Manager and Passwordless.dev enhance developer secrets security and streamline passkey development for end users and workforce authentication. Founded in 2016, Bitwarden serves over 80,000 businesses and more than 15 million users worldwide across 180 countries in 50+ languages. The company is headquartered in Santa Barbara, California. Learn more at bitwarden.com.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260929695265/en/
Media gallery
