Chapter 7. Configuring Security

Chapter 7. Configuring Security
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Table of Contents

Authentication and Authorization
Limiting Form Content
Aliased Files and Symbolic links
Secure Password Obfuscation
Setting Port 80 Access for a Non-Root User
JAAS Support
Spnego Support

Authentication and Authorization

Configuring an Authentication mechanism
Security Realms
Scoping Security Realms
Configuring a LoginService
Authorization
Authentication and Authorization with Embedded Jetty

There are two aspects to securing a web application(or context) within the Jetty server:

Authentication: The web application can be configured with a mechanism to determine the identity of the user. This is configured by a mix of standard declarations and jetty specific mechanisms and is covered in this section.
Authorization: Once the identify of the user is known (or not known), the web application can be configured via standard descriptors with security constraints that declare what resources that user may access.

Configuring an Authentication mechanism

Jetty server supports several standard authentication mechanisms: BASIC; DIGEST; FORM; CLIENT-CERT; and other mechanisms can be plugged in using the extensible JASPI or SPNEGO mechanisms.

Internally, configuring an authentication mechanism is done by setting an instance of a the Authenticator interface onto the SecurityHandler of the context, but in most cases it is done by declaring a <login-config> element in the standard web.xml descriptor or via annotations.

Below is an example taken from the jetty-test-webapp web.xml that configures BASIC authentication:

  <login-config>
    <auth-method>BASIC</auth-method>
    <realm-name>Test Realm</realm-name>
  </login-config>

The jetty-test-webapp web.xml also includes commented out examples of other DIGEST and FORM configuration:

  <login-config>
    <auth-method>FORM</auth-method>
    <realm-name>Test Realm</realm-name>
    <form-login-config>
       <form-login-page>/logon.html?param=test</form-login-page>
       <form-error-page>/logonError.html?param=test</form-error-page>
    </form-login-config>
  </login-config>

With FORM Authentication, you must also configure URLs of pages to generate a login form and handle errors. Below is a simple HTML form from the test webapp logon.html:

<HTML>
<H1>FORM Authentication demo</H1>
<form method="POST" action="j_security_check">
<table border="0" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="1">
<tr>
  <td>Username:</td>
  <td><input size="12" value="" name="j_username" maxlength="25" type="text"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
  <td>Password:</td>
  <td><input size="12" value="" name="j_password" maxlength="25" type="password"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
  <td colspan="2" align="center">
    <input name="submit" type="submit" value="Login">
  </td>
</tr>
</table>
</form>
</HTML>

The Authentication mechanism declared for a context / web application defines how the server obtain authentication credentials from the client, but it does not define how the server checks if those credentials are valid. To check credentials, the server and/or context also need to be configured with a LoginService instance, which may be matched by the declared realm-name.

Security Realms

Security realms allow you to secure your web applications against unauthorized access. Protection is based on authentication that identifies who is requesting access to the webapp and access control that restricts what can be accessed and how it is accessed within the webapp.

A webapp statically declares its security requirements in its web.xml file. Authentication is controlled by the <login-config> element. Access controls are specified by <security-constraint> and <security-role-ref> elements. When a request is received for a protected resource, the web container checks if the user performing the request is authenticated, and if the user has a role assignment that permits access to the requested resource.

The Servlet Specification does not address how the static security information in the WEB-INF/web.xml file is mapped to the runtime environment of the container. For Jetty, the LoginService performs this function.

A LoginService has a unique name, and gives access to information about a set of users. Each user has authentication information (e.g. a password) and a set of roles associated with him/herself.

You may configure one or many different LoginServices depending on your needs. A single realm would indicate that you wish to share common security information across all of your web applications. Distinct realms allow you to partition your security information webapp by webapp.

When a request to a web application requires authentication or authorization, Jetty will use the <realm-name> sub-element inside <login-config> element in the web.xml file to perform an exact match to a LoginService.

Scoping Security Realms

A LoginService has a unique name, and is composed of a set of users. Each user has authentication information (for example, a password) and a set of roles associated with him/herself. You can configure one or many different realms depending on your needs.

Configure a single LoginService to share common security information across all of your web applications.
Configure distinct LoginServices to partition your security information webapp by webapp.

Globally Scoped

A LoginService is available to all web applications on a Server instance if you add it as a bean to the Server. Such a definition would go into an xml file in your ${jetty.base}/etc directory, e.g. ${jetty.base}/etc/my-realm.xml and you would add this xml file to the execution path via start.ini or start.d (you may want to review the material in the Starting Jetty chapter). Here’s an example of an xml file that defines an in-memory type of LoginService called the HashLoginService:

<Configure id="Server" class="org.eclipse.jetty.server.Server">
  <Call name="addBean">
    <Arg>
      <New class="org.eclipse.jetty.security.HashLoginService">
        <Set name="name">Test Realm</Set>
        <Set name="config"><SystemProperty name="jetty.home" default="."/>/etc/realm.properties</Set>
        <Set name="hotReload">true</Set>
      </New>
    </Arg>
  </Call>
</Configure>

If you define more than one LoginService on a Server, you will need to specify which one you want used for each context. You can do that by telling the context the name of the LoginService, or passing it the LoginService instance. Here’s an example of doing both of these, using a context xml file:

<Configure class="org.eclipse.jetty.webapp.WebAppContext">
 <Get name="securityHandler">
   <!-- Either: -->
   <Set name="loginService">
     <New class="org.eclipse.jetty.security.HashLoginService">
           <Set name="name">Test Realm</Set>
     </New>
   </Set>

   <!-- or if you defined a LoginService called "Test Realm" in jetty.xml : -->
   <Set name="realmName">Test Realm</Set>

 </Get>

Per-Webapp Scoped

Alternatively, you can define a LoginService for just a single web application. Here’s how to define the same HashLoginService, but inside a context xml file:

<Configure class="org.eclipse.jetty.webapp.WebAppContext">
  <Set name="contextPath">/test</Set>
  <Set name="war"><SystemProperty name="jetty.home" default="."/>/webapps/test</Set>
  <Get name="securityHandler">
    <Set name="loginService">
      <New class="org.eclipse.jetty.security.HashLoginService">
            <Set name="name">Test Realm</Set>
            <Set name="config"><SystemProperty name="jetty.home" default="."/>/etc/realm.properties</Set>
      </New>
    </Set>
  </Get>
</Configure>

Jetty provides a number of different LoginService types which can be seen in the next section.

Configuring a LoginService

A LoginService instance is required by each context/webapp that has a authentication mechanism, which is used to check the validity of the username and credentials collected by the authentication mechanism. Jetty provides the following implementations of LoginService:

HashLoginService: A user realm that is backed by a hash map that is filled either programatically or from a Java properties file.
JDBCLoginService: Uses a JDBC connection to an SQL database for authentication
DataSourceLoginService: Uses a JNDI defined DataSource for authentication
JAASLoginService: Uses a JAAS provider for authentication; see the section on JAAS support for more information
SpnegoLoginService: SPNEGO Authentication; see the section on SPNEGO support for more information.

An instance of a LoginService can be matched to a context/webapp by:

A LoginService instance may be set directly on the SecurityHandler instance via embedded code or IoC XML
Matching the realm-name defined in web.xml with the name of a LoginService instance that has been added to the Server instance as a dependent bean
If only a single LoginService instance has been set on the Server then it is used as the login service for the context

HashLoginService

The HashLoginService is a simple and efficient login service that loads usernames, credentials and roles from a Java properties file in the format:

username: password[,rolename ...]

Where:

username: is the user’s unique identity
password: is the user’s (possibly obfuscated or MD5 encrypted) password;
rolename: is a role of the user

For example:

admin: CRYPT:ad1ks..kc.1Ug,server-administrator,content-administrator,admin
other: OBF:1xmk1w261u9r1w1c1xmq
guest: guest,read-only

You configure the HashLoginService with a name and a reference to the location of the properties file:

<Item>
<New class="org.eclipse.jetty.security.HashLoginService">
  <Set name="name">Test Realm</Set>
  <Set name="config"><SystemProperty name="jetty.home" default="."/>/etc/realm.properties</Set>
</New>
</Item>

You can also configure it to reload the configuration file when changes to it are detected.

<New class="org.eclipse.jetty.security.HashLoginService">
    <Set name="name">Test Realm</Set>
    <Set name="config"><SystemProperty name="jetty.home" default="."/>/etc/realm.properties</Set>
    <Set name="hotReload">true</Set>
    <Call name="start"></Call>
  </New>

JDBCLoginService

In this implementation, authentication and role information is stored in a database accessed via JDBC. A properties file defines the JDBC connection and database table information. Here is an example of a properties file for this realm implementation:

jdbcdriver = org.gjt.mm.mysql.Driver
url = jdbc:mysql://localhost/jetty
username = jetty
password = jetty
usertable = users
usertablekey = id
usertableuserfield = username
usertablepasswordfield = pwd
roletable = roles
roletablekey = id
roletablerolefield = role
userroletable = user_roles
userroletableuserkey = user_id
userroletablerolekey = role_id
cachetime = 300

The format of the database tables is (pseudo-sql):

users
(
  id integer PRIMARY KEY,
  username varchar(100) NOT NULL UNIQUE KEY,
  pwd varchar(50) NOT NULL
);
user_roles
(
  user_id integer NOT NULL,
  role_id integer NOT NULL,
  UNIQUE KEY (user_id, role_id),
  INDEX(user_id)
);
roles
(
  id integer PRIMARY KEY,
  role varchar(100) NOT NULL UNIQUE KEY
);

Where:

users is a table containing one entry for every user consisting of:
id
the unique identity of a user
user
the name of the user
pwd
the user’s password (possibly obfuscated or MD5 encrypted)
user-roles is a table containing one row for every role granted to a user:
user_id
the unique identity of the user
role_id
the role for a user
roles is a a table containing one role for every role in the system:
id
the unique identifier of a role
role
a human-readable name for a role

If you want to use obfuscated, MD5 hashed or encrypted passwords the pwd column of the users table must be large enough to hold the obfuscated, hashed or encrypted password text plus the appropriate prefix.

You define a JDBCLoginService with the name of the realm and the location of the properties file describing the database:

<New class="org.eclipse.jetty.security.JDBCLoginService">
  <Set name="name">Test JDBC Realm</Set>
  <Set name="config">etc/jdbcRealm.properties</Set>
</New>

Authorization

As far as the Servlet Specification is concerned, authorization is based on roles. As we have seen, a LoginService associates a user with a set of roles. When a user requests a resource that is access protected, the LoginService will be asked to authenticate the user if they are not already, and then asked to confirm if that user possesses one of the roles permitted access to the resource.

Until Servlet 3.1, role-based authorization could define:

Access granted to a set of named roles:

<security-constraint>
  <web-resource-collection>
    <web-resource-name>Foo Admin Data</web-resource-name>
    <url-pattern>/foo/admin/*</url-pattern>
  </web-resource-collection>
  <auth-constraint>
    <role-name>admin</role-name>
    <role-name>manager</role-name>
  </auth-constraint>
</security-constraint>

Access totally forbidden, regardless of role:

<security-constraint>
  <web-resource-collection>
    <web-resource-name>Foo Protected Data</web-resource-name>
    <url-pattern>/foo/protected/*</url-pattern>
  </web-resource-collection>
  <auth-constraint>
  </auth-constraint>
</security-constraint>

Access granted to a user in any of the roles defined in the effective web.xml. This is indicated by the special value of * for the <role-name> of a <auth-constraint> in the <security-constraint>:

<security-constraint>
  <web-resource-collection>
    <web-resource-name>Foo Role Data</web-resource-name>
    <url-pattern>/foo/role/*</url-pattern>
  </web-resource-collection>
  <auth-constraint>
    <role-name>*</role-name>
  </auth-constraint>
</security-constraint>

Servlet 3.1 introduced an additional authorization:

Access granted to any user who is authenticated, regardless of roles. This is indicated by the special value of ** for the <role-name> of a <auth-constraint> in the <security-constraint>:

<security-constraint>
  <web-resource-collection>
    <web-resource-name>Foo Authenticated Data</web-resource-name>
    <url-pattern>/foo/authenticated/*</url-pattern>
  </web-resource-collection>
  <auth-constraint>
    <role-name>**</role-name>
  </auth-constraint>
</security-constraint>

Additionally, when configuring your security constraints you can protect various HTTP methods as well, such as PUT, GET, POST, HEAD or DELETE. This is done by adding the method you want to protect as a <http-method> in the <web-resource-collection>. You can then define roles that should be able to perform these protected methods in an <auth-constraint>:

<security-constraint>
  <web-resource-collection>
    <web-resource-name>Foo Authenticated Data</web-resource-name>
    <url-pattern>/foo/authenticated/*</url-pattern>
    <http-method>DELETE</http-method>
    <http-method>POST</http-method>
  </web-resource-collection>
  <auth-constraint>
    <role-name>admin</role-name>
  </auth-constraint>
</security-constraint>

In the above example, only users with an admin role will be able to perform DELETE or POST methods.

Configuring Authorization with Context XML Files

While the examples above show configuration of Authorization in a web.xml file, they can also be configured as part of the link#context xml file for a web application. This is especially helpful if authorization needs change over time and need updated without re-packaging the whole web app.

To do this, we add a section for security constraints into the context xml file for our web app as part of the securityHandler. In the example below, a HashLoginService is defined with authorization being granted too foo/* paths to users with the admin and manager roles.

<Configure id="testWebapp" class="org.eclipse.jetty.webapp.WebAppContext">
  <Get name="securityHandler">
    <Set name="realmName">Test Realm</Set>
    <Set name="authMethod">BASIC</Set>
    <Call name="addConstraintMapping">
      <Arg>
         <New class="org.eclipse.jetty.security.ConstraintMapping">
            <Set name="pathSpec">/foo/*</Set>
            <Set name="constraint">
              <New class="org.eclipse.jetty.util.security.Constraint">
                  <Set name="name">Foo Auth</Set>
                  <Set name="authenticate">true</Set>
                  <Set name="roles">
                    <Array type="java.lang.String">
                      <Item>admin</Item>
                      <Item>manager</Item>
                    </Array>
                  </Set>
              </New>
            </Set>
         </New>
      </Arg>
    </Call>
    <Set name="loginService">
      <New class="org.eclipse.jetty.security.HashLoginService">
        <Set name="name">Test Realm</Set>
        <Set name="config">/src/tmp/small-security-test/realm.properties</Set>
      </New>
    </Set>
  </Get>
</Configure>

If roles changed in the future, administrators could easily change this context xml file without having to edit the contents of the web app at all.

Authentication and Authorization with Embedded Jetty

In addition to the distribution, security can be defined as part of an embedded implementation as well. Below is an example which, like the one above, sets up a server with a HashLoginService and adds security constraints to restrict access based on roles.

//
//  ========================================================================
//  Copyright (c) 1995-2018 Mort Bay Consulting Pty. Ltd.
//  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
//  All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials
//  are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0
//  and Apache License v2.0 which accompanies this distribution.
//
//      The Eclipse Public License is available at
//      http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
//
//      The Apache License v2.0 is available at
//      http://www.opensource.org/licenses/apache2.0.php
//
//  You may elect to redistribute this code under either of these licenses.
//  ========================================================================
//

package org.eclipse.jetty.embedded;

import java.util.Collections;

import org.eclipse.jetty.security.ConstraintMapping;
import org.eclipse.jetty.security.ConstraintSecurityHandler;
import org.eclipse.jetty.security.HashLoginService;
import org.eclipse.jetty.security.LoginService;
import org.eclipse.jetty.security.authentication.BasicAuthenticator;
import org.eclipse.jetty.server.Server;
import org.eclipse.jetty.util.security.Constraint;

public class SecuredHelloHandler
{
    public static void main( String[] args ) throws Exception
    {
        // Create a basic jetty server object that will listen on port 8080.
        // Note that if you set this to port 0 then a randomly available port
        // will be assigned that you can either look in the logs for the port,
        // or programmatically obtain it for use in test cases.
        Server server = new Server(8080);

        // Since this example is for our test webapp, we need to setup a
        // LoginService so this shows how to create a very simple hashmap based
        // one. The name of the LoginService needs to correspond to what is
        // configured a webapp's web.xml and since it has a lifecycle of its own
        // we register it as a bean with the Jetty server object so it can be
        // started and stopped according to the lifecycle of the server itself.
        // In this example the name can be whatever you like since we are not
        // dealing with webapp realms.
        LoginService loginService = new HashLoginService("MyRealm",
                "src/test/resources/realm.properties");
        server.addBean(loginService);

        // A security handler is a jetty handler that secures content behind a
        // particular portion of a url space. The ConstraintSecurityHandler is a
        // more specialized handler that allows matching of urls to different
        // constraints. The server sets this as the first handler in the chain,
        // effectively applying these constraints to all subsequent handlers in
        // the chain.
        ConstraintSecurityHandler security = new ConstraintSecurityHandler();
        server.setHandler(security);

        // This constraint requires authentication and in addition that an
        // authenticated user be a member of a given set of roles for
        // authorization purposes.
        Constraint constraint = new Constraint();
        constraint.setName("auth");
        constraint.setAuthenticate(true);
        constraint.setRoles(new String[] { "user", "admin" });

        // Binds a url pattern with the previously created constraint. The roles
        // for this constraing mapping are mined from the Constraint itself
        // although methods exist to declare and bind roles separately as well.
        ConstraintMapping mapping = new ConstraintMapping();
        mapping.setPathSpec("/*");
        mapping.setConstraint(constraint);

        // First you see the constraint mapping being applied to the handler as
        // a singleton list, however you can passing in as many security
        // constraint mappings as you like so long as they follow the mapping
        // requirements of the servlet api. Next we set a BasicAuthenticator
        // instance which is the object that actually checks the credentials
        // followed by the LoginService which is the store of known users, etc.
        security.setConstraintMappings(Collections.singletonList(mapping));
        security.setAuthenticator(new BasicAuthenticator());
        security.setLoginService(loginService);

        // The Hello Handler is the handler we are securing so we create one,
        // and then set it as the handler on the
        // security handler to complain the simple handler chain.
        HelloHandler hh = new HelloHandler();

        // chain the hello handler into the security handler
        security.setHandler(hh);

        // Start things up!
        server.start();

        // The use of server.join() the will make the current thread join and
        // wait until the server is done executing.
        // See
        // http://docs.oracle.com/javase/7/docs/api/java/lang/Thread.html#join()
        server.join();
    }
}

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