diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 1e6edab..083a9a9 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,6 +8,12 @@ and the project uses SemVer.
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+### Security
+- **Scoped Secret access**: the manager role no longer grants cluster-wide
+  `get/list/watch` on every Secret. The credential reconciler's Secret access is
+  now a namespaced `Role`/`RoleBinding` in the operator's own namespace (kustomize
+  + Helm), driven by a namespaced `+kubebuilder:rbac` marker.
+
 ## [2026.06.1] - 2026-06-20
 
 ### Changed
diff --git a/config/rbac/rbac.yaml b/config/rbac/rbac.yaml
index 4e7c674..e4fbe51 100644
--- a/config/rbac/rbac.yaml
+++ b/config/rbac/rbac.yaml
@@ -23,9 +23,6 @@ rules:
   - apiGroups: ["forail.forail-platform.io"]
     resources: ["jobtemplates/finalizers", "inventories/finalizers", "credentials/finalizers", "schedules/finalizers", "projects/finalizers", "organizations/finalizers", "teams/finalizers", "workflows/finalizers"]
     verbs: ["update"]
-  - apiGroups: [""]
-    resources: ["secrets"]
-    verbs: ["get", "list", "watch"]
   - apiGroups: [""]
     resources: ["events"]
     verbs: ["create", "patch"]
@@ -46,3 +43,29 @@ roleRef:
   apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
   kind: ClusterRole
   name: forail-operator
+---
+# needtofix M12: Secret access is namespaced, not cluster-wide. The credential
+# reconciler reads referenced Secrets only in the operator's namespace.
+apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
+kind: Role
+metadata:
+  name: forail-operator-secrets
+  namespace: forail-operator
+rules:
+  - apiGroups: [""]
+    resources: ["secrets"]
+    verbs: ["get", "list", "watch"]
+---
+apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
+kind: RoleBinding
+metadata:
+  name: forail-operator-secrets
+  namespace: forail-operator
+subjects:
+  - kind: ServiceAccount
+    name: forail-operator
+    namespace: forail-operator
+roleRef:
+  apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
+  kind: Role
+  name: forail-operator-secrets
diff --git a/config/rbac/role.yaml b/config/rbac/role.yaml
index b04ae6d..cfb6362 100644
--- a/config/rbac/role.yaml
+++ b/config/rbac/role.yaml
@@ -4,14 +4,6 @@ kind: ClusterRole
 metadata:
   name: manager-role
 rules:
-- apiGroups:
-  - ""
-  resources:
-  - secrets
-  verbs:
-  - get
-  - list
-  - watch
 - apiGroups:
   - forail.forail-platform.io
   resources:
@@ -61,3 +53,20 @@ rules:
   - get
   - patch
   - update
+---
+# needtofix M12: namespaced Secret access (generated from the namespace= rbac
+# marker on CredentialReconciler). Regenerate with `make manifests`.
+apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
+kind: Role
+metadata:
+  name: manager-role
+  namespace: forail-operator
+rules:
+- apiGroups:
+  - ""
+  resources:
+  - secrets
+  verbs:
+  - get
+  - list
+  - watch
diff --git a/helm/templates/rbac.yaml b/helm/templates/rbac.yaml
index 09597c8..887c133 100644
--- a/helm/templates/rbac.yaml
+++ b/helm/templates/rbac.yaml
@@ -15,11 +15,6 @@ rules:
   - apiGroups: ["forail.forail-platform.io"]
     resources: ["jobtemplates/finalizers", "inventories/finalizers", "credentials/finalizers", "schedules/finalizers", "projects/finalizers", "organizations/finalizers", "teams/finalizers", "workflows/finalizers"]
     verbs: ["update"]
-  # Credential reconciler reads referenced k8s Secrets for sensitive
-  # input fields (passwords, ssh keys, vault tokens).
-  - apiGroups: [""]
-    resources: ["secrets"]
-    verbs: ["get", "list", "watch"]
   - apiGroups: [""]
     resources: ["events"]
     verbs: ["create", "patch"]
@@ -43,4 +38,37 @@ roleRef:
   apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
   kind: ClusterRole
   name: {{ .Release.Name }}-forail-operator
+---
+# needtofix M12: the credential reconciler reads referenced k8s Secrets for
+# sensitive input fields (passwords, ssh keys, vault tokens). That access is
+# a namespaced Role in the operator's own namespace — NOT a cluster-wide
+# secrets grant. A multi-namespace setup adds one RoleBinding per namespace
+# that holds Credential Secrets.
+apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
+kind: Role
+metadata:
+  name: {{ .Release.Name }}-forail-operator-secrets
+  namespace: {{ .Release.Namespace }}
+  labels:
+    {{- include "forail-operator.labels" . | nindent 4 }}
+rules:
+  - apiGroups: [""]
+    resources: ["secrets"]
+    verbs: ["get", "list", "watch"]
+---
+apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
+kind: RoleBinding
+metadata:
+  name: {{ .Release.Name }}-forail-operator-secrets
+  namespace: {{ .Release.Namespace }}
+  labels:
+    {{- include "forail-operator.labels" . | nindent 4 }}
+subjects:
+  - kind: ServiceAccount
+    name: {{ include "forail-operator.serviceAccountName" . }}
+    namespace: {{ .Release.Namespace }}
+roleRef:
+  apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
+  kind: Role
+  name: {{ .Release.Name }}-forail-operator-secrets
 {{- end }}
diff --git a/internal/controller/credential_controller.go b/internal/controller/credential_controller.go
index ffd8fa8..1988ff7 100644
--- a/internal/controller/credential_controller.go
+++ b/internal/controller/credential_controller.go
@@ -42,7 +42,10 @@ type CredentialReconciler struct {
 // +kubebuilder:rbac:groups=forail.forail-platform.io,resources=credentials,verbs=get;list;watch;create;update;patch;delete
 // +kubebuilder:rbac:groups=forail.forail-platform.io,resources=credentials/status,verbs=get;update;patch
 // +kubebuilder:rbac:groups=forail.forail-platform.io,resources=credentials/finalizers,verbs=update
-// +kubebuilder:rbac:groups="",resources=secrets,verbs=get;list;watch
+// needtofix M12: namespaced secret access only — the reconciler must not be
+// able to read every Secret in the cluster. The namespace marker makes
+// controller-gen emit a namespaced Role instead of a ClusterRole rule.
+// +kubebuilder:rbac:groups="",namespace=forail-operator,resources=secrets,verbs=get;list;watch
 
 func (r *CredentialReconciler) Reconcile(ctx context.Context, req ctrl.Request) (ctrl.Result, error) {
 	logger := log.FromContext(ctx)