diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 208cddaa27a68..04e8e85df6b80 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/),
 - WLM group custom search settings - groundwork and timeout ([#20536](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch/issues/20536))
 - Expose JVM runtime metrics via telemetry framework ([#20844](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch/pull/20844))
 - Add intra segment support for single-value metric aggregations ([#20503](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch/pull/20503))
+- Add new setting property 'Sensitive' for tiering dynamic settings ([#20901](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch/pull/20901))
 - Add ref_path support for package-based hunspell dictionary loading ([#20840](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch/pull/20840))
 - Add support for enabling pluggable data formats, starting with phase-1 of decoupling shard from engine, and introducing basic abstractions ([#20675](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch/pull/20675))
 
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/action/admin/cluster/settings/SettingsUpdater.java b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/action/admin/cluster/settings/SettingsUpdater.java
index c7030764a5b47..034b87bb07b29 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/action/admin/cluster/settings/SettingsUpdater.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/action/admin/cluster/settings/SettingsUpdater.java
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ synchronized ClusterState updateSettings(
         final Settings persistentToApply,
         final Logger logger
     ) {
+        validateNoTransientSensitiveSettings(transientToApply);
         boolean changed = false;
 
         /*
@@ -212,4 +213,12 @@ private void logInvalidSetting(
         );
     }
 
+    private void validateNoTransientSensitiveSettings(final Settings transientSettings) {
+        for (String key : transientSettings.keySet()) {
+            if (clusterSettings.isSensitiveSetting(key)) {
+                throw new IllegalArgumentException("sensitive setting [" + key + "] must be updated using persistent settings");
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
 }
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/common/settings/AbstractScopedSettings.java b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/common/settings/AbstractScopedSettings.java
index d3ed1d839093f..f9d57aabe3c2d 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/common/settings/AbstractScopedSettings.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/common/settings/AbstractScopedSettings.java
@@ -775,6 +775,15 @@ public boolean isUnmodifiableOnRestoreSetting(String key) {
         return setting != null && setting.isUnmodifiableOnRestore();
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Returns <code>true</code> if the setting for the given key is sensitive, meaning it requires
+     * security admin privileges to be updated dynamically. Otherwise <code>false</code>.
+     */
+    public boolean isSensitiveSetting(String key) {
+        final Setting<?> setting = get(key);
+        return setting != null && setting.isSensitive();
+    }
+
     /**
      * Returns a settings object that contains all settings that are not
      * already set in the given source. The diff contains either the default value for each
diff --git a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/common/settings/Setting.java b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/common/settings/Setting.java
index f77568bf4f711..aacbefba6838e 100644
--- a/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/common/settings/Setting.java
+++ b/server/src/main/java/org/opensearch/common/settings/Setting.java
@@ -177,7 +177,15 @@ public enum Property {
          * Mark this setting as immutable on snapshot restore
          * i.e. the setting will not be allowed to be removed or modified during restore
          */
-        UnmodifiableOnRestore
+        UnmodifiableOnRestore,
+
+        /**
+         * Marks a setting as sensitive. Can only be applied to dynamic settings.
+         * The Sensitive property has default enforcement but enables plugins to implement
+         * different policies for these settings. In practice the security plugin will
+         * require higher privileges for modifying sensitive settings.
+         */
+        Sensitive
     }
 
     private final Key key;
@@ -217,6 +225,9 @@ private Setting(
             } else if (propertiesAsSet.contains(Property.UnmodifiableOnRestore) && propertiesAsSet.contains(Property.Dynamic)) {
                 throw new IllegalArgumentException("UnmodifiableOnRestore setting [" + key + "] cannot be dynamic");
             }
+            if (propertiesAsSet.contains(Property.Sensitive) && propertiesAsSet.contains(Property.Dynamic) == false) {
+                throw new IllegalArgumentException("sensitive setting [" + key + "] must be dynamic");
+            }
             checkPropertyRequiresIndexScope(propertiesAsSet, Property.NotCopyableOnResize);
             checkPropertyRequiresIndexScope(propertiesAsSet, Property.InternalIndex);
             checkPropertyRequiresIndexScope(propertiesAsSet, Property.PrivateIndex);
@@ -361,6 +372,14 @@ public final boolean isUnmodifiableOnRestore() {
         return properties.contains(Property.UnmodifiableOnRestore);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Returns <code>true</code> if this setting is sensitive, meaning it requires security admin
+     * privileges to be updated dynamically. Otherwise <code>false</code>.
+     */
+    public final boolean isSensitive() {
+        return properties.contains(Property.Sensitive);
+    }
+
     public final boolean isInternalIndex() {
         return properties.contains(Property.InternalIndex);
     }
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/action/admin/cluster/settings/SettingsUpdaterTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/action/admin/cluster/settings/SettingsUpdaterTests.java
index 8d65c24f36b63..7052e2a41a27b 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/action/admin/cluster/settings/SettingsUpdaterTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/action/admin/cluster/settings/SettingsUpdaterTests.java
@@ -670,4 +670,24 @@ public void testUpdateOfValidationDependentSettings() {
         assertThat(exception.getMessage(), equalTo("[high]=2 is lower than [low]=5"));
     }
 
+    public void testRejectSensitiveSettingInTransient() {
+        Setting<String> sensitiveSetting = Setting.simpleString(
+            "sensitive.setting",
+            Property.Dynamic,
+            Property.NodeScope,
+            Property.Sensitive
+        );
+        final Set<Setting<?>> settingsSet = Stream.concat(ClusterSettings.BUILT_IN_CLUSTER_SETTINGS.stream(), Stream.of(sensitiveSetting))
+            .collect(Collectors.toSet());
+        ClusterSettings clusterSettings = new ClusterSettings(Settings.EMPTY, settingsSet);
+        SettingsUpdater updater = new SettingsUpdater(clusterSettings);
+        ClusterState state = ClusterState.builder(new ClusterName("foo")).metadata(Metadata.builder().build()).build();
+
+        IllegalArgumentException ex = expectThrows(
+            IllegalArgumentException.class,
+            () -> updater.updateSettings(state, Settings.builder().put("sensitive.setting", "value").build(), Settings.EMPTY, logger)
+        );
+        assertThat(ex.getMessage(), equalTo("sensitive setting [sensitive.setting] must be updated using persistent settings"));
+    }
+
 }
diff --git a/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/common/settings/SettingTests.java b/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/common/settings/SettingTests.java
index a0788b0c83e11..68cea5a4200c7 100644
--- a/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/common/settings/SettingTests.java
+++ b/server/src/test/java/org/opensearch/common/settings/SettingTests.java
@@ -1447,6 +1447,14 @@ public void testRejectConflictingDynamicAndUnmodifiableOnRestoreProperties() {
         assertThat(ex.getMessage(), containsString("UnmodifiableOnRestore setting [foo.bar] cannot be dynamic"));
     }
 
+    public void testRejectSensitiveWithoutDynamic() {
+        IllegalArgumentException ex = expectThrows(
+            IllegalArgumentException.class,
+            () -> Setting.simpleString("foo.bar", Property.Sensitive, Property.NodeScope)
+        );
+        assertThat(ex.getMessage(), containsString("sensitive setting [foo.bar] must be dynamic"));
+    }
+
     public void testRejectNonIndexScopedUnmodifiableOnRestoreSetting() {
         final IllegalArgumentException e = expectThrows(
             IllegalArgumentException.class,