SAML 2.0 Profile for OAuth 2.0 Client Authentication and Authorization GrantsPing Identitybrian.d.campbell@gmail.comSalesforce.comcmortimore@salesforce.comMicrosoftmbj@microsoft.comhttp://self-issued.info/
Security
OAuth Working GroupOAuthSAMLAssertionThis specification defines the use of a SAML 2.0 Bearer Assertion as a means for requesting an OAuth 2.0 access
token as well as for use as a means of client authentication.
The Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) 2.0
is an XML-based framework that allows identity and security information to be shared across security domains.
The SAML specification, while primarily targeted at providing cross domain Web browser single sign-on,
was also designed to be modular and extensible to facilitate use in other contexts.
The Assertion, an XML security token, is a fundamental construct of SAML that is often adopted
for use in other protocols and specifications.
An Assertion is generally issued by an identity provider and consumed by a service provider who relies
on its content to identify the Assertion's subject for security related purposes.
The OAuth 2.0 Authorization Framework provides
a method for making authenticated HTTP requests to a resource using an access token.
Access tokens are issued to third-party clients by an
authorization server (AS) with the (sometimes implicit) approval of the resource owner.
In OAuth, an authorization grant is an abstract term used to describe
intermediate credentials that represent the resource owner
authorization. An authorization grant is used by the client to obtain an access token.
Several authorization grant types are defined to support a wide range
of client types and user experiences.
OAuth also allows for the definition of new extension grant types
to support additional clients or to provide a bridge between OAuth and other trust frameworks.
Finally, OAuth allows the definition of additional authentication mechanisms to be used by clients when interacting with the authorization server.
The Assertion Framework for OAuth 2.0 Client Authentication and Authorization Grants
specification
is an abstract extension to OAuth 2.0 that provides a general
framework for the use of Assertions as client credentials and/or authorization grants with OAuth 2.0.
This specification profiles the
Assertion Framework for OAuth 2.0 Client Authentication and Authorization Grants
specification
to define an extension grant type that uses a SAML 2.0 Bearer Assertion to
request an OAuth 2.0 access token as well as for use as client credentials.
The format and processing rules for the SAML Assertion defined in this specification are intentionally similar,
though not identical, to those in the Web Browser SSO Profile defined in
the SAML Profiles specification.
This specification is reusing, to the extent reasonable, concepts and patterns from that well-established Profile.
This document defines how a SAML Assertion can be used to request an access token when a client wishes to utilize an existing trust
relationship, expressed through the semantics of
(and digital signature or keyed message digest calculated over) the SAML Assertion,
without a direct user approval step at the authorization server. It also defines how a SAML Assertion can be used as a client authentication mechanism.
The use of an Assertion for client
authentication is orthogonal to and separable from using an Assertion as an
authorization grant. They can be used either in combination or separately.
Client assertion authentication is nothing more than an alternative way for a client to authenticate
to the token endpoint and must be used in conjunction with some grant type to form a complete and
meaningful protocol request. Assertion authorization grants may be used with or without client authentication
or identification. Whether or not client authentication is needed in conjunction with an assertion authorization
grant, as well as the supported types of client authentication, are policy decisions at the discretion of the authorization server.
The process by which the client obtains the SAML Assertion, prior to exchanging it with the authorization server or using it for client authentication, is out of scope.The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
"SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119 .
Unless otherwise noted, all the protocol parameter names and values are case sensitive.
All terms are as defined in
The OAuth 2.0 Authorization Framework ,
the Assertion Framework for OAuth 2.0 Client Authentication and Authorization Grants
,
and the Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) 2.0
specifications.
The Assertion Framework for OAuth 2.0 Client Authentication and Authorization Grants
specification
defines generic HTTP parameters for transporting Assertions
during interactions with a token endpoint.
This section defines specific parameters and treatments of those parameters
for use with SAML 2.0 Bearer Assertions.
To use a SAML Bearer Assertion as an authorization grant, use an access token request as defined in
Section 4 of the
Assertion Framework for OAuth 2.0 Client Authentication and Authorization Grants
specification
with the following specific parameter values and encodings.
The value of the grant_type parameter MUST be
urn:ietf:params:oauth:grant-type:saml2-bearer.
The value of the assertion parameter
MUST contain a single SAML 2.0 Assertion. The SAML Assertion XML data
MUST be encoded using base64url,
where the encoding adheres to the definition in Section 5 of RFC 4648
and where the padding bits are set to zero.
To avoid the need for subsequent encoding steps
(by "application/x-www-form-urlencoded" , for example),
the base64url encoded data SHOULD NOT be line wrapped and pad characters ("=") SHOULD NOT be included.
The scope parameter may be used, as defined in the
Assertion Framework for OAuth 2.0 Client Authentication and Authorization Grants
specification, to indicate the requested scope.
Authentication of the client is optional, as described in
Section 3.2.1 of OAuth 2.0 and
consequently, the client_id is only needed
when a form of client authentication that relies on the parameter is used.The following non-normative example demonstrates an Access Token Request with an assertion as
an authorization grant
(with extra line breaks for display purposes only):To use a SAML Bearer Assertion for client authentication, use the following parameter values and encodings.The value of the client_assertion_type parameter MUST be
urn:ietf:params:oauth:client-assertion-type:saml2-bearer.
The value of the client_assertion parameter
MUST contain a single SAML 2.0 Assertion. The SAML Assertion XML data
MUST be encoded using base64url,
where the encoding adheres to the definition in Section 5 of RFC 4648
and where the padding bits are set to zero.
To avoid the need for subsequent encoding steps
(by "application/x-www-form-urlencoded" , for example),
the base64url encoded data SHOULD NOT be line wrapped and pad characters ("=") SHOULD NOT be included.
The following non-normative example demonstrates a client
authenticating using an assertion during the presentation of an authorization code grant in an
Access Token Request
(with extra line breaks for display purposes only):
In order to issue an access token response as described in
OAuth 2.0
or to rely on an Assertion for client authentication,
the authorization server MUST validate the Assertion according to the criteria below.
Application of additional restrictions and policy are at the discretion of the authorization server.
The Assertion's <Issuer> element MUST contain a unique identifier for the entity that
issued the Assertion.
Issuer values SHOULD be compared using the
Simple String Comparison method defined in
Section 6.2.1 of RFC 3986 ,
unless otherwise specified by the application.
The Assertion MUST contain a <Conditions> element with an <AudienceRestriction> element with an <Audience>
element that identifies the
authorization server as an intended audience. Section 2.5.1.4 of
Assertions and Protocols for the OASIS Security Assertion Markup Language
defines the <AudienceRestriction> and <Audience> elements and, in addition to the
URI references discussed there, the token endpoint URL of the authorization server MAY be used as a URI that identifies the authorization server as an intended audience.
Assertions that do not identify the Authorization Server as an intended audience MUST be rejected.
Audience values SHOULD be compared using the
Simple String Comparison method defined in
Section 6.2.1 of RFC 3986 ,
unless otherwise specified by the application.
The Assertion MUST contain a <Subject> element. The subject MAY identify the resource owner for
Additional information identifying the subject/principal of the transaction MAY be included in an <AttributeStatement>.
When using an Assertion as an authorization grant, the Subject SHOULD identify
an authorized accessor for whom the access token is being requested
(typically the resource owner, or an authorized delegate).
For client authentication, the Subject MUST be the
client_id of the OAuth client.
The Assertion MUST have an expiry that limits the time window during which it can be used.
The expiry can be expressed either as the NotOnOrAfter attribute
of the <Conditions> element or as the NotOnOrAfter attribute of a suitable <SubjectConfirmationData> element.
The <Subject> element MUST contain at least one <SubjectConfirmation>
element that allows the authorization server to confirm it as a Bearer Assertion.
Such a <SubjectConfirmation> element MUST have a Method attribute with a value of
urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:cm:bearer.
The <SubjectConfirmation> element MUST contain a <SubjectConfirmationData> element, unless the Assertion has a suitable NotOnOrAfter
attribute on the <Conditions> element, in which case the <SubjectConfirmationData> element MAY be omitted.
When present, the <SubjectConfirmationData> element MUST have a Recipient attribute with a value
indicating the token endpoint URL of the authorization server (or an acceptable alias). The authorization server MUST
verify that the value of the Recipient attribute matches the token endpoint
URL (or an acceptable alias) to which the Assertion was delivered.
The <SubjectConfirmationData> element MUST have a NotOnOrAfter attribute
that limits the window during which the Assertion can be confirmed.
The <SubjectConfirmationData> element MAY also contain an Address attribute limiting
the client address from which the Assertion can be delivered.
Verification of the Address is at the discretion of the authorization server.
The authorization server
MUST verify that the NotOnOrAfter instant has not passed, subject to allowable clock skew between systems.
An invalid NotOnOrAfter instant on the <Conditions> element invalidates the entire Assertion.
An invalid NotOnOrAfter instant on a <SubjectConfirmationData> element only invalidates the individual <SubjectConfirmation>.
The authorization server MAY reject Assertions with a NotOnOrAfter instant that is unreasonably far in the future.
The authorization server MAY ensure that Bearer Assertions are not replayed, by maintaining
the set of used ID values for the length of time for which the Assertion would be considered
valid based on the applicable NotOnOrAfter instant.
If the Assertion issuer authenticated the subject, the Assertion SHOULD contain a single <AuthnStatement>
representing that authentication event.
If the Assertion was issued with the intention that the presenter act autonomously on behalf of
the subject, an <AuthnStatement> SHOULD NOT be included.
The presenter SHOULD be identified in the <NameID> or similar element in the <SubjectConfirmation> element, or by other available means like
SAML V2.0 Condition for Delegation Restriction .
Other statements, in particular <AttributeStatement> elements, MAY be included in the
Assertion.
The Assertion MUST be digitally signed or have a keyed message digest applied
by the issuer. The authorization server
MUST reject assertions with an invalid signature or keyed message digest.
Encrypted elements MAY appear in place of their plain text counterparts as defined in
.
The authorization server MUST verify that the Assertion is valid in all other respects per
, such as (but not limited to) evaluating all content within the Conditions element including the NotOnOrAfter and NotBefore attributes, rejecting unknown condition types, etc.
Assertion authorization grants may be used with or without client authentication
or identification. Whether or not client authentication is needed in
conjunction with an assertion authorization grant, as well as the supported types
of client authentication, are policy decisions at the discretion of the
authorization server. However, if client credentials are present in
the request, the authorization server MUST validate them.
If the Assertion is not valid, or its subject confirmation requirements cannot be met, the
authorization server MUST construct an error response as defined in
OAuth 2.0 .
The value of the error parameter MUST be the
invalid_grant error code. The authorization server
MAY include additional information regarding the reasons the Assertion was considered invalid using the
error_description or error_uri parameters.
If the client Assertion is not valid, or its subject confirmation requirements cannot be met, the
authorization server MUST construct an error response as defined in
OAuth 2.0 .
The value of the error parameter MUST be the
invalid_client error code. The authorization server
MAY include additional information regarding the reasons the Assertion was considered invalid using the
error_description or error_uri parameters.
Though non-normative, the following examples illustrate what a conforming Assertion and access token request would look like.
The example shows an assertion issued and signed by the SAML Identity Provider identified as
https://saml-idp.example.com.
The subject of the assertion is identified by email address as brian@example.com,
who authenticated
to the Identity Provider by means of a digital signature where the key was validated as part of an X.509 Public Key Infrastructure.
The intended audience of the assertion is https://saml-sp.example.net,
which is an identifier for a SAML Service Provider with which the authorization server identifies itself.
The assertion is sent as part of an access token request to the authorization server's
token endpoint at https://authz.example.net/token.oauth2.
Agreement between system entities regarding identifiers,
keys, and endpoints is required in order to achieve interoperable
deployments of this profile. Specific items that require agreement are as follows:
values for the issuer and audience identifiers, the location of the token endpoint, and the key used to
apply and verify the digital signature over the assertion.
The exchange of such information is explicitly out
of scope for this specification and typical deployment of it will be done
alongside existing SAML Web SSO deployments that have already established a means of
exchanging such information.
Metadata for the OASIS Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) V2.0
is one common method of exchanging SAML related information about system entities.
No additional security considerations apply beyond those described within
The OAuth 2.0 Authorization Framework ,
the Assertion Framework for OAuth 2.0 Client Authentication and Authorization Grants
,
and the Security and Privacy Considerations
for the OASIS Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) V2.0
specifications.
This is a request to IANA to please register the value
grant-type:saml2-bearer in the
registry urn:ietf:params:oauth established in
An IETF URN Sub-Namespace for OAuth .
URN: urn:ietf:params:oauth:grant-type:saml2-bearerCommon Name: SAML 2.0 Bearer Assertion Grant Type Profile for OAuth 2.0Change controller: IETFSpecification Document: [[this document]]
This is a request to IANA to please register the value
client-assertion-type:saml2-bearer in the
registry urn:ietf:params:oauth established in
An IETF URN Sub-Namespace for OAuth .
URN: urn:ietf:params:oauth:client-assertion-type:saml2-bearerCommon Name: SAML 2.0 Bearer Assertion Profile for OAuth 2.0 Client Authentication Change controller: IETFSpecification Document: [[this document]]Assertion Framework for OAuth 2.0 Client Authentication and Authorization GrantsPing IdentitySalesforce.comMicrosoftMicrosoftSAML V2.0 Condition for Delegation Restriction
The following people contributed wording and concepts to this document:
Paul Madsen, Patrick Harding, Peter Motykowski, Eran Hammer, Peter Saint-Andre,
Ian Barnett, Eric Fazendin, Torsten Lodderstedt, Susan Harper, Scott Tomilson,
Scott Cantor, Hannes Tschofenig, David Waite,
Phil Hunt, and Mukesh Bhatnagar.
[[ to be removed by RFC editor before publication as an RFC ]]
draft-ietf-oauth-saml2-bearer-17
Stated that issuer and audience values
SHOULD be compared using the
Simple String Comparison method defined in
Section 6.2.1 of RFC 3986
unless otherwise specified by the application.
draft-ietf-oauth-saml2-bearer-16
Changed title from "SAML 2.0 Bearer Assertion Profiles for OAuth 2.0"
to "SAML 2.0 Profile for OAuth 2.0 Client Authentication and Authorization Grants"
to be more explicit about the scope of the document per
http://www.ietf.org/mail-archive/web/oauth/current/msg11063.html.
Fixed typo in text identifying the presenter from "or similar element, the"
to "or similar element in the".
Numbered the list of processing rules.
Smallish editorial cleanups to try and improve readability and comprehensibility.
Cleaner split out of the processing rules in cases where they differ
for client authentication and authorization grants.
Clarified the parameters that are used/available for authorization grants.
Added Interoperability Considerations section and info reference to SAML Metadata.
Added more explanatory context to the example in Section 4.
draft-ietf-oauth-saml2-bearer-15
Reference RFC 6749 and RFC 6755.Update draft-ietf-oauth-assertions reference to -06.Remove extraneous word per http://www.ietf.org/mail-archive/web/oauth/current/msg10055.html
draft-ietf-oauth-saml2-bearer-14
Add more text to intro explaining that an assertion grant type can be used with or without client
authentication/identification and that client assertion authentication is nothing more than an alternative way for a client to authenticate to the token endpointAdd examples to Sections 2.1 and 2.2Update references
draft-ietf-oauth-saml2-bearer-13
Update references: oauth-assertions-04, oauth-urn-sub-ns-05, oauth -28Changed "Description" to "Specification Document" in both registration requests in IANA Considerations per changes to the template in ietf-oauth-urn-sub-ns(-03)Added "(or an acceptable alias)" so that it's in both sentences about Recipient and the token endpoint URL so there's no ambiguityUpdate area and workgroup (now Security and OAuth was Internet and nothing)
draft-ietf-oauth-saml2-bearer-12
updated reference to draft-ietf-oauth-v2 from -25 to -26 and draft-ietf-oauth-assertions from -02 to -03
draft-ietf-oauth-saml2-bearer-11
Removed text about limited lifetime access tokens
and the SHOULD NOT on issuing refresh tokens. The text
was moved to draft-ietf-oauth-assertions-02 and
somewhat modified per
http://www.ietf.org/mail-archive/web/oauth/current/msg08298.html.Fixed typo/missing word per
http://www.ietf.org/mail-archive/web/oauth/current/msg08733.html.Added Terminology section.
draft-ietf-oauth-saml2-bearer-10
fix a spelling mistake
draft-ietf-oauth-saml2-bearer-09
Attempt to address an ambiguity around validation requirements when the Conditions element contain a NotOnOrAfter and SubjectConfirmation/SubjectConfirmationData does too. Basically it needs to have at least one bearer SubjectConfirmation element but that element can omit SubjectConfirmationData, if Conditions has an expiry on it. Otherwise, a valid SubjectConfirmation must have a SubjectConfirmationData with Recipient and NotOnOrAfter. And any SubjectConfirmationData that has those elements needs to have them checked. clarified that AudienceRestriction is under Conditions (even though it's implied by schema)fix a typo
draft-ietf-oauth-saml2-bearer-08
fix some typos
draft-ietf-oauth-saml2-bearer-07
update reference from draft-campbell-oauth-urn-sub-ns to draft-ietf-oauth-urn-sub-nsUpdated to reference draft-ietf-oauth-v2-20
draft-ietf-oauth-saml2-bearer-06
Fix three typos NamseID->NameID and (2x) Namspace->Namespace
draft-ietf-oauth-saml2-bearer-05
Allow for subject confirmation data to be optional when Conditions contain audience and NotOnOrAfter
Rework most of the spec to profile draft-ietf-oauth-assertions for both authn and authz including (but not limited to):
remove requirement for issuer to be urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:nameid-format:entitychange wording on Subject requirementsusing a MAY, explicitly say that the Audience can be token endpoint URL of the authorization serverChange title to be more generic (allowing for client authn too)added client authentication to the abstractregister and use urn:ietf:params:oauth:grant-type:saml2-bearer for grant type rather than http://oauth.net/grant_type/saml/2.0/bearerregister urn:ietf:params:oauth:client-assertion-type:saml2-bearerremove scope parameter as it is defined in http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-oauth-assertionsremove assertion param registration because it [should] be in http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-oauth-assertionsfix typo(s) and update/add references
draft-ietf-oauth-saml2-bearer-04
Changed the grant_type URI from "http://oauth.net/grant_type/assertion/saml/2.0/bearer" to
"http://oauth.net/grant_type/saml/2.0/bearer" - dropping the word assertion from the path.
Recent versions of draft-ietf-oauth-v2 no longer refer to extension grants using the word assertion so
this URI is more reflective of that. It also more closely aligns with the grant type URI in
draft-jones-oauth-jwt-bearer-00 which is "http://oauth.net/grant_type/jwt/1.0/bearer".
Added "case sensitive" to scope definition to align with draft-ietf-oauth-v2-15/16.Updated to reference draft-ietf-oauth-v2-16
draft-ietf-oauth-saml2-bearer-03
Cleanup of some editorial issues.
draft-ietf-oauth-saml2-bearer-02
Added scope parameter with text copied from draft-ietf-oauth-v2-12 (the reorg of draft-ietf-oauth-v2-12 made it so scope wasn't really inherited by this spec anymore) Change definition of the assertion parameter to be more generally applicable per the suggestion near the end of http://www.ietf.org/mail-archive/web/oauth/current/msg05253.htmlEditorial changes based on feedback
draft-ietf-oauth-saml2-bearer-01
Update spec name when referencing draft-ietf-oauth-v2 (The OAuth 2.0 Protocol Framework -> The OAuth 2.0 Authorization Protocol)
Update wording in Introduction to talk about extension grant types rather than the assertion grant type which is a term no longer used in OAuth 2.0
Updated to reference draft-ietf-oauth-v2-12 and denote as work in progressUpdate Parameter Registration Request to use similar terms as draft-ietf-oauth-v2-12 and remove Related information partAdd some text giving discretion to AS on rejecting assertions with unreasonably long validity window.
draft-ietf-oauth-saml2-bearer-00
Added Parameter Registration Request for "assertion" to IANA Considerations.
Changed document name to draft-ietf-oauth-saml2-bearer in anticipation of becoming an OAUTH WG item.
Attempt to move the entire definition of the 'assertion' parameter into this draft (it will no longer be defined in OAuth 2 Protocol Framework).
draft-campbell-oauth-saml-01
Updated to reference draft-ietf-oauth-v2-11 and reflect changes from -10 to -11.
Updated examples.
Relaxed processing rules to allow for more than one SubjectConfirmation element.
Removed the 'MUST NOT contain a NotBefore attribute' on SubjectConfirmationData.
Relaxed wording that ties the subject of the Assertion to the resource owner.
Added some wording about identifying the client when the subject hasn't directly authenticated including an informative reference to SAML V2.0 Condition for Delegation Restriction.
Added a few examples to the language about verifying that the
Assertion is valid in all other respects.
Added some wording to the introduction about the similarities to Web SSO in the format and processing rules
Changed the grant_type (was assertion_type) URI from http://oauth.net/assertion_type/saml/2.0/bearer
to http://oauth.net/grant_type/assertion/saml/2.0/bearer
Changed title to include "Grant Type" in it.Editorial updates based on feedback from the WG and others (including capitalization of Assertion when referring to SAML).
draft-campbell-oauth-saml-00
Initial I-D