WT* is JWT

So what the hell is JWT, Jose header, JWKS, and others?

This presentation covers:
- the cryptography basics (symmetric ciphers, asymmetric ciphers, signing, and verifying)
- JWS (JSON Web Signature)
- JWE (JSON Web Encryption)
- JWT (JSON Web Token)
- JWKS (JSON Web Key Set)
- JWT security
- JWT vulnerabilities

links:
https://www.twilio.com/blog/building-javascript-microservices-node-js
https://www.twilio.com/blog/eureka-zuul-service-discovery-dynamic-routing-javascript-microservices-node-js
https://www.twilio.com/blog/scale-node-js-javascript-microservices-shared-mongodb-atlas
https://www.twilio.com/blog/protecting-javascript-microservices-node-js-json-web-tokens-twilio-authy
https://jwt.io
https://learn.akamai.com/en-us/webhelp/api-gateway/api-gateway-user-guide/GUID-682D1D3F-4CF2-46F2-B16B-5E0E1E991218.html
https://blogs.akamai.com/2019/10/verify-jwt-with-json-web-key-set-jwks-in-api-gateway.html
https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7519
https://bit.ly/2DbNOcM

Transcript

1. @maciejtreder
   WT* is JWT?!
   

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2. What the **** is JWT?!
   hell
   

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3. View Slide

4. I like you
   

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5. I like you
   I like you
   I don’t like you!
   

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6. I like you
   I like you
   I don’t like you!
   

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7. View Slide

8. Symmetric cipher
   a b c d e f g h i j k l m
   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
   n o p r s t u v w x y z _
   14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
   I like you
   9 26 12 9 11 5 26 24 15 20
   

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9. What if…?
   

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10. Asymmetric cipher
    • Private key - used to decrypt the message
    • Public key - used to encrypt the message
    • Keys are generated using the one-way function
    f(p,q) = p*q where p & q are primes
    • Keys can be used interchangeably
    

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11. RSA key
    • Select p & q primes
    • Calculate n = p*q
    • Calculate φ = (p-1)*(q-1)
    • Choose such e, relatively prime to φ
    gcd(φ,e) == 1
    • Compute such d, that
    (ed-1) modφ=0
    • Private key = (n,e)
    • Public key = (n,d)
    p=11 q=3
    n = 11*3 = 33
    φ = (11-1)*(3-1) = 20
    e = 3
    d=7
    (ed-1) mod φ = 0
    (3d-1) mod 20 = 0
    3d-1 = 20n
    d = (20n + 1)/3
    d = (20*1+1)/3
    d = 21/3
    public key = (n, e) = (33, 3)
    private key = (n, d) = (33, 7)
    

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12. Asymmetric cipher
    Mikes public key
    Mikes private key
    Kates public key
    Kates private key
    

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13. Asymmetric cipher
    c = m^e mod n public key = (n, e) = (33, 3)
    private key = (n, d) = (33, 7)
    a b c d e f g h i j k l m
    m 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
    c 8 27 31 26 18 13 17 3 10 11 12 19 5
    n o p r s t u v w x y z _
    m 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27
    c 9 4 29 24 28 14 21 22 23 30 16 20 15
    I like you
    10 15 19 10 12 18 15 16 4 21
    m’ = c^d mod n
    

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14. What if…?
    Mikes public key
    Mikes private key
    Kates public key
    Kates private key
    

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15. Breaking the RSA
    • Compromising public key gives an attacker the modulus n
    • Key sizes - 1024 to 4096 bit (from 2^1024 to 2^4096)
    • p:
    109337661836325758176115170347306682871557999846322234541387456711212734562876700082908433028755212749702453145932
    22946129064538358581018615539828479146469
    • q:
    109106169673491102317237340786149226453370608821417489682098342251389760111799933942998101597369044685540217082898
    24396553412180514827996444845438176099727
    • 1024 bit modulus:
    119294134840169509055527211331255649644606569661527638012067481954943056851150333806315957037715620297305000118628
    770846689969112892212245457118060574995989517080042105263427376322274266393116193517839570773505632231596681121927
    337473973220312512599061231322250945506260066557538238517575390621262940383913963
    

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16. Signing
    • Write the message
    • Hash the message
    • Encrypt hash with your private key
    • Combine message with hash
    • Encrypt message+hash with their public key
    • I like you
    • f1d049f7b893bf8601c66045b801d590
    • xxx-yyy-zzz
    • I like you.xxx-yyy-zzz
    • aaa-bbb-ccc
    

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17. Verifying
    • Receive the message
    • Decrypt using your private key
    • Get original message & encrypted hash
    • Hash the original message
    • Decrypt received hash using their public key
    • Compare hashes
    • aaa-bbb-ccc
    • I like you.xxx-yyy-zzz
    • f1d049f7b893bf8601c66045b801d590
    • xxx-yyy-zzz ->
    f1d049f7b893bf8601c66045b801d590
    

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18. Signing
    

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19. Signing
    + =
    - =
    

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20. Signing
    

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21. Signing
    • Create a message
    • Hash the message
    • Encrypt hash with private key
    • Combine message and encrypted hash
    • From tomorrow everyone in the kingdom must use his le
    hand to open the door.
    • F03CF2EF5AFCE429DB88051746F3864B
    • Vf2Lx/jOUNLoXawCw4disZhrFfqcoNRGDvpG+SbxUX0=
    • {
    “message”: “From tomorrow everyone in the kingdom must use his
    le hand to open door.”
    “signature”: “Vf2Lx/jOUNLoXawCw4disZhrFfqcoNRGDvpG+SbxUX0=”
    }
    

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22. Verifying
    • Get the message
    • Hash the message
    • Decrypt the signature
    • Compare hash with decrypted signature
    • {
    “message”: “From tomorrow everyone in the kingdom must use his le
    hand to open door.”
    “signature”: “Vf2Lx/jOUNLoXawCw4disZhrFfqcoNRGDvpG+SbxUX0=”
    }
    • F03CF2EF5AFCE429DB88051746F3864B
    • Vf2Lx/jOUNLoXawCw4disZhrFfqcoNRGDvpG+SbxUX0=
    • F03CF2EF5AFCE429DB88051746F3864B
    

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23. That’s what most people call JWT
    

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24. JSON Web Signature
    eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJJIGFtIjoiSlNPTiBXZWIgVG9rZW4if
    Q.NmTt6oAkllTqmLqR-QqKxIgIsIaZIRIcBjNyhPnGziU
    {"alg":"HS256","typ":"JWT"}.{"I am":"JSON Web Token"}.NmTt6oAkllTqmLqR-
    QqKxIgIsIaZIRIcBjNyhPnGziU
    

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25. JSON Web Signature
    eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJJIGFtIjoiSlNPTiBXZWIgVG9rZW4if
    Q.NmTt6oAkllTqmLqR-QqKxIgIsIaZIRIcBjNyhPnGziU
    • JOSE Header
    Javascript Object Signing and Encryption
    information about token type, encryption algorithm
    • Payload - message body
    • Signature - encrypted header and body
    

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26. So.. What the **** is JWT?
    • JWT does not exist itself
    • Signed JWT is called JWS (JSON Web Signature)
    • Encrypted JWT is called JWE (JSON Web Encryption)
    JWT
    JWS
    JWE
    

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27. Registered claims
    {
    "alg":"HS256",
    "typ":"JWT"
    }
    {
    "iss": "authorization-service",
    "sub": "myself",
    "aud": "someone",
    "iat": 1594655553034,
    "nbf": 1594655553134,
    "exp": 1594655553234,
    "jti": 12345
    }
    Algorithm used for signing
    Token type
    Issuer
    Subject (the user)
    Audience (recipient)
    Issued at (time at which token was issued)
    Not before (time before which token is not valid)
    Expires (time a er which token is not valid)
    Unique identifier
    

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28. Custom claims
    {
    “alg":"RS512",
    "typ":"JWT"
    }
    {
    "name": "Maciej",
    "surname": "Treder",
    "privileges": ["booking_reschedule"],
    "exp": 1594655553234
    }
    • Public claims - defined at will by those
    using JWTs. To avoid collisions should
    be defend in the IANA JSON Web Token
    Registry
    • Private claims - custom claims create to
    share information between parties that
    agree on using them
    

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29. Pre JWT authorization
    POST /auth
    userID
    

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30. Pre JWT authorization
    POST /auth
    userID
    POST /book
    POST /changeGate
    POST /cancelFlight
    

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31. Pre JWT authorization
    POST /auth
    userID
    POST /book
    POST /changeGate
    POST /cancelFlight
    canChange?
    canBook?
    canCancel?
    

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32. Pre JWT authorization
    POST /auth
    userID
    POST /book
    POST /changeGate
    POST /cancelFlight
    

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33. JWT authorization
    POST /auth
    {privs: [“booking”], exp: 12345}
    

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34. JWT authorization
    POST /auth
    {privs: [“booking”], exp: 12345}
    POST /book
    POST /changeGate
    POST /cancelFlight
    

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35. JWT authorization
    POST /auth
    {privs: [“booking”], exp: 12345}
    POST /book
    POST /changeGate
    POST /cancelFlight
    

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36. JWT authorization
    POST /auth
    POST /changeGate
    @PostMapping("/changeGate")
    public ResponseEntity changeGate(
    @RequestHeader("jwt-token") Token token,
    @RequestBody Gate gate
    ) {
    DecodedToken decoded = decodeToken(token);
    if(decoded.hasPrivilege("changeGate") && verifySignature(token)) {
    changeGate(gate);
    return this.flightDetails;
    }
    throw new AuthorizationFailureException();
    }
    {privs: [“booking”]}
    

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37. JWT authorization
    verify claim and signature
    

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38. Delegate validation to 3rd parties
    verify claim and signature
    

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39. Delegate validation to 3rd parties
    

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40. Further reading
    • JSON web token validation
    https://learn.akamai.com/en-us/webhelp/api-gateway/api-gateway-user-guide/
    GUID-682D1D3F-4CF2-46F2-B16B-5E0E1E991218.html
    • Protecting JavaScript Microservices on Node.js with JSON Web
    Tokens and Twilio Authy
    https://www.twilio.com/blog/protecting-javascript-microservices-node-js-json-web-tokens-twilio-
    authy
    

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41. OAuth
    

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42. OAuth
    authenticate
    access token
    request resource
    validate token
    token valid
    return resource
    authenticate
    client
    

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43. OAuth
    authenticate
    access token
    request resource
    return resource
    authenticate
    client
    validate
    token
    

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44. JWKS
    • What if my key get compromised?
    • What if want to rotate keys?
    • What if I want to invalidate someones access?
    • JSON Web Key Set
    • A repository of keys (public, private, symmetric)
    

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45. JWKS
    {
    "alg":"HS256",
    "typ":"JWT",
    "kid":"12",
    "jku":"https://my-service.com/.well-known/jwks.json"
    }
    {
    "privileges": ["booking_reschedule"]
    }
    NmTt6oAkllTqmLqR-QqKxIgIsIaZIRIc
    

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46. JWKS
    {
    "keys": [
    {
    "kty": "RSA",
    "kid": "1",
    "alg": "RS256",
    "use": "sig",
    "e": "AQAB",
    "n": "ujZ1fTy2k-
    xc6Fa3Bfqe1T78Zx_oWBkDS1TNgw8Jbvbzfj5wgK5
    _xSK5ikNlkOXvBjrsVOnCCJXTNiHZxMtIfARbz91O-5n
    cuNah1H6WntWrLmaVfiIMaaKoNjDzScG1cIjPITarEV
    jDb0GI0eH9BKpFz8LUbVlcy2m7IOKbmDt6yusHsj7z
    OfjlV55dT1FU-
    q5bfyLXQyCf7Uy2JJAVEutWLMp3Ld53q9mvW47Lh
    hXKl5pKKbLARJgkccpQdN0bURiggvYjs2SHmZgh6d
    Ceap1mki4LB2aX-Z4TB-
    u8GbLq51HPZSpK71rR0QzZozluS5aLE49ciQ6-5u7K
    HWBbrQ"
    }
    ]
    }
    Key type
    Key ID
    Algorithm
    Usage
    Exponent
    Modulus
    

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47. JWKS
    Standard attributes:
    • kty - key type
    • kid - key ID
    • alg - algorithm [HMAC, RSA, …]
    • use - usage
    • e - exponent number
    • m - modulus number
    Chinese remainder algorithm:
    • p, q - prime factors
    • dp - d (mod p-1)
    • dq - d (mod q-1)
    • qi - q^-1 (mod p)
    Certificate:
    • x5c - x.509 certificate chain
    • x5t - Thumbprint of the x.509 cert
    

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48. JWKS
    

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49. JWKS
    

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50. JWKS
    {
    "alg":"HS256",
    "typ":"JWT",
    "kid":"12",
    "jku":"https://my-service.com/.well-known/jwks.json"
    }
    {
    "privileges": ["change_gate"]
    }
    NmTt6oAkllTqmLqR-QqKxIgIsIaZIRIc
    

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51. Pitfalls & Vulnerabilities
    

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52. Data Security
    • JWS payload is encoded not encrypted
    • Never store sensitive data (ie. credit card numbers) in JWS token
    • If you want to store sensitive data choose JWE
    

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53. Unsigned JWT
    • JWT doesn’t need to be signed
    • Do not rely only on the header when you’re validating the token
    • “alg”: “none”
    

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54. Error Responses
    • Pay attention to what you are providing in
    the error response
    • https://github.com/jwt-dotnet/jwt/issues/
    61
    

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55. Weak Key
    • HS256 (HMAC-SHA256)
    • Token is signed applying the SHA256 twice
    • When attacker obtains a signed token, he can “easily” retrieve the key (ie. by using the HashCat)
    • According to documentation, use key which has at least same size as the hash output (256 bit for
    HS256)
    

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56. Decoding != Verifying
    • Decoding is enough only for denying access (lack of required claim)
    • Always verify signature if you want grant someone access
    • Read library documentation, o en verifying process is available as a separate method
    

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57. “Time” attack
    • Applies when signature is verified byte-a er-byte
    • Once bytes doesn’t match then access is denied
    • Attacker may observe the response time and generate next bytes of the signature
    

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58. jku
    • Always verify the URL provided as a jku claim
    {
    "alg":"HS256",
    "typ":"JWT",
    "kid":"12",
    "jku":"https://attacker.com/.well-known/jwks.json"
    }
    {
    "privileges": ["change_gate"]
    }
    

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59. jku validation
    

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60. Summary
    • JWT is o en confused with JWS which is one of it’s implementations
    • It’s a way of stateless data exchange
    • JWS is built of JOSE header, payload and signature
    • It’s a good place too keep not-sensitive data, which value should be verified
    • Always follow given algorithm best practices (i.e. pass-phrase/key size)
    • JWE is a good choice if you want to keep data encrypted
    

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61. Resources
    • JWT.IO
    https://jwt.io
    • JSON web token validation
    https://learn.akamai.com/en-us/webhelp/api-gateway/api-gateway-user-guide/
    GUID-682D1D3F-4CF2-46F2-B16B-5E0E1E991218.html
    • Verify JWT With JSON Web Key Set (JWKS) In API Gateway
    https://blogs.akamai.com/2019/10/verify-jwt-with-json-web-key-set-jwks-in-api-gateway.html
    • RFC 7519 - JSON Web Token
    https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7519
    

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62. Resources
    • Building JavaScript Microservices with Node.js
    https://www.twilio.com/blog/building-javascript-microservices-node-js
    • Implementing Eureka and Zuul for Service Discovery and Dynamic Routing in JavaScript
    Microservices Running on Node.js
    https://www.twilio.com/blog/eureka-zuul-service-discovery-dynamic-routing-javascript-microservices-node-js
    • Scaling Node.js JavaScript Microservices on Shared MongoDB Atlas Cloud Persistence
    Layers
    https://www.twilio.com/blog/scale-node-js-javascript-microservices-shared-mongodb-atlas
    • Protecting JavaScript Microservices on Node.js with JSON Web Tokens and Twilio Authy
    https://www.twilio.com/blog/protecting-javascript-microservices-node-js-json-web-tokens-twilio-authy
    

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63. Feedback
    https://bit.ly/2DbNOcM
    

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64. @maciejtreder
    

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