An Introduction to OAuth 2

An Introduction
to OAuth 2
Aaron Parecki • @aaronpk
OSCON • Portland, Oregon • July 2012

A Brief History

aaron.pk/oauth2 @aaronpk

Before OAuth
aka the Dark Ages
If a third party wanted access to an
account, you’d give them your password.

Several Problems and
Limitations
 Apps store the user’s password

 Apps get complete access to a user’s account

 Users can’t revoke access to an app except by
changing their password

 Compromised apps expose the user’s password


Before OAuth 1.0
 Services recognized the problems with password
authentication

 Many services implemented things similar to
OAuth 1.0

 Each implementation was slightly different,
certainly not compatible with each other


Before OAuth 1.0
 Flickr: “FlickrAuth” frobs and tokens

 Google: “AuthSub”

 Facebook: requests signed with MD5 hashes

 Yahoo: BBAuth (“Browser-Based Auth”)


“We want something like Flickr Auth /
Google AuthSub / Yahoo! BBAuth, but
published as an open standard, with
common server and client libraries.”
Blaine Cook, April 5th, 2007


OAuth 1.0


OAuth 1.0 Signatures
The signature base string is often the most difficult part of
OAuth for newcomers to construct. The signature base string
is composed of the HTTP method being used, followed by
an ampersand ("&") and then the URL-encoded base URL
being accessed, complete with path (but not query
parameters), followed by an ampersand ("&"). Then, you
take all query parameters and POST body parameters
(when the POST body is of the URL-encoded type, otherwise
the POST body is ignored), including the OAuth parameters
necessary for negotiation with the request at hand, and sort
them in lexicographical order by first parameter name and
oauth_nonce="QP70eNmVz8jvdPevU3oJD2AfF7R7o
then parameter value (for duplicate parameters), all the
while ensuring that both the key and the value for oauth_callback="http%3A%2F%2
dC2XJcn4XlZJqk", each
parameter are URL encoded in isolation. Instead of using
Flocalhost%3A3005%2Fthe_dance%2Fprocess_callb
the equals ("=") sign to mark the key/value relationship, you
ack%3Fservice_provider_id%3D11", oauth_signatur
use the URL-encoded form of "%3D". Each parameter is then
e_method="HMAC-
joined by the URL-escaped ampersand sign, "%26".
SHA1", oauth_timestamp="1272323042", oauth_cons
umer_key="GDdmIQH6jhtmLUypg82g", oauth_signa
ture="8wUi7m5HFQy76nowoCThusfgB%2BQ%3D", oa
uth_version="1.0"

OAuth 2:
signatures replaced by https

HMAC


The OAuth 2 Spec
http://oauth.net/2/

OAuth 2?!

There are 29 versions!


Currently Implemented Drafts
Provider Draft Reference
Foursquare -10 http://aaron.pk/2YS
http://code.google.com/apis/accounts/do
Google -10
cs/OAuth2.html
https://developers.facebook.com/docs/aut
Facebook -10 (ish)
hentication/oauth2_updates/
Windows
-10 http://aaron.pk/2YV
Live
Salesforce -10 http://aaron.pk/2YW
Github -07 http://develop.github.com/p/oauth.html
Geoloqi -10 http://developers.geoloqi.com/api
@aaronpk

So how does it work?

Definitions
Resource Owner: The User
Resource Server: The API
Authorization Server: Often the same
as the API server
Client: The Third-Party Application


Use Cases
Web-server apps
Browser-based apps
Username/password access
Application access
Mobile apps


Use Cases – Grant Types
Web-server apps – authorization_code
Browser-based apps – implicit
Username/password access – password
Application access – client_credentials
Mobile apps – implicit


Facebook’s OAuth Flow

Source: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/authentication/ @aaronpk

Web Server Apps
Authorization Code Grant


Create a “Log In” link
Link to:
https://facebook.com/dialog/oauth?response_
type=code&client_id=YOUR_CLIENT_ID&redirect
_uri=REDIRECT_URI&scope=email


User visits the authorization page
type=code&client_id=28653682475872&redirect
_uri=everydaycity.com&scope=email


On success, user is redirected
back to your site with auth code
https://example.com/auth?code=AUTH_CODE_HERE

On error, user is redirected back
to your site with error code
https://example.com/auth?error=access_denied


Server exchanges auth
code for an access token
Your server makes the following request

POST
https://graph.facebook.com/oauth/access_to
ken

Post Body:
grant_type=authorization_code
&code=CODE_FROM_QUERY_STRING
&redirect_uri=REDIRECT_URI
&client_id=YOUR_CLIENT_ID
&client_secret=YOUR_CLIENT_SECRET


Server exchanges auth
code for an access token
Your server gets a response like the following

{
"access_token":"RsT5OjbzRn430zqMLgV3Ia",
"token_type":"bearer",
"expires_in":3600,
"refresh_token":"e1qoXg7Ik2RRua48lXIV"
}

or if there was an error

{
"error":"invalid_request"
}

Browser-Based Apps
Implicit Grant


Create a “Log In” link
Link to:
type=token&client_id=CLIENT_ID
&redirect_uri=REDIRECT_URI&scope=email


User visits the authorization page
type=token&client_id=2865368247587&redirect
_uri=everydaycity.com&scope=email


On success, user is redirected
back to your site with the access
token in the fragment
https://example.com/auth#token=ACCESS_TOKEN

On error, user is redirected back
to your site with error code
https://example.com/auth#error=access_denied


Browser-Based Apps
 Use the “Implicit” grant type

 No server-side code needed

 Client secret not used

 Browser makes API requests directly


Username/Password
Password Grant


Password Grant
Password grant is only appropriate for
trusted clients, most likely first-party apps
only.
If you build your own website as a client of
your API, then this is a great way to handle
logging in.


Password Grant Type
Only appropriate for your
service’s website or your
service’s mobile apps.

aaron.pk/oauth2

Password Grant
POST https://api.example.com/oauth/token

Post Body:
grant_type=password
&username=USERNAME
&password=PASSWORD

Response:

{
"expires_in":3600,
}

Application Access
Client Credentials Grant


Client Credentials Grant
POST https://api.example.com/1/oauth/token

Post Body:
grant_type=client_credentials

Response:
{
"expires_in":3600,
}


Mobile Apps
Implicit Grant


Redirect back to your app
Facebook app redirects back to your app
using a custom URI scheme.
Access token is included in the redirect, just
like browser-based apps.

fb2865://authorize/#access_token=BAAEEmo2nocQBAFFOeRTd


Mobile Apps
 Use the “Implicit” grant type

 No server-side code needed

 Client secret not used

 Mobile app makes API requests directly


Grant Type Summary
authorization_code:
Web-server apps
implicit:
Mobile and browser-based apps
password:
Username/password access
client_credentials:
Application access

Grant Types &
Response Types
authorization_code:
response_type=code
implicit:
response_type=token


Grant Type Review


Authorization Code
 User visits auth page
response_type=code

 User is redirected to your site with auth code
http://example.com/?code=xxxxxxx

 Your server exchanges auth code for access token
POST /token
code=xxxxxxx&grant_type=authorization_code


Implicit
 User visits auth page
response_type=token

 User is redirected to your site with access token
http://example.com/#token=xxxxxxx

 Token is only available to the browser since it’s in the fragment


Password
 Your server exchanges username/password for access token
POST /token
username=xxxxxxx&password=yyyyyyy&
grant_type=password


Client Credentials
 Your server exchanges client ID/secret for access token
POST /token
client_id=xxxxxxx&client_secret=yyyyyyy&
grant_type=client_credentials


Accessing Resources
So you have an access token.
Now what?


Use the access token to
make requests
Now you can make requests using the access token.
GET https://api.example.com/me
Authorization: Bearer RsT5OjbzRn430zqMLgV3Ia

Access token can be in an HTTP header or a query
string parameter
https://api.example.com/me?access_token=RsT5Ojb
zRn430zqMLgV3Ia


Eventually the access token
will expire
When you make a request with an expired
token, you will get this response
{
"error":"expired_token"
}

Now you need to get a new access token!


Get a new access token
using a refresh token
Your server makes the following request
POST https://api.example.com/oauth/token

grant_type=refresh_token
&reresh_token=e1qoXg7Ik2RRua48lXIV

Your server gets a similar response as the original call to
oauth/token with new tokens.
{
"expires_in":3600,
}

Moving access into
separate specs
Bearer tokens vs MAC
authentication


Bearer Tokens
GET /1/profile HTTP/1.1
Host: api.example.com
Authorization: Bearer B2mpLsHWhuVFw3YeLFW3f2

Bearer tokens are a cryptography-free way to access
protected resources.

Relies on the security present in the HTTPS connection, since the
request itself is not signed.


Security Recommendations
for Clients Using Bearer
Tokens
 Safeguard bearer tokens

 Validate SSL certificates

 Always use https

 Don’t store bearer tokens in plaintext cookies

 Issue short-lived bearer tokens

 Don’t pass bearer tokens in page URLs


MAC Tokens
GET /1/profile HTTP/1.1
Host: api.example.com
Authorization: MAC id="jd93dh9dh39D",
nonce="273156:di3hvdf8",
bodyhash="k9kbtCIyI3/FEfpS/oIDjk6k=",
mac="W7bdMZbv9UWOTadASIQHagZyirA="

MAC tokens provide a way to make authenticated requests
with cryptographic verification of the request.

Similar to the original OAuth 1.0 method of using signatures.

@aaronpk

OAuth 2 Clients
Client libraries should handle refreshing the token
automatically behind the scenes.


Scope
Limiting access to resouces


Limiting Access to Third Parties


OAuth 2 scope
 Created to limit access to the third party.

 The scope of the access request expressed as a list of space-
delimited strings.
 In practice, many people use comma-separators instead.

 The spec does not define any values, it’s left up to the
implementor.

 If the value contains multiple strings, their order does not matter,
and each string adds an additional access range to the
requested scope.


OAuth 2 scope on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/dialog/oauth?
client_id=YOUR_APP_ID&redirect_uri=YOUR_URL
&scope=email,read_stream


OAuth 2 scope on Facebook


OAuth 2 scope on Github
https://github.com/login/oauth/authorize?
client_id=...&scope=user,public_repo

user
• Read/write access to profile info only.
public_repo
• Read/write access to public repos and organizations.
repo
• Read/write access to public and private repos and organizations.
delete_repo
• Delete access to adminable repositories.
gist
• write access to gists.

Proposed New UI for Twitter
by Ben Ward

http://blog.benward.me/post/968515729

Implementing an OAuth
Server
 Find a server library already written:
 A short list available here: http://oauth.net/2/

 Read the spec of your chosen draft, in its entirety.
 These people didn’t write the spec for you to ignore it.
 Each word is chosen carefully.

 Ultimately, each implementation is somewhat different, since in
many cases the spec says SHOULD and leaves the choice up to
the implementer.

 Understand the security implications of the implementation
choices you make.


Implementing an OAuth
Server
 Choose which grant types you want to support
 Authorization Code – for traditional web apps
 Implicit – for browser-based apps and mobile apps
 Password – for your own website or mobile apps
 Client Credentials – if applications can access resources on
their own

 Choose whether to support Bearer tokens, MAC or both

 Define appropriate scopes for your service


OAuth 2 scope on your service

 Think about what scopes you might offer

 Don’t over-complicate it for your users

 Read vs write is a good start


Mobile Applications
 External user agents are best
 Use the service’s primary app for authentication, like
Facebook
 Or open native Safari on iPhone rather than use an
embedded browser

 Auth code or implicit grant type
 In both cases, the client secret should never be
used, since it is possible to decompile the app which
would reveal the secret


Staying Involved


Join the Mailing List!
 https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/oauth

 People talk about OAuth

 Keep up to date on changes

 People argue about OAuth

 It’s fun!


oauth.net


oauth.net Website
 http://oauth.net

 Source code available on Github
 github.com/aaronpk/oauth.net

 Please feel free to contribute to the website

 Contribute new lists of libraries, or help update information

 OAuth is community-driven!


github.com/aaronpk/oauth.net


More Info, Slides & Code Samples:
aaron.pk/oauth2

Thanks.
Aaron Parecki
@aaronpk
aaronparecki.com
github.com/aaronpk

An Introduction to OAuth 2

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