[role="xpack"]
[[internal-users]]
=== Internal users

NOTE: These users are designed for internal use by {es} only. Authenticating with these users is not supported.

The {stack-security-features} use eight _internal_ users (`_system`, `_xpack`,
`_xpack_security`, `_async_search`, `_security_profile`, `_data_stream_lifecycle`, `_synonyms` and `_storage`),
which are responsible for the operations that take place inside an {es} cluster.

These users are only used by requests that originate from within the cluster.
For this reason, they cannot be used to authenticate against the API and there
is no password to manage or reset.

From time-to-time you may find a reference to one of these users inside your
logs, including <<enable-audit-logging,audit logs>>.