Hello everyone,
I'm looking for best practices when implementing a Service Catalog item that allows users to request a password change for an external system.
My current concern is how the new password is stored within ServiceNow.
As I understand it, even if I use a Masked variable, the value is still stored by the platform (for example, in tables related to catalog item responses such as sc_item_option / item_option_new) and is encrypted at rest.
However, I'm concerned about a scenario where a privileged administrator or developer could create a server-side script and potentially decrypt or retrieve historical password values from previous requests.
Because of this, I'm questioning whether a catalog variable is the right place to collect passwords at all.
My questions are:
- What is the recommended approach for collecting passwords through a Service Catalog item?
- Are Masked variables considered sufficiently secure for this use case?
- Is there a ServiceNow-recommended pattern to avoid storing passwords in request records altogether?
- How do other customers typically implement password-change workflows for external systems while minimizing the risk of password exposure?
Any guidance, design patterns, or real-world implementation examples would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!
