Techniques for managing privileged accounts via a privileged access management service are provided. In some examples, the service may be configured with a plug-in framework for accessing secure resources. In some aspects, plug-in code for implementing a workflow that includes step-up validation associated with a user attempting to access at least one secure resource may be received. Access to the at least one secure resource may be provided when the user is authenticated with respect to the service. In some examples, a request to access a second secure resource may be received. Additionally, in some examples, the workflow to perform the step-up validation may be implemented at least in response to the request to access the second secure resource. The workflow implemented based at least in part on an attribute associated with the request.