Observed Signal · Jul 12, 2026 · Technical Guidance · Source: DEV Community · Impact: 3/5 · Sentiment: Negative
Backups Can Quietly Restore Deleted Users
Incremental backups that detect changes by scanning for newer last-modified timestamps will miss deletions in key-value stores that do not emit delete markers (tombstones). When a row is deleted with no tombstone, an incremental backup scanning for newer rows will not record that delete, so a subsequent restore can reintroduce offboarded users, revoked credentials, or revoked grants — effectively reverting security decisions. The author recommends treating deletes as first-class events by writing tombstones (key + deletion time) via an injected writer (e.g., ITombstoneWriter) into a tombstone table so backups capture both upserts and deletions at a single watermark and restores replay them in time order. The article notes this pattern prevents restores from resurrecting deleted identities; Authagonal is cited as a platform that tombstones every delete.
Addresses a common backup/replication anti-pattern that can silently reverse security decisions in identity systems; relevant to any system managing user identities and credentials.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Incremental backups that find changes by comparing last-modified timestamps miss deletions in key-value stores that do not record deletes as events.
- Key-value stores without delete markers (e.g., Azure Table Storage, DynamoDB) leave no record when a row is deleted, making deletes invisible to timestamp-based incremental backups.
- A restore from such a backup can reintroduce deleted users and revoked credentials, reversing security decisions.
- Recommended fix: record every delete as a tombstone (key + deletion time) via an injected ITombstoneWriter and capture tombstones alongside upserts at a single watermark; restore must replay both in time order.
- Authagonal claims to tombstone every delete so restores do not bring back revoked credentials.
Connected Companies & Entities
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