Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communication are described. A user equipment (UE) may determine that a security context with a network node has been established for more than a threshold time period. The UE may identify, based on a key hierarchy, a parent network node associated with the network node. The UE may transmit a key refresh request message to the parent network node to trigger a key refresh procedure between the parent network node and the network node. The UE may perform a procedure with the network node to establish a new security context based on the key refresh procedure.