Meet the core Privileged Access Security components: EPV, PVWA, and PSM

Outline for the article

• Title: Understanding CyberArk Core PAS: EPV, PVWA, and PSM

• Opening: A quick, human-friendly entry that frames why these three pieces matter in everyday security realities.

• Section 1: The Core trio at a glance — what “core” means in Privileged Access Security.

• Section 2: Enterprise Password Vault (EPV) — why it’s the vault you want guarding passwords.

• Section 3: Password Vault Web Access (PVWA) — the gateway that makes secure access practical.

• Section 4: Privileged Session Management (PSM) — watching, recording, and controlling privileged activity.

• Section 5: How the pieces fit together in real life — a simple workflow story.

• Section 6: The other players worth knowing — CPM and SSH Key Management, and where they fit.

• Section 7: Quick takeaways for practitioners — questions to ask, how to assess needs.

• Conclusion: The core trio as a practical foundation, with a nod to broader security goals.

Understanding CyberArk Core PAS: EPV, PVWA, and PSM

If you’ve ever wrestled with the tangled web of privileges in a modern enterprise, you’ll appreciate a clean, dependable trio that keeps those privileges in check. In CyberArk’s Privileged Access Security (PAS) architecture, the Core PAS components are EPV, PVWA, and PSM. Think of them as the three pillars that handle the most sensitive stuff: secret storage, controlled access, and supervised sessions. Together, they turn a potential security headache into a manageable, auditable system.

What does “core” mean in this context? It means these three pieces directly govern passwords for privileged accounts and the actions taken while those accounts are in use. Other components can add layers of policy, key management, and automation, but without EPV, PVWA, and PSM, you’re largely missing the essentials for credential protection and session oversight. Let me explain how each piece plays a distinct, indispensable role.

EPV: Enterprise Password Vault — the vault that keeps secrets secure

The Enterprise Password Vault is the powerhouse for password management. Imagine a vault that stores passwords for privileged accounts. It doesn’t hand out the keys in plain text; it protects them with strong encryption and tight access controls. In practice, EPV does several vital things:

• Centralized storage: All privileged credentials live in one secure, auditable repository. No more hunting through spreadsheets or sticky notes on someone’s desk.

• Strong protection: Passwords aren’t readable by just anyone. Access is governed by policies, approvals, and need-to-know principles.

• Automatic rotation: Passwords can be rotated on a schedule or in response to events, reducing the window of opportunity for misuse.

• Auditability: Every retrieval and change is logged. If you need to answer, “Who touched what, and when?” you have the data to back it up.

• Secure delivery: When a password is needed, it’s delivered through controlled channels, not exposed in the clear.

The beauty of EPV is that it reduces risk by eliminating scattered, weak, or easily guessed credentials. It also simplifies compliance by providing a clear trail of who accessed what and why. For IT teams, this translates into fewer ad-hoc password requests, less chaos during incident response, and a clearer view of privileged access patterns.

PVWA: Password Vault Web Access — the practical, user-friendly gateway

If EPV is the vault, PVWA is the gatekeeper that makes secure access usable. PVWA provides a web interface through which authorized users can find, request, and manage privileged credentials stored in EPV. It’s about balancing accessibility with accountability. How does PVWA achieve that balance?

• Controlled access to credentials: Users can search for and request credentials, but only within defined policies. Access isn’t a free-for-all.

• Workflows and approvals: Access can require approvals, time-bound windows, or multi-factor authentication. This keeps sensitive actions under a watchful eye.

• Session context and governance: PVWA often acts as the starting point for privileged activities, ensuring the right context (who’s requesting, for what, under which policy) is captured.

• User-friendly experience: A clean interface reduces friction. When you make secure practices easy, there’s less temptation to bypass controls.

In short, PVWA makes it practical to work with privileged passwords without sacrificing oversight. It’s the part of the system that keeps security from feeling like a roadblock, turning guarded credentials into something you can actually use responsibly.

PSM: Privileged Session Management — watching the hands on the keyboard

Now we get to the oversight part: Privileged Session Management. PSM is about what happens once a privileged session is underway. It isn’t just about granting access; it’s about watching, recording, and sometimes controlling what occurs during that access. This is where monitoring, auditing, and compliance really come to life.

Key capabilities include:

• Session recording: Capture keystrokes, commands, and outputs during privileged sessions. This creates a replayable trail for audits or investigations.

• Real-time monitoring and controls: Administrators can observe activity live and intervene if something looks off. In some setups, they can pause, restrict, or terminate a session in real time.

• Granular access controls: PSM supports fine-grained permissions, so a user can perform only the actions they’re authorized to perform during a session.

• Audit-ready data: The session artifacts feed into reports, helping you demonstrate compliance with internal policies and external regulations.

PSM doesn’t replace trust; it reinforces it. It’s about creating a safety net so that even when someone with high privileges is doing sensitive tasks, there’s a documented, reviewable trail. If you care about protecting credentials from misuse and meeting governance requirements, PSM is a non-negotiable piece of the puzzle.

How the pieces fit together in practice

To picture how these components work in concert, imagine a typical workflow:

• A user needs to perform a sensitive operation on a privileged account. They go to PVWA and request access within the allowed window and policy.

• EPV verifies the request against the stored credentials and, if approved, grants access to a privileged password in a controlled manner. The actual password is never exposed in plain text to end users; instead, a secure channel or vault broker handles the provisioning.

• As soon as access is granted, a privileged session is launched or attached to a recording mechanism. PSM starts logging commands, keystrokes, and session events, with safeguards in place to prevent leakage of secrets.

• After the task completes, the session is terminated, and the password is rotated if your policy requires it. All activities—who did what, when, and from where—are archived for audit.

This trio—EPV for secure storage, PVWA for controlled access, and PSM for session oversight—creates a strong, practical foundation. It allows organizations to protect credentials, ensure that access is properly governed, and maintain a clear, inspectable trail of activity. And yes, it’s possible to describe the flow without sounding like a checklist. It’s more like a well-designed security choreography where each partner knows its steps.

The other players worth knowing (even if they aren’t in the “core trio”)

You’ll hear about other components in the broader CyberArk PAS ecosystem, and that’s not by accident. Central Policy Manager (CPM) and SSH Key Management, for example, play important roles in different parts of privileged access management. Here’s how they relate without getting in the way of the core trio:

• CPM: Think of it as the policy engine that governs password rotation, account lifecycle, and policy enforcement across many targets. It’s highly influential for automation and consistency, especially in larger environments. But remember, it supports the core trio rather than replacing it.

• SSH Key Management: This focuses on managing and securing SSH keys, which are another common credential type in privileged environments. It complements EPV by addressing a specialized credential domain, ensuring that SSH keys are rotated, stored securely, and used under audited processes.

So yes, CPM and SSH Key Management matter, but the essential trio stays EPV, PVWA, and PSM when you’re talking about the core capabilities that directly secure privileged credentials and their usage.

A few practical angles to consider

• When you’re evaluating a PAS solution, look at how EPV, PVWA, and PSM integrate with your current identity and access management (IAM) stack. Compatibility with existing MFA methods, SIEMs, and ticketing systems can smooth adoption.

• For teams with heavy incident response needs, PSM’s session recordings can be a game-changer. They provide a verifiable narrative of what happened during a privileged operation.

• If your organization has strict regulatory obligations, the audit trails from EPV and PSM can simplify reporting and governance reviews.

• Don’t forget the human element. Tools are only as good as the processes around them. Clear ownership, well-documented policies, and regular reviews help keep the system effective and trustworthy.

A quick note on tone and tone shifts

Let’s keep the conversation grounded. We’re talking about tools that shape real-world security. It’s okay to get a little practical and even a touch conversational. After all, the best security setups feel almost invisible to the everyday user. They work behind the scenes, protecting credentials and enabling teams to do their jobs with confidence.

Takeaways you can carry forward

• The Core PAS set is EPV, PVWA, and PSM. These three directly manage privileged passwords and the sessions that use them.

• EPV stores and protects credentials; PVWA provides a safe, policy-driven portal to access them; PSM supervises and records privileged sessions.

• Other components like CPM and SSH Key Management add depth and breadth but aren’t in the core trio that handles passwords and live sessions.

• When you assess a PAS deployment, prioritize seamless integration between EPV, PVWA, and PSM, with clear policies, robust auditing, and a plan for ongoing improvement.

Closing thought

Security isn’t about finding a single magic bullet. It’s about stitching together reliable, complementary capabilities that work in harmony. The Core PAS components—EPV, PVWA, and PSM—give you a sturdy, understandable foundation. They address the two most fragile parts of the privileged access story: the passwords themselves and the actions performed with those passwords. In an era where breaches often hinge on compromised credentials, this trio offers a practical, actionable path to stronger everyday protection.

If you’re curious about how this works in a real-world setting, you’ll notice the pattern repeats across organizations of all sizes: a trusted vault, a controlled doorway, and a watchful eye on every privileged moment. It’s not flashy, but it’s solid. And in security, that steadiness matters more than anything else.