Auth 101 - Longhorn PHP

Auth; almost every application employs it. From verifying that a user is who they say they are, to restricting access to a protected resource. If your application isn’t secure, there’s a lot to lose. Let’s learn the difference between authentication and authorisation, and the best ways to implement them.

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1. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Auth 101. What even is Auth anyway?
2. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP What do we mean by ‘auth’? • Authentication? • Authorisation? • What’s the difference?
3. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Authentication vs Authorisation Authentication (authn) is used to determine that… • Your identity can be verified • Your credentials match what is held on file • Your request is authentic
4. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Authentication vs Authorisation Authorisation (authz) is used to determine that… • You are admitted entry to a protected area • You possess the correct key • You are permitted access to a resource • You have been authorised to perform an action
5. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Remember: Authentication leads to authorisation, but authorisation never leads to authentication.
6. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Authentication
7. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Authentication Factors
8. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Something You Know • A username and password • A PIN • Answer to a secret question
9. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Something You Have • A key • A certificate • Access to a smart device • An email address or phone number
10. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Something You Are • Biometrics: fingerprints, voice, retina • Location-based • Facial recognition
11. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP The Humble Password
12. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Let’s talk about password security… • Passwords must be strong • Passwords must be hashed and salted before storing • Passwords should not be the only authentication factor
13. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Salting & hashing a password <?php $password = $_POST['password']; // The plaintext password. $algorithm = PASSWORD_DEFAULT; // Choose an algorithm. $hash = password_hash($password, $algorithm); // Hash and salt it. // You may now store the value of $hash in your database! save-password.php
14. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP The Password Hash Function • Creates a salt automatically so you don’t have to! • Returns the salt in the hash so no separate storage required. • Hash contains the algorithm parameters used to generate it. $2y$07$CCk9VkXcWxRIhy90tY21SeYjnHxoe0t/8.XQ3IV5KEelwrFTNu4Ge
15. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Supported Algorithms • password_hash() only supports strong hashing algorithms. • PASSWORD_DEFAULT is the PHP default algorithm; this can change if something stronger comes along. Currently, it is PASSWORD_BCRYPT • You can also use PASSWORD_ARGON2I and PASSWORD_ARGON2ID if PHP was compiled with Argon2 support.
16. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Verifying a password <?php $password = $_POST['password']; // The plaintext password /** @var object{hash: string} $user */ $hash = $user->hash; // The stored password hash $valid = password_verify($password, $hash); verify-password.php
17. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Bonus points - rehashing! // … cont’d if ($valid && password_needs_rehash($hash, PASSWORD_DEFAULT)) { // Create a new hash, and replace the old one $user->hash = password_hash($password, PASSWORD_DEFAULT); } verify-password.php
18. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Application User credentials Auth Handler Action Error 401 Password Verify
19. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP https://xkcd.com/538/
20. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Multi-factor Authentication / 2FA Anyone can obtain and use a password; it doesn’t verify anything! Two or more different authentication factors goes much further in determining the authenticity of a user.
21. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Application User Action Error 401 Auth Handler credentials answer Password Verify Challenge Verify
22. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Challenge Ideas • TOTP - Time-based One Time Password • Email confirmation link • SMS OTP
23. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Remember: Passwords verify nothing; use two or more factors to really authenticate your users!
24. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Persisting State
25. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Using Sessions A session is a way of persisting data between requests. Session data is stored server-side. When a session is created in PHP, a random session ID is generated. The ID is stored in a `PHPSESSID` cookie.
26. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Application Auth Handler User Action Error 401 Create Session Verify req. with credentials resp. with session ID Session Store
27. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Creating a logged in session <?php // ...cont’d $valid = password_verify($password, $hash); if ($valid) { session_start(); $_SESSION['loggedIn'] = true; } login.php
28. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Application Auth Handler User Action Error 401 Update Session Check Session req. with session ID Session Store
29. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Checking if a user is logged in <?php session_start(); if ($_SESSION['loggedIn'] === true) { // User is logged in! } login.php
30. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Logging out <?php session_start(); unset($_SESSION['loggedIn']); // User is no longer logged in! logout.php
31. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP “ Using JWTs JSON Web Tokens are an open, industry standard RFC 7519 method for representing claims securely between two parties. Reference: https:/ /jwt.io/
32. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Using JWTs A JWT contains data, similar to the data a PHP Session might contain. The difference is that JWTs do not require server storage. Using a shared secret, JWTs can be decoded and validated across multiple services.
33. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Application Auth Handler User Response Error 401 req. with credentials Create JWT Verify resp. with JWT
34. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Application Auth Handler User Action Error 401 Validate JWT req. with JWT
35. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Sample JWT eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzdWIiOiIxMjM0NTY3ODk wIiwibmFtZSI6IkthdHkiLCJpYXQiOjE1MTYyMzkwMjJ9.DQvkUBA1vHZSIJ 46Ue1yXibd0rWoylJFztYrXC50h2A
36. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Part 1 - Header eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9 { "alg": "HS256", "typ": "JWT" }
37. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Part 2 - Payload (Claims) eyJzdWIiOiIxMjM0NTY3ODkwIiwibmFtZSI6IkthdHkiLCJpYXQiOjE1MTYyMzkwMjJ9 { "sub": "1234567890", "name": "Katy", "iat": 1516239022 }
38. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Part 3 - Signature DQvkUBA1vHZSIJ46Ue1yXibd0rWoylJFztYrXC50h2A HMACSHA256( base64UrlEncode(header) + "." + base64UrlEncode(payload), my-super-secret )
39. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Q? A. By comparing the signature to a hash using your shared secret, you can verify that the contents of the JWT are authentic and have not been tampered with. How can I trust that a JWT is authentic?
40. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Registered Claims JWTs have a set of registered (useful, interoperable) claims, which include: ◦ aud - audience ◦ nbf - not before ◦ iss - issuer ◦ exp - expiry ◦ iat - issued at ◦ sub - subject
41. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Custom Claims It is possible to add your own custom claims to a JWT. Custom claims should be namespaced to avoid collisions. It is recommended to namespace claims using a domain you control. { "sub": "Katy", "https://katy-ereira.co.uk/fav_color": "purple" }
42. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Other Considerations • Access tokens are sent in request headers; many servers do not support headers larger than 8kB. Try and keep your JWT and its claims as minimal as possible! • JWTs cannot be invalidated, but they can expire. Set a short expiry time and validate against this to mitigate interception. • Claims within JWTs are only base64 encoded. Don’t encode anything sensitive!
43. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Remember: Sessions require state storage; JWTs are stateless and can be verified across multiple services using a shared secret.
44. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Authorisation Strategies
45. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Authorisation Strategies • ABAC • RBAC • ReBAC
46. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Authorisation Strategies • ABAC - Attribute Based Access Control • RBAC - Role Based Access Control • ReBAC - Relationship Based Access Control
47. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Attribute Based Access Control “My age is over 18 therefore I am permitted to play the lottery” • Very granular and flexible. • Can be used to create complex access conditions. • Can consider of a large number of attributes ◦ nature of actions, time, location, relationships, roles, ages, etc.
48. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Role Based Access Control “I am a site administrator therefore I am authorised to delete posts” • Applies set permissions to generalised groups of people • Less complex access conditions when compared with ABAC • May be harder to scale as the number of roles and permissions grow
49. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Relationship Based Access Control “I teach this student, so I may view their reports” • Easy to reason about • No need to assign roles or attributes • Harder to scale; when relationship structures evolve, so must the access control
50. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP OAuth 2.0
51. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP “ OAuth 2.0 OAuth 2.0 is the industry-standard protocol for authorization. OAuth 2.0 focuses on client developer simplicity while providing specific authorization flows for web applications, desktop applications, mobile phones, and living room devices. Reference: https:/ /oauth.net/2/
52. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Resource Owner A Resource Owner is a user or system that owns a protected resource. A Resource Owner can Authorise access to the resources they own.
53. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Client A Client is a system that requires access to resources owned by a Resource Owner and protected by a Resource Server. To access resources, a Client must be Authorised by the Resource Owner.
54. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Auth Server The Auth Server receives requests from the Client for access to protected resources. It issues access credentials upon successful Authentication of, and Authorisation by the Resource Owner.
55. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Resource Server The Resource Server protects the Resource Owner's resources. It receives resource access requests from the Client. The Client sends access credentials along with its request, which the Resource Server verifies. Upon verification, the Resource Server returns the requested resources.
56. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Auth Server Client Resource Owner Authorise Authenticate Access Credentials Resource Server Verify Credentials Action 401 (e.g. mobile app) (e.g. an API) (e.g. a user) (e.g. Google accounts)
57. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP OAuth 2.0 Providers
58. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Providers? There are many existing providers of OAuth 2.0 implementations. These include: Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Instagram, etc. By registering a Client, you can ask a Resource Owner for Authorisation using the provider’s OAuth Server. An authenticated user’s email address may be all your Resource Server needs to validate and fulfil the request.
59. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Creating an OAuth 2.0 Provider? Of course, you can implement your own OAuth 2.0 provider by following the OAuth 2.0 specification. For now, let’s assume we are integrating with an existing OAuth 2.0 provider such as Google, and that our services have their own database of users with email addresses that belong to Google accounts.
60. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Grants
61. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Grants There are various ways for a resource owner to grant access to a protected resource via an OAuth provider. Each method for receiving authorisation to access to a protected resource is called a ‘Grant’.
62. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Authorisation Code Grants A single-use authorisation code is exchanged for an access token. The authorisation code itself can be securely transferred around a server-side application. Proof Key for Code Exchange (PKCE) is an additional step that makes authorisation code grants more secure for mobile and single-page applications.
63. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Auth Server Client Resource Owner Authorise Authenticate Generate Code Resource Server Validate JWT Action 401 Verify Code Generate JWT
64. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Auth Server Client Resource Owner Authorise Authenticate Generate Code Resource Server Validate JWT Action 401 Verify Code Generate JWT
65. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Resource Owner Credentials Grant For absolutely trusted clients only, the Resource Owner can give its own credentials to the Client (i.e. their username and password), which the Client can then use to authorise with the Auth Server.
66. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Auth Server Client Resource Owner Verify Credentials Generate JWT Resource Server Validate JWT Action 401
67. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Q? A. You can’t; which is why the OAuth working group recommends against using or enabling this grant in your OAuth server, and it has been intentionally omitted from the draft OAuth 2.1 spec. Ref: https:/ /datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-ietf-oauth-security-topics-19#section-2.4 How can I trust that the client will store the user’s credentials securely?
68. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Client Credentials Grant A Client uses its own credentials (e.g. a client ID and secret) to authorise with the Auth Server. This type of grant is used for non-interactive services that do not involve a Resource Owner; e.g. machine-to-machine operations.
69. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Auth Server Client Verify Credentials Generate JWT Resource Server Validate JWT Action 401
70. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Device Authorisation Grant Can be used to authorise browserless devices, such as smart TVs. Does not require any interaction with the Auth Server; instead, depends on the Resource Owner authenticating and authorising the device manually.
71. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Client Auth Server Resource Owner Verify Credentials Resource Server Validate JWT Action 401 Issue Code Verify Code Request Access Issue JWT Grant Access Granted? display code manual auth
72. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Refresh Token Grant A previously authorised Client can refresh its own grant using a securely stored, longer lived refresh token. A Client can maintain access to protected resources without having to ask the Resource Owner for re-authorisation.
73. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Auth Server Client Verify Refresh Token Generate JWT Resource Server Validate JWT Action 401 Resource Owner prior auth
74. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Remember: You can use multiple grant types depending on the interaction required between your services.
75. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Other Security Considerations
76. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Other Considerations • Use HTTPS - always! • Validate redirect URLs, • Short-lived access tokens, long lived refresh tokens • Invalidate longer lived tokens. • Don’t expose private information.
77. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP It’s all too complicated!
78. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP There’s saas for that
79. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Time for a recap... • Authentication vs Authorisation • Authentication Factors • Password Security • Authorisation strategies • Sessions vs. JWTs • OAuth 2.0 Spec
80. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP … later, in Auth 102? • OpenID • Identity Access Management (IAM) • Threat detection • Integrating with Auth0 • … what else did I miss?
81. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP Further Reading & Helpful Resources • Decode and validate JWTs: https:/ /jwt.io • OAuth simplified: https:/ /oauth.com • Auth0 - auth SaaS: https:/ /auth0.com • OWASP Auth: https:/ /cheatsheetseries.owasp.org/cheatsheets/Authentication_Cheat_Sheet.html
82. @maccath | Katy Ereira | #LonghornPHP https://joind.in/talk/eb34d