Musings on Digital Identity

Category: Specifications Page 4 of 24

OAuth DPoP Specification Addressing Area Director Review Comments

OAuth logoThis week Brian Campbell published an updated OAuth 2.0 Demonstrating Proof-of-Possession at the Application Layer (DPoP) draft addressing the Area Director review comments received. Thanks to Roman Danyliw for his useful review!

As Brian wrote, updates in this version of the specifiation were:

  • Updates from Roman Danyliw’s AD review
  • DPoP-Nonce now included in HTTP header field registration request
  • Fixed section reference to URI Scheme-Based Normalization
  • Attempt to better describe the rationale for SHA-256 only and expectations for how hash algorithm agility would be achieved if needed in the future
  • Elaborate on the use of multiple WWW-Authenticate challenges by protected resources
  • Fix access token request examples that were missing a client_id

The specification is available at:

The OpenID Connect Logout specifications are now Final Specifications

OpenID logoThanks to all who helped us reach this important milestone! This was originally announced on the OpenID blog. These now Final specifications are:

Don’t just sign in. Also sign out!

Publication Requested for OAuth DPoP Specification

OAuth logoBrian Campbell published an updated OAuth 2.0 Demonstrating Proof-of-Possession at the Application Layer (DPoP) draft addressing the shepherd review comments received. Thanks to Rifaat Shekh-Yusef for his useful review!

Following publication of this draft, Rifaat also created the shepherd write-up, obtained IPR commitments for the specification, and requested publication of the specification as an RFC. Thanks all for helping us reach this important milestone!

The specification is available at:

JWK Thumbprint URI is now RFC 9278

IETF logoThe JWK Thumbprint URI specification has been published as RFC 9278. Congratulations to my co-author, Kristina Yasuda, on the publication of her first RFC!

The abstract of the RFC is:


This specification registers a kind of URI that represents a JSON Web Key (JWK) Thumbprint value. JWK Thumbprints are defined in RFC 7638. This enables JWK Thumbprints to be used, for instance, as key identifiers in contexts requiring URIs.

The need for this arose during specification work in the OpenID Connect working group. In particular, JWK Thumbprint URIs are used as key identifiers that can be syntactically distinguished from other kinds of identifiers also expressed as URIs in the Self-Issued OpenID Provider v2 specification.

JSON Web Proofs BoF at IETF 114 in Philadelphia

IETF logoThis week at IETF 114 in Philadelphia, we held a Birds-of-a-Feather (BoF) session on JSON Web Proofs (JWPs). JSON Web Proofs are a JSON-based representation of cryptographic inputs and outputs that enable use of Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs), selective disclosure for minimal disclosure, and non-correlatable presentation. JWPs use the three-party model of Issuer, Holder, and Verifier utilized by Verifiable Credentials.

The BoF asked to reinstate the IETF JSON Object Signing and Encryption (JOSE) working group. We asked for this because the JOSE working group participants already have expertise creating simple, widely-adopted JSON-based cryptographic formats, such as JSON Web Signature (JWS), JSON Web Encryption (JWE), and JSON Web Key (JWK). The JWP format would be a peer to JWS and JWE, reusing elements that make sense, while enabling use of new cryptographic algorithms whose inputs and outputs are not representable in the existing JOSE formats.

Presentations given at the BoF were:

You can view the BoF minutes at https://notes.ietf.org/notes-ietf-114-jwp. A useful discussion ensued after the presentations. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to finish the BoF in the one-hour slot. The BoF questions unanswered in the time allotted would have been along the lines of “Is the work appropriate for the IETF?”, “Is there interest in the work?”, and “Do we want to adopt the proposed charter?”. Discussion of those topics is now happening on the jose@ietf.org mailing list. Join it at https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/jose to participate. Roman Danyliw, the Security Area Director who sponsored the BoF, had suggested that we hold a virtual interim BoF to complete the BoF process before IETF 115 in London. Hope to see you there!

The BoF Presenters:

JWP BoF Presenters

The BoF Participants, including the chairs:

JWP BoF Participants

OAuth DPoP Presentation at Identiverse 2022

OAuth logoHere’s the DPoP presentation that Pieter Kasselman and I gave at the 2022 Identiverse conference:

  • Bad actors are stealing your OAuth tokens, giving them control over your information – OAuth DPoP (Demonstration of Proof of Possession) is what we’re doing about it (PowerPoint) (PDF)

A few photographs that workation photographer Brian Campbell took during the presentation follow.

Mike Presenting:

Mike Presenting

Who is that masked man???

Who is that masked man???

Pieter Presenting:

Pieter Presenting

OAuth DPoP Specification Addressing WGLC Comments

OAuth logoBrian Campbell has published an updated OAuth DPoP draft addressing the Working Group Last Call (WGLC) comments received. All changes were editorial in nature. The most substantive change was further clarifying that either iat or nonce can be used alone in validating the timeliness of the proof, somewhat deemphasizing jti tracking.

As Brian reminded us during the OAuth Security Workshop today, the name DPoP was inspired by a Deutsche POP poster he saw on the S-Bahn during the March 2019 OAuth Security Workshop in Stuttgart:

Deutsche POP in Stuttgart

He considered it an auspicious sign seeing another Deutsche PoP sign in the Vienna U-Bahn during IETF 113 the same day WGLC was requested!

Deutsche POP in Vienna

The specification is available at:

Two new COSE- and JOSE-related Internet Drafts with Tobias Looker

IETF logoThis week, Tobias Looker and I submitted two individual Internet Drafts for consideration by the COSE working group.

The first is “Barreto-Lynn-Scott Elliptic Curve Key Representations for JOSE and COSE“, the abstract of which is:


This specification defines how to represent cryptographic keys for the pairing-friendly elliptic curves known as Barreto-Lynn-Scott (BLS), for use with the key representation formats of JSON Web Key (JWK) and COSE (COSE_Key).

These curves are used in Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) representations for JOSE and COSE, where the ZKPs use the CFRG drafts “Pairing-Friendly Curves” and “BLS Signatures“.

The second is “CBOR Web Token (CWT) Claims in COSE Headers“, the abstract of which is:


This document describes how to include CBOR Web Token (CWT) claims in the header parameters of any COSE structure. This functionality helps to facilitate applications that wish to make use of CBOR Web Token (CWT) claims in encrypted COSE structures and/or COSE structures featuring detached signatures, while having some of those claims be available before decryption and/or without inspecting the detached payload.

JWTs define a mechanism for replicating claims as header parameter values, but CWTs have been missing the equivalent capability to date. The use case is the same as that which motivated Section 5.3 of JWT “Replicating Claims as Header Parameters” – encrypted CWTs for which you’d like to have unencrypted instances of particular claims to determine how to process the CWT prior to decrypting it.

We plan to discuss both with the COSE working group at IETF 113 in Vienna.

Minor Updates to OAuth DPoP Prior to IETF 113 in Vienna

OAuth logoThe editors have applied some minor updates to the OAuth DPoP specification in preparation for discussion at IETF 113 in Vienna. Updates made were:

  • Renamed the always_uses_dpop client registration metadata parameter to dpop_bound_access_tokens.
  • Clarified the relationships between server-provided nonce values, authorization servers, resource servers, and clients.
  • Improved other descriptive wording.

The specification is available at:

Four Months of Refinements to OAuth DPoP

OAuth logoA new draft of the OAuth 2.0 Demonstration of Proof-of-Possession at the Application Layer (DPoP) specification has been published that addresses four months’ worth of great review comments from the working group. Refinements made were:

  • Added Authorization Code binding via the dpop_jkt parameter.
  • Described the authorization code reuse attack and how dpop_jkt mitigates it.
  • Enhanced description of DPoP proof expiration checking.
  • Described nonce storage requirements and how nonce mismatches and missing nonces are self-correcting.
  • Specified the use of the use_dpop_nonce error for missing and mismatched nonce values.
  • Specified that authorization servers use 400 (Bad Request) errors to supply nonces and resource servers use 401 (Unauthorized) errors to do so.
  • Added a bit more about ath and pre-generated proofs to the security considerations.
  • Mentioned confirming the DPoP binding of the access token in the list in (#checking).
  • Added the always_uses_dpop client registration metadata parameter.
  • Described the relationship between DPoP and Pushed Authorization Requests (PAR).
  • Updated references for drafts that are now RFCs.

I believe this brings us much closer to a final version.

The specification is available at:

JWK Thumbprint URI Draft Addressing Working Group Last Call Comments

OAuth logoKristina Yasuda and I have published an updated JWK Thumbprint URI draft that addresses the OAuth Working Group Last Call (WGLC) comments received. Changes made were:

  • Added security considerations about multiple public keys coresponding to the same private key.
  • Added hash algorithm identifier after the JWK thumbprint URI prefix to make it explicit in a URI which hash algorithm is used.
  • Added reference to a registry for hash algorithm identifiers.
  • Added SHA-256 as a mandatory to implement hash algorithm to promote interoperability.
  • Acknowledged WGLC reviewers.

The specification is available at:

Working Group Adoption of the JWK Thumbprint URI Specification

OAuth logoThe IETF OAuth working group has adopted the JWK Thumbprint URI specification. The abstract of the specification is:

This specification registers a kind of URI that represents a JSON Web Key (JWK) Thumbprint value. JWK Thumbprints are defined in RFC 7638. This enables JWK Thumbprints to be used, for instance, as key identifiers in contexts requiring URIs.

The need for this arose during specification work in the OpenID Connect working group. In particular, JWK Thumbprint URIs are used as key identifiers that can be syntactically distinguished from other kinds of identifiers also expressed as URIs in the Self-Issued OpenID Provider v2 specification.

Given that the specification does only one simple thing in a straightforward manner, we believe that it is ready for working group last call.

The specification is available at:

Described more of the motivations for the JWK Thumbprint URI specification

OAuth logoAs requested by the chairs during today’s OAuth Virtual Office Hours call, Kristina Yasuda and I have updated the JWK Thumbprint URI specification to enhance the description of the motivations for the specification. In particular, it now describes using JWK Thumbprint URIs as key identifiers that can be syntactically distinguished from other kinds of identifiers also expressed as URIs. It is used this way in the Self-Issued OpenID Provider v2 specification, for instance. No normative changes were made.

As discussed on the call, we are requesting that that the chairs use this new draft as the basis for a call for working group adoption.

The specification is available at:

JWK Thumbprint URI Specification

IETF logoThe JSON Web Key (JWK) Thumbprint specification [RFC 7638] defines a method for computing a hash value over a JSON Web Key (JWK) [RFC 7517] and encoding that hash in a URL-safe manner. Kristina Yasuda and I have just created the JWK Thumbprint URI specification, which defines how to represent JWK Thumbprints as URIs. This enables JWK Thumbprints to be communicated in contexts requiring URIs, including in specific JSON Web Token (JWT) [RFC 7519] claims.

Use cases for this specification were developed in the OpenID Connect Working Group of the OpenID Foundation. Specifically, its use is planned in future versions of the Self-Issued OpenID Provider v2 specification.

The specification is available at:

Proof-of-possession (pop) AMR method added to OpenID Enhanced Authentication Profile spec

OpenID logoI’ve defined an Authentication Method Reference (AMR) value called “pop” to indicate that Proof-of-possession of a key was performed. Unlike the existing “hwk” (hardware key) and “swk” (software key) methods, it is intentionally unspecified whether the proof-of-possession key is hardware-secured or software-secured. Among other use cases, this AMR method is applicable whenever a WebAuthn or FIDO authenticator are used.

The specification is available at these locations:

Thanks to Christiaan Brand for suggesting this.

Server-contributed nonces added to OAuth DPoP

OAuth logoThe latest version of the “OAuth 2.0 Demonstration of Proof-of-Possession at the Application Layer (DPoP)” specification adds an option for servers to supply a nonce value to be included in the DPoP proof. Both authorization servers and resource servers can provide nonce values to clients.

As described in the updated Security Considerations, the nonce prevents a malicious party in control of the client (who might be a legitimate end-user) from pre-generating DPoP proofs to be used in the future and exfiltrating them to a machine without the DPoP private key. When server-provided nonces are used, actual possession of the proof-of-possession key is being demonstrated — not just possession of a DPoP proof.

The specification is available at:

OAuth 2.0 JWT-Secured Authorization Request (JAR) is now RFC 9101

IETF logoThe OAuth 2.0 JWT-Secured Authorization Request (JAR) specification has been published as RFC 9101. Among other applications, this specification is used by the OpenID Financial-grade API (FAPI). This is another in the series of RFCs bringing OpenID Connect-defined functionality to OAuth 2.0. Previous such RFCs included “OAuth 2.0 Dynamic Client Registration Protocol” [RFC 7591] and “OAuth 2.0 Authorization Server Metadata” [RFC 8414].

The abstract of the RFC is:


The authorization request in OAuth 2.0 described in RFC 6749 utilizes query parameter serialization, which means that authorization request parameters are encoded in the URI of the request and sent through user agents such as web browsers. While it is easy to implement, it means that a) the communication through the user agents is not integrity protected and thus, the parameters can be tainted, b) the source of the communication is not authenticated, and c) the communication through the user agents can be monitored. Because of these weaknesses, several attacks to the protocol have now been put forward.


This document introduces the ability to send request parameters in a JSON Web Token (JWT) instead, which allows the request to be signed with JSON Web Signature (JWS) and encrypted with JSON Web Encryption (JWE) so that the integrity, source authentication, and confidentiality properties of the authorization request are attained. The request can be sent by value or by reference.

Thanks to Nat Sakimura and John Bradley for persisting in finishing this RFC!

Second Version of FIDO2 Client to Authenticator Protocol (CTAP) Now a Standard

FIDO logoThe FIDO Alliance has completed the CTAP 2.1 Specification. This follows the publication of the closely-related second version of the W3C Web Authentication (WebAuthn) specification.

Today’s FIDO Alliance announcement describes the enhancements in the second version as follows:

Enhancements to FIDO standards to accelerate passwordless in the enterprise

The FIDO Alliance has announced enhancements to its FIDO2 specifications, which include several new features that will be helpful for passwordless enterprise deployments and other complex security applications. Both FIDO2 specifications were recently updated by their governing bodies — with the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) approving WebAuthn Level 2 and FIDO doing the same for CTAP 2.1.

Key to these enhancements is enterprise attestation, which provides enterprise IT with improved management of FIDO authenticators used by employees. Enterprise attestation enables better binding of an authenticator to an account, assists with usage tracking and other management functions including credential and pin management, and biometric enrollment required in the enterprise.

Other updates include support for cross-origin iFrames and Apple attestation, as well as improvements to resident credentials. More details on these and other FIDO specification enhancements are available here.

OpenID Connect Federation updated in preparation for third Implementer’s Draft review

OpenID logoThe OpenID Connect Federation specification has been updated to add Security Considerations text. As discussed in the recent OpenID Connect working group calls, we are currently reviewing the specification in preparation for it becoming the third and possibly last Implementer’s Draft.

Working group members (and others!) are encouraged to provide feedback on the draft soon before we start the foundation-wide review. We will probably decide next week to progress the draft to foundation-wide review. In particular, there’s been interest recently in both Entity Statements and Automatic Registration among those working on Self-Issued OpenID Provider extensions. Reviews of those features would be particularly welcome.

The updated specification is published at:

Special thanks to Roland Hedberg for the updates!

OAuth 2.0 JWT Secured Authorization Request (JAR) sent back to the RFC Editor

OAuth logoAs described in my last post about OAuth JAR, after it was first sent to the RFC Editor, the IESG requested an additional round of IETF feedback. I’m happy to report that, having addressed this feedback, the spec has now been sent back to the RFC Editor.

As a reminder, this specification takes the JWT Request Object from Section 6 of OpenID Connect Core (Passing Request Parameters as JWTs) and makes this functionality available for pure OAuth 2.0 applications — and does so without introducing breaking changes. This is one of a series of specifications bringing functionality originally developed for OpenID Connect to the OAuth 2.0 ecosystem. Other such specifications included OAuth 2.0 Dynamic Client Registration Protocol [RFC 7591] and OAuth 2.0 Authorization Server Metadata [RFC 8414].

The specification is available at:

An HTML-formatted version is also available at:

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