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authorDUVAL Thomas <thomas.duval@orange.com>2016-06-16 14:50:31 +0200
committerDUVAL Thomas <thomas.duval@orange.com>2016-06-16 14:50:31 +0200
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+################################################
+Federated Authentication Utilizing Apache & SSSD
+################################################
+
+:Author: John Dennis
+:Email: jdennis@redhat.com
+
+.. contents:: Table of Contents
+
+************
+Introduction
+************
+
+Applications should not need to handle the burden of authentication
+and authorization. These are complex technologies further complicated
+by the existence of a wide variety of authentication
+mechanisms. Likewise there are numerous identity providers (IdP) which
+one may wish to utilize, perhaps in a federated manner. The potential
+to make critical mistakes are high while consuming significant
+engineering resources. Ideally an application should "outsource" it's
+authentication to an "expert" and avoid unnecessary development costs.
+
+For web based applications (both conventional HTML and REST API) there
+has been a trend to embed a simple HTTP server in the application or
+application server which handles the HTTP requests eschewing the use
+of a traditional web server such as Apache.
+
+.. figure:: sssd_01.png
+ :align: center
+
+ _`Figure 1.`
+
+But traditional web servers have a lot of advantages. They often come
+with extensive support for technologies you might wish to utilize in
+your application. It would require signification software engineering
+to add support for those technologies in your application. The problem
+is compounded by the fact many of these technologies demand domain
+expertise which is unlikely to be available in the application
+development team. Another problem is the libraries needed to utilize
+the technology may not even be available in the programming language
+the application is being developed in. Fundamentally an application
+developer should focus on developing their application instead of
+investing resources into implementing complex code for the ancillary
+technologies the application may wish to utilize.
+
+Therefore fronting your application with a web server such as Apache
+makes a lot of sense. One should allow Apache to handle complex tasks
+such as multiple authentication mechanisms talking to multiple
+IdP's. Suppose you want your application to handle Single Sign-On
+(SSO) via Kerberos or authentication based on X509 certificates
+(i.e. PKI). Apache already has extensions to handle these which have
+been field proven, it would be silly to try and support these in your
+application. Apache also comes with other useful extensions such as
+``mod_identity_lookup`` which can extract metadata about an
+authenticated user from multiple sources such as LDAP,
+Active Directory, NIS, etc.
+
+By fronting your application with Apache and allowing Apache to handle
+the complex task of authentication, identity lookups etc. you've
+greatly increased the features of your application while at the same
+time reducing application development time along with increasing
+application security and robustness.
+
+.. figure:: sssd_02.png
+ :align: center
+
+ _`Figure 2.`
+
+When Apache fronts your application you will be passed the results of
+authentication and identity lookups. Your application only needs a
+simple mechanism to accept these values. There are a variety of ways
+the values can be passed from Apache to your application which will be
+discussed in later sections.
+
+Authentication & Identity Properties
+====================================
+
+Authentication is proving that a user is who they claim to be, in
+other words after authentication the user has a proven identity. In
+security parlance the authenticated entity is call a
+principal. Principals may be humans, machines or
+services. Authorization is distinct from authentication. Authorization
+declares what actions an authenticated principal may perform. For
+example, does a principal have permission to read a certain file, run
+a specific command, etc. Identity metadata is typically bound to the
+principal to provide extra information. Examples include the users
+full name, their organization, the groups they are members of, etc.
+
+Apache can provide both authentication and identity metadata to an
+application freeing the application of this task. Authorization
+usually will remain the province of the application. A typical
+design pattern is to assign roles to a principal based on identity
+properties. As the application executes on behalf of a principal the
+application will check if the principal has the necessary role needed
+to perform the operation.
+
+Apache ships with a wide variety of authentication modules. After an
+Apache authentication module successfully authenticates a principal, it
+sets internal variables identifying the principal and the
+authentication method used to authenticate the principal. These are
+exported as the CGI variables REMOTE_USER and AUTH_TYPE respectively
+(see `CGI Export Issues`_ for further information).
+
+Identity Properties
+-------------------
+
+Most Apache authentication modules do not have access to any of the
+identity properties bound to the authenticated principal. Those
+identity properties must be provided by some other mechanism. Typical
+mechanisms include lookups in LDAP, Active Directory, NIS, POSIX
+passwd/gecos and SQL. Managing these lookups can be difficult
+especially in a networked environment where services may be
+temporarily unavailable and/or in a enterprise deployment where
+identity sources must be multiplexed across a variety of services
+according to enterprise wide policy.
+
+`SSSD`_ (System Security Services Daemon) is designed to alleviate many
+of the problems surrounding authentication and identity property
+lookup. SSSD can provide identity properties via D-Bus using it's
+InfoPipe (IFP) feature. The `mod_identity_lookup`_ Apache module is
+given the name of the authenticated principal and makes available
+identity properties via Apache environment variables (see `Configure
+SSSD IFP`_ for details).
+
+Exporting & Consuming Identity Metadata
+=======================================
+
+The authenticated principal (REMOTE_USER), the mechanism used to
+authenticate the principal (AUTH_TYPE) and identity properties
+(supplied by SSSD IFP) are exported to the application which trusts
+this metadata to be valid.
+
+How is this identity metadata exported from Apache and then be
+consumed by a Java EE Servlet?
+
+The architectural design inside Apache tries to capitalize on the
+existing CGI standard (`CGI RFC`_) as much as possible. CGI defines
+these relevant environment variables:
+
+ * REMOTE_USER
+ * AUTH_TYPE
+ * REMOTE_ADDR
+ * REMOTE_HOST
+
+
+Transporting Identity Metadata from Apache to a Java EE Servlet
+===============================================================
+
+In following figure we can see that the user connects to Apache
+instead of the servlet container. Apache authenticates the user, looks
+up the principal's identity information and then proxies the request
+to the servlet container. The additional identity metadata must be
+included in the proxy request in order for the servlet to extract it.
+
+.. figure:: sssd_03.png
+ :align: center
+
+ _`Figure 3.`
+
+The Java EE Servlet API is designed with the HTTP protocol in mind
+however the servlet never directly accesses the HTTP protocol stream.
+Instead it uses the servlet API to get access to HTTP request
+data. The responsibility for HTTP communication rests with the
+container's ``Connector`` objects. When the servlet API needs
+information it works in conjunction with the ``Connector`` to supply
+it. For example the ``HttpServletRequest.getRemoteHost()`` method
+interrogates information the ``Connector`` placed on the internal
+request object. Analogously ``HttpServletRequest.getRemoteUser()``
+interrogates information placed on the internal request object by an
+authentication filter.
+
+But what happens when a HTTP request is proxied to a servlet container
+by Apache and ``getRemoteHost()`` or ``getRemoteUser()`` is called? Most
+``Connector`` objects do not understand the proxy scenario, to them
+a request from a proxy looks just like a request sent directly to the
+servlet container. Therefore ``getRemoteHost()`` or ``getRemoteUser()``
+ends up returning information relative to the proxy instead of the
+user who connected to the proxy because it's the proxy who connected
+to the servlet container and not the end user. There are 2 fundamental
+approaches which allow the servlet API to return data supplied by the
+proxy:
+
+ 1. Proxy uses special protocol (e.g. AJP) to embed metadata.
+ 2. Metadata is embedded in an HTTP extension by the proxy (i.e. headers)
+
+Proxy With AJP Protocol
+-----------------------
+
+The AJP_ protocol was designed as a protocol to exchange HTTP requests
+and responses between Apache and a Java EE Servlet Container. One of
+its design goals was to improve performance by translating common text
+values appearing in HTTP requests to a more compact binary form. At
+the same time AJP provided a mechanism to supply metadata about the
+request to the servlet container. That metadata is encoded in an AJP
+attribute (a name/value pair). The Apache AJP Proxy module looks up
+information in the internal Apache request object (e.g. remote user,
+remote address, etc.) and encodes that metadata in AJP attributes. On
+the servlet container side a AJP ``Connector`` object is aware of these
+metadata attributes, extracts them from the protocol and supplies
+their values to the upper layers of the servlet API. Thus a call to
+``HttpServletRequest.getRemoteUser()`` made by a servlet will receive
+the value set by Apache prior to the proxy. This is the desired and
+expected behavior. A servlet should be ignorant of the consequences of
+proxies; the servlet API should behave the same regardless of the
+presence of a proxy.
+
+The AJP protocol also has a general purpose attribute mechanism whereby
+any arbitrary name/value pair can be passed. This proxy metadata can
+be retrieved by a servlet by calling ``ServletRequest.getAttribute()``
+[1]_ When Apache mod_proxy_ajp is being used the authentication
+metadata for the remote user and auth type are are automatically
+inserted into the AJP protocol and the AJP ``Connector`` object on
+the servlet receiving end supplies those values to
+``HttpServletRequest.getRemoteHost()`` and
+``HttpServletRequest.getRemoteUser()`` respectively. But the identity
+metadata supplied by ``mod_identity_lookup`` needs to be explicitly
+encoded into an AJP attribute (see `Configure SSSD IFP`_ for details)
+that can later be retrieved by ``ServletRequest.getAttribute()``.
+
+Proxy With HTTP Protocol
+------------------------
+
+Although the AJP protocol offers a number of nice advantages sometimes
+it's not an option. Not all servlet containers support AJP or there
+may be some other deployment constraint that precludes its use. In this
+case option 2 from above needs to be used. Option 2 requires only the
+defined HTTP protocol be used without any "out of band" metadata. The
+conventional way to attach extension metadata to a HTTP request is to
+add extension HTTP headers.
+
+One problem with using extension HTTP headers to pass metadata to a
+servlet is the expectation the servlet API will have the same
+behavior. In other words the value returned by
+``HttpServletRequest.getRemoteUser()`` should not depend on whether the
+proxy request was exchanged with the AJP protocol or the HTTP
+protocol. The solution to this is to wrap the ``HttpServletRequest``
+object in a servlet filter. The wrapper overrides certain request
+methods (e.g. ``getRemoteUser()``). The override method looks to see if
+the metadata is in the extension HTTP headers, if so it returns the
+value found in the extension HTTP header otherwise it defers to the
+existing servlet implementation. The ``ServletRequest.getAttribute()`` is
+overridden in an analogous manner in the wrapper filter. Any call to
+``ServletRequest.getAttribute()`` is first checked to see if the value
+exists in the extension HTTP header first.
+
+Metadata supplied by Apache that is **not** part of the normal Java
+EE Servlet API **always** appears to the servlet via the
+``ServletRequest.getAttribute()`` method regardless of the proxy
+transport mechanism. The consequence of this is a servlet
+continues to utilize the existing Java EE Servlet API without concern
+for intermediary proxies, *and* any other metadata supplied by a proxy
+is *always* retrieved via ``ServletRequest.getAttribute()`` (see the
+caveat about ``ServletRequest.getAttributeNames()`` [1]_).
+
+*******************
+Configuration Guide
+*******************
+
+Although Apache authentication and SSSD identity lookup can operate
+with a variety of authentication mechanisms, IdP's and identity
+metadata providers we will demonstrate a configuration example which
+utilizes the FreeIPA_ IdP. FreeIPA excels at Kerberos SSO authentication,
+Active Directory integration, LDAP based identity metadata storage and
+lookup, DNS services, host based RBAC, SSH key management, certificate
+management, friendly web based console, command line tools and many
+other advanced IdP features.
+
+The following configuration steps will need to be performed:
+
+1. Install FreeIPA_ by following the installation guides in the FreeIPA_
+ documentation area. When you install FreeIPA_ you will need to select a
+ realm (a.k.a domain) in which your users and hosts will exist. In
+ our example we will use the ``EXAMPLE.COM`` realm.
+
+2. Install and configure the Apache HTTP web server. The
+ recommendation is to install and run the Apache HTTP web server on
+ the same system the Java EE Container running AAA is installed on.
+
+3. Configure the proxy connector in the Java EE Container and set the
+ ``secureProxyPorts``.
+
+We will also illustrate the operation of the system by adding an
+example user named ``testuser`` who will be a member of the
+``odl_users`` and ``odl_admin`` groups.
+
+Add Example User and Groups to FreeIPA
+======================================
+
+After installing FreeIPA you will need to populate FreeIPA with your users,
+groups and other data. Refer to the documentation in FreeIPA_ for the
+variety of ways this task can be performed; it runs the gamut from web
+based console to command line utilities. For simplicity we will use
+the command line utilities.
+
+Identify yourself to FreeIPA as an administrator; this will give you the
+necessary privileges needed to create and modify data in FreeIPA. You do
+this by obtaining a Kerberos ticket for the ``admin`` user (or any
+other user in FreeIPA with administrator privileges.
+
+::
+
+ % kinit admin@EXAMPLE.COM
+
+Create the example ``odl_users`` and `odl_admin`` groups.
+
+::
+
+ % ipa group-add odl_users --desc 'OpenDaylight Users'
+ % ipa group-add odl_admin --desc 'OpenDaylight Administrators'
+
+Create the example user ``testuser`` with the first name "Test" and a
+last name of "User" and an email address of "test.user@example.com"
+
+::
+
+ % ipa user-add testuser --first Test --last User --email test.user@example.com
+
+Now add ``testuser`` to the ``odl_users`` and ``odl_admin`` groups.
+
+::
+
+ % ipa group-add-member odl_users --user testuser
+ % ipa group-add-member odl_admin --user testuser
+
+Configure Apache
+================
+
+A number of Apache configuration directives will need to be specified
+to implement the Apache to application binding. Although these
+configuration directives can be located in any number of different
+Apache configuration files the most sensible approach is to co-locate
+them in a single application configuration file. This greatly
+simplifies the deployment of your application and isolates your
+application configuration from other applications and services sharing
+the Apache installation. In the examples that follow our application
+will be named ``my_app`` and the Apache application configuration file
+will be named ``my_app.conf`` which should be located in Apache's
+``conf.d/`` directory. The web resource we are protecting and
+supplying identity metadata for will be named ``my_resource``.
+
+
+Configure Apache for Kerberos
+-----------------------------
+
+When FreeIPA is deployed Kerberos is the preferred authentication mechanism
+for Single Sign-On (SSO). FreeIPA also provides identity metadata via
+Apache ``mod_identity_lookup``. To protect your ``my_resource`` resource
+with Kerberos authentication identify your resource as requiring
+Kerberos authentication in your ``my_app.conf`` Apache
+configuration. For example:
+
+::
+
+ <Location my_resource>
+ AuthType Kerberos
+ AuthName "Kerberos Login"
+ KrbMethodNegotiate On
+ KrbMethodK5Passwd Off
+ KrbAuthRealms EXAMPLE.COM
+ Krb5KeyTab /etc/http.keytab
+ require valid-user
+ </Location>
+
+You will need to replace EXAMPLE.COM in the KrbAuthRealms declaration
+with the Kerberos realm for your deployment.
+
+
+Configure SSSD IFP
+------------------
+
+To use the Apache ``mod_identity_lookup`` module to supply identity
+metadata you need to do the following in ``my_app.conf``:
+
+1. Enable the module
+
+ ::
+
+ LoadModule lookup_identity_module modules/mod_lookup_identity.so
+
+2. Apply the identity metadata lookup to specific URL's
+ (e.g. ``my_resource``) via an Apache location directive. In this
+ example we look up the "mail" attribute and assign it to the
+ REMOTE_USER_EMAIL environment variable.
+
+ ::
+
+ <LocationMatch "my_resource">
+ LookupUserAttr mail REMOTE_USER_EMAIL
+ </LocationMatch>
+
+3. Export the environment variable via the desired proxy protocol, see
+ `Exporting Environment Variables to the Proxy`_
+
+Exporting Environment Variables to the Proxy
+--------------------------------------------
+
+First you need to decide which proxy protocol you're going to use, AJP
+or HTTP and then determine the target address and port to proxy to. The
+recommended configuration is to run both the Apache server and the
+servlet container on the same host and to proxy requests over the
+local loopback interface (see `Declaring the Connector Ports for
+Authentication Proxies`_). In our examples we'll use port 8383. Thus
+in ``my_app.conf`` add a proxy declaration.
+
+For HTTP Proxy
+
+::
+
+ ProxyPass / http://localhost:8383/
+ ProxyPassReverse / http://localhost:8383/
+
+For AJP Proxy
+
+::
+
+ ProxyPass / ajp://localhost:8383/
+ ProxyPassReverse / ajp://localhost:8383/
+
+AJP Exports
+^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+AJP automatically forwards REMOTE_USER and AUTH_TYPE making them
+available to the ``HttpServletRequest`` API, thus you do not need to
+explicitly forward these in the proxy configuration. However all other
+``mod_identity_lookup`` metadata must be explicitly forwarded as an AJP
+attribute. These AJP attributes become visible in the
+``ServletRequest.getAttribute()`` method [1]_.
+
+The Apache ``mod_proxy_ajp`` module automatically sends any Apache
+environment variable prefixed with "AJP\_" as an AJP attribute which
+can be retrieved with ``ServletRequest.getAttribute()``. Therefore the
+``mod_identity_lookup`` directives which specify the Apache environment
+variable to set with the result of a lookup must be prefixed with
+"AJP\_". Using the above example of looking up the principal's email
+address we modify the environment variable to include the "AJP\_"
+prefix. Thusly:
+
+ ::
+
+ <LocationMatch "my_resource">
+ LookupUserAttr mail AJP_REMOTE_USER_EMAIL
+ </LocationMatch>
+
+The sequence of events is as follows:
+
+ 1. When the URL matches "my_resource".
+
+ 2. ``mod_identity_lookup`` retrieves the mail attribute for the
+ principal.
+
+ 3. ``mod_identity_lookup`` assigns the value of the mail attribute
+ lookup to the AJP_REMOTE_USER_EMAIL Apache environment variable.
+
+ 4. ``mod_proxy_ajp`` encodes AJP_REMOTE_USER_EMAIL environment
+ variable into an AJP attribute in the AJP protocol because the
+ environment variable is prefixed with "AJP\_". The name of the
+ attribute is stripped of it's "AJP\_" prefix thus the
+ AJP_REMOTE_USER_EMAIL environment variable is transferred as the
+ AJP attribute REMOTE_USER_EMAIL.
+
+ 5. The request is forwarded (i.e. proxied) to servlet container
+ using the AJP protocol.
+
+ 6. The servlet container's AJP ``Connector`` object is assigned each AJP
+ attribute to the set of attributes on the ``ServletRequest``
+ attribute list. Thus a call to
+ ``ServletRequest.getAttribute("REMOTE_USER_EMAIL")`` yields the
+ value set by ``mod_identity_lookup``.
+
+
+HTTP Exports
+^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+When HTTP proxy is used there are no automatic or implicit metadata
+transfers; every metadata attribute must be explicitly handled on both
+ends of the proxy connection. All identity metadata attributes are
+transferred as extension HTTP headers, by convention those headers are
+prefixed with "X-SSSD-".
+
+Using the original example of looking up the principal's email
+address we must now perform two independent actions:
+
+ 1. Lookup the value via ``mod_identity_lookup`` and assign to an
+ Apache environment variable.
+
+ 2. Export the environment variable in the request header with the
+ "X-SSSD-" prefix.
+
+ ::
+
+ <LocationMatch "my_resource">
+ LookupUserAttr mail REMOTE_USER_EMAIL
+ RequestHeader set X-SSSD-REMOTE_USER_EMAIL %{REMOTE_USER_EMAIL}e
+ </LocationMatch>
+
+The sequence of events is as follows:
+
+ 1. When the URL matches "my_resource".
+
+ 2. ``mod_identity_lookup`` retrieves the mail attribute for the
+ principal.
+
+ 3. ``mod_identity_lookup`` assigns the value of the mail attribute
+ lookup to the REMOTE_USER_EMAIL Apache environment variable.
+
+ 4. Apache's RequestHeader directive executes just prior to the
+ request being forwarded (i.e. in the Apache fixup stage). It adds
+ the header X-SSSD-REMOTE_USER_EMAIL and assigns the value for
+ REMOTE_USER_EMAIL found in the set of environment variables. It
+ does this because the syntax %{XXX} is a variable reference for
+ the name XXX and the 'e' appended after the closing brace
+ indicates the lookup is to be performed in the set of environment
+ variables.
+
+ 5. The request is forwarded (i.e. proxied) to the servlet container
+ using the HTTP protocol.
+
+ 6. When ``ServletRequest.getAttribute()`` is called the ``SssdFilter``
+ wrapper intercepts the ``getAttribute()`` method. It looks for an
+ HTTP header of the same name with "X-SSSD-" prefixed to it. In
+ this case ``getAttribute("REMOTE_USER_EMAIL")`` causes the lookup of
+ "X-SSSD-REMOTE_USER_EMAIL" in the HTTP headers, if found that
+ value is returned.
+
+AJP Proxy Example Configuration
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+If you are using AJP proxy to the Java EE Container on port 8383 your
+``my_app.conf`` Apache configuration file will probably look like
+this:
+
+::
+
+ <LocationMatch "my_resource">
+
+ ProxyPass / ajp://localhost:8383/
+ ProxyPassReverse / ajp://localhost:8383/
+
+ LookupUserAttr mail AJP_REMOTE_USER_EMAIL " "
+ LookupUserAttr givenname AJP_REMOTE_USER_FIRSTNAME
+ LookupUserAttr sn AJP_REMOTE_USER_LASTNAME
+ LookupUserGroups AJP_REMOTE_USER_GROUPS ":"
+
+ </LocationMatch>
+
+Note the specification of the colon separator for the
+``LookupUserGroups`` operation. [3]_
+
+HTTP Proxy Example Configuration
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
+
+If you are using a conventional HTTP proxy to the Java EE Container on
+port 8383 your ``my_app.conf`` Apache configuration file will probably
+look like this:
+
+::
+
+ <LocationMatch "my_resource">
+
+ ProxyPass / http://localhost:8383/
+ ProxyPassReverse / http://localhost:8383/
+
+ RequestHeader set X-SSSD-REMOTE_USER expr=%{REMOTE_USER}
+ RequestHeader set X-SSSD-AUTH_TYPE expr=%{AUTH_TYPE}
+ RequestHeader set X-SSSD-REMOTE_HOST expr=%{REMOTE_HOST}
+ RequestHeader set X-SSSD-REMOTE_ADDR expr=%{REMOTE_ADDR}
+
+ LookupUserAttr mail REMOTE_USER_EMAIL
+ RequestHeader set X-SSSD-REMOTE_USER_EMAIL %{REMOTE_USER_EMAIL}e
+
+ LookupUserAttr givenname REMOTE_USER_FIRSTNAME
+ RequestHeader set X-SSSD-REMOTE_USER_FIRSTNAME %{REMOTE_USER_FIRSTNAME}e
+
+ LookupUserAttr sn REMOTE_USER_LASTNAME
+ RequestHeader set X-SSSD-REMOTE_USER_LASTNAME %{REMOTE_USER_LASTNAME}e
+
+ LookupUserGroups REMOTE_USER_GROUPS ":"
+ RequestHeader set X-SSSD-REMOTE_USER_GROUPS %{REMOTE_USER_GROUPS}e
+
+ </LocationMatch>
+
+Note the specification of the colon separator for the
+``LookupUserGroups`` operation. [3]_
+
+
+Configure Java EE Container Proxy Connector
+===========================================
+
+The Java EE Container must be configured to listen for connections
+from the Apache web server. A Java EE Container specifies connections
+via a ``Connector`` object. A ``Connector`` **must** be dedicated
+**exclusively** for handling authenticated requests from the Apache
+web server. The reason for this is explained in `The Proxy
+Problem`_. In addition ``ClaimAuthFilter`` needs to validate that any
+request it processes originated from the trusted Apache instance. This
+is accomplished by dedicating one or more ports exclusively for use by
+the trusted Apache server and enumerating them in the
+``secureProxyPorts`` configuration as explained in `Locking Down the
+Apache to Java EE Container Channel`_ and `Declaring the Connector
+Ports for Authentication Proxies`_.
+
+Configure Tomcat Proxy Connector
+--------------------------------
+
+The Tomcat Java EE Container defines Connectors in its ``server.xml``
+configuration file.
+
+::
+
+ <Connector
+ address="127.0.0.1"
+ port="8383"
+ protocol="HTTP/1.1"
+ tomcatAuthentication="false"
+ connectionTimeout="20000"
+ redirectPort="8443"
+ />
+
+
+:address:
+ This should be the loopback address as explained `Locking Down the
+ Apache to Java EE Container Channel`_.
+
+:port:
+ In our examples we've been using port 8383 as the proxy port. The
+ exact port is not important but it must be consistent with the
+ Apache proxy port, the ``Connector`` declaration, and the port value
+ in ``secureProxyPorts``.
+
+:protocol:
+ As explained in `Transporting Identity Metadata from Apache to a
+ Java EE Servlet`_ you will need to decide if you are using HTTP or
+ AJP as the proxy protocol. In the example above the protocol is set
+ for HTTP, if you use AJP instead the protocol should instead be
+ "AJP/1.3".
+
+:tomcatAuthentication:
+ This boolean flag tells Tomcat whether Tomcat should perform
+ authentication on the incoming requests or not. Since authentication
+ is performed by Apache we do not want Tomcat to perform
+ authentication therefore this flag must be set to false.
+
+The AAA system needs to know which port(s) the trusted Apache proxy
+will be sending requests on so it can trust the request authentication
+metadata. See `Declaring the Connector Ports for Authentication
+Proxies`_ for more information). Set ``secureProxyPorts`` in the
+FederationConfiguration.
+
+::
+
+ secureProxyPorts=8383
+
+
+Configure Jetty Proxy Connector
+-------------------------------
+
+The Jetty Java EE Container defines Connectors in its ``jetty.xml``
+configuration file.
+
+::
+
+ <!-- Trusted Authentication Federation proxy connection -->
+ <Call name="addConnector">
+ <Arg>
+ <New class="org.eclipse.jetty.server.nio.SelectChannelConnector">
+ <Set name="host">127.0.0.1</Set>
+ <Set name="port">8383</Set>
+ <Set name="maxIdleTime">300000</Set>
+ <Set name="Acceptors">2</Set>
+ <Set name="statsOn">false</Set>
+ <Set name="confidentialPort">8445</Set>
+ <Set name="name">federationConn</Set>
+ <Set name="lowResourcesConnections">20000</Set>
+ <Set name="lowResourcesMaxIdleTime">5000</Set>
+ </New>
+ </Arg>
+ </Call>
+
+:host:
+ This should be the loopback address as explained `Locking Down the
+ Apache to Java EE Container Channel`_.
+
+:port:
+ In our examples we've been using port 8383 as the proxy port. The
+ exact port is not important but it must be consistent with the
+ Apache proxy port, the ``Connector`` declaration, and the port value
+ in ``secureProxyPorts``.
+
+
+Note, values in Jetty XML can also be parameterized so that they may
+be passed from property files or set on the command line. Thus
+typically the port is set within Jetty XML, but uses the Property
+element to be customizable. Thus the above ``host`` and ``port``
+properties could be specificed this way:
+
+::
+
+ <Set name="host">
+ <Property name="jetty.host" default="127.0.0.1"/>
+ </Set>
+ <Set name="port">
+ <Property name="jetty.port" default="8383"/>
+ </Set>
+
+
+The AAA system needs to know which port(s) the trusted Apache proxy
+will be sending requests on so it can trust the request authentication
+metadata. See `Declaring the Connector Ports for Authentication
+Proxies`_ for more information). Set ``secureProxyPorts`` in the
+FederationConfiguration.
+
+************************************************
+How Apache Identity Metadata is Processed in AAA
+************************************************
+
+`Figure 2.`_ and `Figure 3.`_ illustrates the fact the first stage in
+processing a request from a user begins with Apache where the user is
+authenticated and SSSD supplies additional metadata about the
+user. The original request along with the metadata are subsequently
+forwarded by Apache to the Java EE Container. `Figure 4.`_ illustrates
+the processing inside the Java EE Container once it receives the
+request on one of its secure connectors.
+
+
+.. figure:: sssd_04.png
+ :align: center
+
+ _`Figure 4.`
+
+:Step 1:
+ One or more Connectors have been configured to listen for requests
+ being forwarded from a trusted Apache instance. The Connector is
+ configured to communicate using either the HTTP or AJP protocols.
+ See `Exporting Environment Variables to the Proxy`_ for more
+ information on selecting a proxy transport protocol.
+
+:Step 2:
+ The identity metadata bound to the request needs to be extracted
+ differently depending upon whether HTTP or AJP is the transport
+ protocol. To allow later stages in the pipeline to be ignorant of
+ the transport protocol semantics the ``SssdFilter`` servlet filter
+ is introduced. The ``SssdFilter`` wraps the ``HttpServletRequest``
+ class and intercepts calls which might return the identity
+ metadata. The wrapper in the filter looks in protocol specific
+ locations for the metadata. In this manner users of the
+ ``HttpServletRequest`` are isolated from protocol differences.
+
+
+:Step 3:
+
+ The ``ClaimAuthFilter`` is responsible for determining if identity
+ metadata is bound to the request. If so all identity metadata is
+ packaged into an assertion which is then handed off to
+ ``SssdClaimAuth`` which will transform the identity metadata in the
+ assertion into a AAA Claim which is the authorizing token for the user.
+
+:Step 4:
+ The ``SssdClaimAuth`` object is responsible for transforming the
+ external federated identity metadata provided by Apache and SSSD into
+ a AAA claim. The AAA claim is an authorization token which includes
+ information about the user plus a set of roles. These roles provide the
+ authorization to perform AAA tasks. Although how roles are assigned is
+ flexible the expectation is domain and/or group membership will be the
+ primary criteria for role assignment. Because deciding how to handle
+ external federated identity metadata is site and deployment specific
+ we need a loadable policy mechanism. This is accomplished by a set of
+ transformation rules which transforms the incoming IdP identity
+ metadata into a AAA claim. For greater clarity this important step is
+ broken down into smaller units in the shaded box in `Figure 4.`_.
+
+:Step 4.1:
+ `The Mapping Rule Processor`_ is designed to accept a JSON object
+ (set of key/value pairs) as input and emit a different JSON object
+ as output effectively operating as a transformation engine on
+ key/value pairs.
+
+:Step 4.2:
+ The input assertion is rewritten as a JSON object in the format
+ required by the Mapping Rule Processor. The JSON assertion is then
+ passed into the Mapping Rule Processor.
+
+:Step 4.3:
+ `The Mapping Rule Processor`_ identified as ``IdPMapper`` evaluates
+ the input JSON assertion in the context of the mapping rules defined
+ for the site deployment. If ``IdPMapper`` is able to successfully
+ transform the input it will return a JSON object which we called the
+ *mapped* result. If the input JSON assertion is not compatible with
+ the site specific rules loaded into the ``IdPMapper`` then NULL is
+ returned by the ``IdPMapper``.
+
+:Step 4.4:
+ If a mapped JSON object is returned by the ``IdPMapper`` the mapping
+ was successful. The values in the mapped result are re-written into
+ an AAA Claim token.
+
+How Apache Identity Metadata is Mapped to AAA Values
+====================================================
+
+A federated IdP supplies metadata in a form unique to the IdP. This is
+called an assertion. That assertion must be transformed into a format
+and data understood by AAA. More importantly that assertion needs to
+yield *authorization roles specific to AAA*. In `Figure 4.`_ Step 4.3
+the ``IdPMapper`` provides the transformation from an external IdP
+assertion to an AAA specific claim. It does this via a Mapping Rule
+Processor which reads a site specific set of transformation
+rules. These mapping rules define how to transform an external IdP
+assertion into a AAA claim. The mapping rules also are responsible for
+validating the external IdP claim to make sure it is consistent with
+the site specific requirements. The operation of the Mapping Rule
+Processor and the syntax of the mapping rules are defined in `The
+Mapping Rule Processor`_.
+
+Below is an example mapping rule which might be loaded into the
+Mapping Rule Processor. It is assumed there are two AAA roles which
+may be assigned [4]_:
+
+``user``
+ A role granting standard permissions for normal ODL users.
+
+``admin``
+ A special role granting full administrative permissions.
+
+In this example assigning the ``user`` and ``admin`` roles
+will be based on group membership in the following groups:
+
+``odl_users``
+ Members of this group are normal ODL users with restricted permissions.
+
+``odl_admin``
+ Members of this group are ODL administrators with permission to
+ perform all operations.
+
+Granting of the ``user`` and/or ``admin`` roles based on
+membership in the ``odl_users`` and ``odl_admin`` is illustrated in
+the follow mapping rule example which also extracts the user principal
+and domain information in the preferred format for the site
+(e.g. usernames are lowercase without domain suffixes and the domain
+is uppercase and supplied separately).
+
+_`Mapping Rule Example 1.`
+
+::
+
+ 1 [
+ 2 {"mapping": {"ClientId": "$client_id",
+ 3 "UserId": "$user_id",
+ 4 "User": "$username",
+ 5 "Domain": "$domain",
+ 6 "roles": "$roles",
+ 7 },
+ 8 "statement_blocks": [
+ 9 [
+ 10 ["set", "$groups", []],
+ 11 ["set", "$roles", []]
+ 12 ],
+ 13 [
+ 14 ["in", "REMOTE_USER", "$assertion"],
+ 15 ["exit", "rule_fails", "if_not_success"],
+ 16 ["regexp", "$assertion[REMOTE_USER]", "(?<username>\\w+)@(?<domain>.+)"],
+ 17 ["exit", "rule_fails", "if_not_success"],
+ 18 ["lower", "$username", "$regexp_map[username]"],
+ 19 ["upper", "$domain", "$regexp_map[domain]"],
+ 20 ],
+ 21 [
+ 22 ["in", "REMOTE_USER_GROUPS", "$assertion"],
+ 23 ["exit", "rule_fails", "if_not_success"],
+ 24 ["split", "$groups", "$assertion[REMOTE_USER_GROUPS]", ":"],
+ 25 ],
+ 26 [
+ 27 ["in", "odl_users", "$groups"],
+ 28 ["continue", "if_not_success"],
+ 29 ["append", "$roles", "user"],
+ 30 ],
+ 31 [
+ 32 ["in", "odl_admin", "$groups"],
+ 33 ["continue", "if_not_success"],
+ 34 ["append", "$roles", "admin"]
+ 35 ],
+ 36 [
+ 37 ["unique", "$roles", "$roles"],
+ 38 ["length", "$n_roles", "$roles"],
+ 39 ["compare", "$n_roles", ">", 0],
+ 40 ["exit", "rule_fails", "if_not_success"],
+ 41 ],
+ 42 ]
+ 43 }
+ 44 ]
+
+:Line 1:
+ Starts a list of rules. In this example only 1 rule is defined. Each
+ rule is a JSON object containing a ``mapping`` and a required list
+ of ``statement_blocks``. The ``mapping`` may either be specified
+ inside a rule as it is here or may be referenced by name in a table
+ of mappings (this is easier to manage if you have a large number of
+ rules and small number of mappings).
+
+:Lines 2-7:
+ Defines the JSON mapped result. Each key maps to AAA claim. The
+ value is a rule variable whose value will be substituted if the rule
+ succeeds. Thus for example the AAA claim value ``User`` will be
+ assigned the value from the ``$username`` rule variable.
+:Line 8:
+ Begins the list of statement blocks. A statement must be contained
+ inside a block.
+:Lines 9-12:
+ The first block usually initializes variables that will be
+ referenced later. Here we initialize ``$groups`` and ``$roles`` to
+ empty arrays. These arrays may be appended to in later blocks and
+ may be referenced in the final ``mapping`` output.
+:Lines 13-20:
+ This block sets the user and domain information based on
+ ``REMOTE_USER`` and exits the rule if ``REMOTE_USER`` is not defined.
+:Lines 14-15:
+ This test is critical, it assures ``REMOTE_USER`` is defined in the
+ assertion, if not the rule is skipped because we depend on
+ ``REMOTE_USER``.
+:Lines 16-17:
+ Performs a regular expression match against ``REMOTE_USER`` to split
+ the username from the domain. The regular expression uses named
+ groups, in this instance ``username`` and ``domain``. If the regular
+ expression does not match the rule is skipped.
+:Lines 18-19:
+ These lines reference the previous result of the regular expression
+ match which are stored in the special variable ``$regexp_map``. The
+ username is converted to lower case and stored in ``$username`` and
+ the domain is converted to upper case and stored in ``$domain``. The
+ choice of case is purely by convention and site requirements.
+:Lines 21-35:
+ These 3 blocks assign roles based on group membership.
+:Lines 21-25:
+ Assures ``REMOTE_USER_GROUPS`` is defined in the assertion; if not, the
+ rule is skipped. ``REMOTE_USER_GROUPS`` is colon separated list of group
+ names. In order to operate on the individual group names appearing
+ in ``REMOTE_USER_GROUPS`` line 24 splits the string on the colon
+ separator and stores the result in the ``$groups`` array.
+:Lines 27-30:
+ This block assigns the ``user`` role if the user is a member of the
+ ``odl_users`` group.
+:Lines 31-35:
+ This block assigns the ``admin`` role if the user is a
+ member of the ``odl_admin`` group.
+:Lines 36-41:
+ This block performs final clean up actions for the rule. First it
+ assures there are no duplicates in the ``$roles`` array by calling
+ the ``unique`` function. Then it gets a count of how many items are
+ in the ``$roles`` array and tests to see if it's empty. If there are
+ no roles assigned the rule is skipped.
+:Line 43:
+ This is the end of the rule. If we reach the end of the rule it
+ succeeds. When a rule succeeds the mapping associated with the rule
+ is looked up. Any rule variable appearing in the mapping is
+ substituted with its value.
+
+Using the rules in `Mapping Rule Example 1.`_ and following example assertion
+in JSON format:
+
+_`Assertion Example 1.`
+
+::
+
+ {
+ "REMOTE_USER": "TestUser@example.com",
+ "REMOTE_AUTH_TYPE": "Negotiate",
+ "REMOTE_USER_GROUPS": "odl_users:odl_admin",
+ "REMOTE_USER_EMAIL": "test.user@example.com",
+ "REMOTE_USER_FIRSTNAME": "Test",
+ "REMOTE_USER_LASTNAME": "User"
+ }
+
+Then the mapper will return the following mapped JSON document. This
+is the ``mapping`` defined on line 2 of `Mapping Rule Example 1.`_ with the
+variables substituted after the rule successfully executed. Note any
+valid JSON data type can be returned, in this example the ``null``
+value is returned for ``ClientId`` and ``UserId``, normal strings for
+``User`` and ``Domain`` and an array of strings for the ``roles`` value.
+
+_`Mapped Result Example 1.`
+
+::
+
+ {
+ "ClientId": null,
+ "UserId": null,
+ "User": "testuser",
+ "Domain": "EXAMPLE.COM",
+ "roles": ["user", "admin"]
+ }
+
+
+**************************
+The Mapping Rule Processor
+**************************
+
+The Mapping Rule Processor is designed to be as flexible and generic
+as possible. It accepts a JSON object as input and returns a JSON
+object as output. JSON was chosen because virtually all data can be
+represented in JSON, JSON has extensive support and JSON is human
+readable. The rules loaded into the Mapping Rule Processor are also
+expressed in JSON. One advantage of this is it makes it easy for a
+site administrator to define hardcoded values which are always
+returned and/or static tables of white and black listed users or users
+who are always mapped into certain roles.
+
+.. include:: mapping.rst
+
+***********************
+Security Considerations
+***********************
+
+Attack Vectors
+==============
+
+A Java EE Container fronted by Apache has by definition 2 major
+components:
+
+* Apache
+* Java EE Container
+
+Each of these needs to be secure in its own right. There is extensive
+documentation on securing each of these components and the reader is
+encouraged to review this material. For the purpose of this discussion
+we are most interested in how Apache and the Java EE
+Container cooperate to form an integrated security system. Because
+Apache is performing authentication on behalf of the Java EE Container,
+it views Apache as a trusted partner. Our primary concern is the
+communication channel between Apache and the Java EE Container. We
+must assure the Java EE Container knows who it's trusted partner is
+and that it only accepts security sensitive data from that partner,
+this can best be described as `The Proxy Problem`_.
+
+Forged REMOTE_USER
+------------------
+
+HTTP request handling is often implemented as a processing pipeline
+where individual handlers are passed the request, they may then attach
+additional metadata to the request or transform it in some manner
+before handing it off to the next stage in the pipeline. A request
+handler may also short circuit the request processing pipeline and
+cause a response to be generated. Authentication is typically
+implemented an as early stage request handler. If a request gets past
+an authentication handler later stage handlers can safely assume the
+request belongs to an authenticated user. Authorization metadata may
+also have been attached to the request. Later stage handlers use the
+authentication/authorization metadata to make decisions as to whether
+the operations in the request can be satisfied.
+
+When a request is fielded by a traditional web server with CGI (Common
+Gateway Interface, RFC 3875) the request metadata is passed via CGI
+meta-variables. CGI meta-variables are often implemented as environment
+variables, but in practical terms CGI metadata is really just a set of
+name/value pairs a later stage (i.e. CGI script, servlet, etc.) can
+reference to learn information about the request.
+
+The CGI meta-variables REMOTE_USER and AUTH_TYPE relate to
+authentication. REMOTE_USER is the identity of the authenticated user
+and AUTH_TYPE is the authentication mechanism that was used to
+authenticate the user.
+
+**If a later stage request handler sees REMOTE_USER and AUTH_TYPE as
+non-null values it assumes the user is fully authenticated! Therefore
+is it essential REMOTE_USER and AUTH_TYPE can only enter the request
+pipeline via a trusted source.**
+
+The Proxy Problem
+=================
+
+In a traditional monolithic web server the CGI meta-variables are
+created and managed by the web server, which then passes them to CGI
+scripts and executables in a very controlled environment where they
+execute in the context of the web server. Forgery of CGI
+meta-variables is generally not possible unless the web server has
+been compromised in some fashion.
+
+However in our configuration the Apache web server acts as an identity
+processor, which then forwards (i.e. proxies) the request to the Java
+EE container (i.e Tomcat, Jetty, etc.). One could think of the Java
+EE container as just another CGI script which receives CGI
+meta-variables provided by the Apache web server. Where this analogy
+breaks down is how Apache invokes the CGI script. Instead of forking a
+child process where the child's environment and input/output pipes are
+carefully controlled by Apache the request along with its additional
+metadata is forwarded over a transport (typically TCP/IP) to another
+process, the proxy, which listens on socket.
+
+The proxy (in this case the Java EE container) reads the request and
+the attached metadata and acts upon it. If the request read by the
+proxy contains the REMOTE_USER and AUTH_TYPE CGI meta-variables the
+proxy will consider the request **fully authenticated!**. Therefore
+when the Java EE container is configured as a proxy it is
+**essential** it only reads requests from a **trusted** Apache web
+server. If any other client aside from the trusted Apache web server
+is permitted to connect to the Java EE container that client could
+present forged REMOTE_USER and AUTH_TYPE meta-variables, which would be
+automatically accepted as valid thus opening a huge security hole.
+
+
+Possible Approaches to Lock Down a Proxy Channel
+================================================
+
+Tomcat Valves
+-------------
+
+You can use a `Tomcat Remote Address Valve`_ valve to filter by IP or
+hostname to only allow a subset of machines to connect. This can be
+configured at the Engine, Host, or Context level in the
+conf/server.xml by adding something like the following:
+
+::
+
+ <!-- allow only LAN IPs to connect -->
+ <Valve className="org.apache.catalina.valves.RemoteAddrValve"
+ allow="192.168.1.*">
+ </Valve>
+
+The problem with valves is they are a Tomcat only concept, the
+``RemoteAddrValve`` only checks addresses, not port numbers (although
+it should be easy to add port checking) and they don't offer anything
+better than what is described in `Locking Down the Apache to Java EE
+Container Channel`_, which is not container specific. Servlet filters
+are always available regardless of the container the servlet is
+running in. A filter can check both the address and port number and
+refuse to operate on the request if the address and port are not known to
+be a trusted authentication proxy. Also note that if the Java EE
+Container is configured to accept connections other than from the
+trusted HTTP proxy server (a very likely scenario) then filtering at
+the connector level is not sufficient because a servlet which trusts
+``REMOTE_USER`` must be assured the request arrived only on a
+trusted HTTP proxy server connection, not one of the other possible
+connections.
+
+SSL/TLS with client auth
+------------------------
+
+SSL with client authentication is the ultimate way to lock down a HTTP
+Server to Java EE Container proxy connection. SSL with client
+authentication provides authenticity, integrity, and
+confidentiality. However those desirable attributes come at a
+performance cost which may be excessive. Unless a persistent TCP
+connection is established between the HTTP server and the Java EE
+Container a SSL handshake will need to occur on each request being
+proxied, SSL handshakes are expensive. Given that the HTTP server and
+the Java EE Container will likely be deployed on the same compute node
+(or at a minimum on a secure subnet) the advantage of SSL for proxy
+connections may not be warranted because other options are available
+for these configuration scenarios; see `Locking Down the Apache to Java EE
+Container Channel`_. Also note that if the Java EE
+Container is configured to accept connections other than from the
+trusted HTTP proxy server (a very likely scenario), then filtering at
+the connector level is not sufficient because a servlet which trusts
+``REMOTE_USER`` must be assured that the request arrived only on a
+trusted HTTP proxy server connection, not one of the other possible
+connections.
+
+
+Java Security Manager Permissions
+---------------------------------
+
+The Java Security Manager allows you define permissions which are
+checked at run time before code executes.
+``java.net.SocketPermission`` and ``java.net.NetPermission`` would
+appear to offer solutions for restricting which host and port a
+request containing ``REMOTE_USER`` will be trusted. However security
+permissions are applied *after* a request is accepted by a
+connector. They are also more geared towards what connections code can
+subsequently utilize as opposed to what connection a request was
+presented on. Therefore security manager permissions seem to offer little
+value for our purpose. One can simply test to see which host sent the
+proxy request and on what port it arrived on by looking at the
+connection information in the request. Restricting which proxies can
+submit trusted requests is better handled at the level of the
+connector, which unfortunately is a container implementation
+issue. Tomcat and Jetty have different ways of handling connector
+specifications.
+
+AJP requiredSecret
+------------------
+
+The AJP protocol includes an attribute called ``requiredSecret``, which
+can be used to secure the connection between AJP endpoints. When an
+HTTP server sends an AJP proxy request to a Java EE Container it
+embeds in the protocol transmission a string (``requiredSecret``)
+known only to the HTTP server and the Java EE Container. The AJP
+connector on the Java EE Container is configured with the
+``requiredSecret`` value and will reject as unauthorized any AJP
+requests whose ``requiredSecret`` does not match.
+
+There are two problems with `requiredSecret``. First of all it's not
+particularly secure. In fact, it's fundamentally no different than
+sending a cleartext password. If the AJP request is not encrypted it
+means the ``requiredSecret`` will be sent in the clear which is
+probably one of the most egregious security mistakes. If the AJP
+request is transmitted in a manner where the traffic can be sniffed, it
+would be trivial to recover the ``requiredSecret`` and forge a request
+with it. On the other hand encrypting the communication channel
+between the HTTP server and the Java EE Container means using SSL
+which is fairly heavyweight. But more to the point, if one is using
+SSL to encrypt the channel there is a *far better* mechanism to ensure
+the HTTP server is who it claims to be than embedding
+``requiredSecret``. If one is using SSL you might as well use SSL
+client authentication where the HTTP identifies itself via a client
+certificate. SSL client authentication is a very robust authentication
+mechanism. But doing SSL client authentication, or for that matter
+just SSL encryption, for *every* AJP protocol request is prohibitively
+expensive from a performance standpoint.
+
+The second problem with ``requiredSecret`` is that despite being documented
+in a number of places it's not actually implemented in Apache
+``mod_proxy_ajp``. This is detailed in `bug 53098`_. You can set
+``requiredSecret`` in the ``mod_proxy_ajp`` configuration, but it won't
+be included in the wire protocol. There is a patch to implement
+``requiredSecret`` but, it hasn't made it into any shipping version of
+Apache yet. But even if ``requiredSecret`` was implemented it's not
+useful. Also one could construct the equivalent of ``requiredSecret``
+from other AJP attributes and/or an HTTP extension header but those
+would suffer from the same security issues ``requiredSecret`` has,
+therefore it's mostly pointless.
+
+Java EE Container Issues
+========================
+
+Jetty Issues
+------------
+
+Jetty is a Java EE Container which can be used
+as alternative to Tomcat. Jetty is an Eclipse project. Recent versions
+of Jetty have dropped support for AJP; this is described in the
+`Jetty AJP Configuration Guide`_ which states:
+
+ Configuring AJP13 Using mod_jk or mod_proxy_ajp. Support for this
+ feature has been dropped with Jetty 9. If you feel this should be
+ brought back please file a bug.
+
+Eclipse `Bug 387928`_ *Retire jetty-ajp* was opened to track the
+removal of AJP in Jetty and is now closed.
+
+Tomcat Issues
+-------------
+
+You should refer the `Tomcat Security How-To`_ for a full discussion
+of Tomcat security issues.
+
+The tomcatAuthentication attribute is used with the AJP connectors to
+determine if Tomcat should authenticate the user or if authentication
+can be delegated to the reverse proxy that will then pass the
+authenticated username to Tomcat as part of the AJP protocol.
+
+The requiredSecret attribute in AJP connectors configures a shared
+secret between Tomcat and the reverse proxy in front of Tomcat. It is used
+to prevent unauthorized connections over AJP protocol.
+
+Locking Down the Apache to Java EE Container Channel
+====================================================
+
+The recommended approach to lock down the proxy channel is:
+
+ * Run both Apache and the servlet container on the same host.
+
+ * Configure Apache to forward the proxy request on the loopback
+ interface (e.g. 127.0.0.1 also known as ``localhost``). This
+ prohibits any external IP address from connecting, only processes
+ running on the locked down host can communicate over
+ ``localhost``.
+
+ * Reserve one or more ports for communication **exclusively** for
+ proxy communication between Apache and the servlet container. The
+ servlet container may listen on other ports for non-critical
+ non-authenticated requests.
+
+ * The ``ClaimAuthFilter`` that reads the identity metadata **must**
+ assure that requests have arrived only on a **trusted port**. To
+ achieve this the ``FederationConfiguration`` defines the
+ ``secureProxyPorts`` configuration option. ``secureProxyPorts`` is
+ a space delimited list of ports which during deployment the
+ administrator has configured such that they are **exclusively**
+ dedicated for use by the Apache server(s) providing authentication
+ and identity information. These ports are set in the servlet
+ container's ``Connector`` declarations. See `Declaring the
+ Connector Ports for Authentication Proxies`_ for more
+ information).
+
+ * When the ``ClaimAuthFilter`` receives a request, the first thing
+ it does is check the ``ServletRequest.getLocalPort()`` value and
+ verifies it is a member of the ``secureProxyPorts`` configuration
+ option. If the port is a member of ``secureProxyPorts``, it will
+ trust every identity assertion found in the request. If the local
+ port is not a member of ``secureProxyPorts``, a HTTP 401
+ (unauthorized) error status will be returned for the request. A
+ warning message will be logged the first time this occurs.
+
+
+Declaring the Connector Ports for Authentication Proxies
+--------------------------------------------------------
+
+As described in `The Proxy Problem`_ the AAA authentication system
+**must** confirm the request it is processing originated from a *trusted
+HTTP proxy server*. This is accomplished with port isolation.
+
+The administrator deploying a federated AAA solution with SSSD
+identity lookups must declare in the AAA federation configuration
+which ports the proxy requests from the trusted HTTP server will
+arrive on by setting the ``secureProxyPorts`` configuration
+item. These ports **must** only be used for the trusted HTTP proxy
+server. The AAA federation software will not perform authentication
+for any request arriving on a port other than those listed in
+``secureProxyPorts``.
+
+.. figure:: sssd_05.png
+ :align: center
+
+ _`Figure 5.`
+
+``secureProxyPorts`` configuration option is set either in the
+``federation.cfg`` file or in the
+``org.opendaylight.aaa.federation.secureProxyPorts`` bundle
+configuration. ``secureProxyPorts`` is a space-delimited list of port
+numbers on which a trusted HTTP proxy performing authentication
+forwards pre-authenticated requests. For example:
+
+::
+
+ secureProxyPorts=8383
+
+Means a request which arrived on port 8383 is from a trusted HTTP
+proxy server and the value of ``REMOTE_USER`` and other authentication
+metadata in request can be trusted.
+
+########
+Appendix
+########
+
+*****************
+CGI Export Issues
+*****************
+
+Apache processes requests as a series of steps in a pipeline
+fashion. The ordering of these steps is important. Core Apache is
+fairly minimal, most of Apache's features are supplied by loadable
+modules. When a module is loaded it registers a set of *hooks*
+(function pointers) which are to be run at specific stages in the
+Apache request processing pipeline. Thus a module can execute code at
+any of a number of stages in the request pipeline.
+
+The user metadata supplied by Apache is initialized in two distinct
+parts of Apache.
+
+ 1. an authentication module (e.g. mod_auth_kerb)
+ 2. the ``mod_lookup_identity`` module.
+
+After successful authentication the authentication module will set the
+name of the user principal and the mechanism used for authentication
+in the request structure.
+
+ * ``request->user``
+ * ``request->ap_auth_type``
+
+Authentication hooks run early in the request pipeline for the obvious
+reason a request should not be processed if not authenticated. The
+specific authentication module that runs is defined by ``Location``
+directive in the Apache configuration which binds specific
+authentication to specific URL's. The ``mod_lookup_identity`` module
+must run *after* authentication module runs because it depends on
+knowing who the authenticated principal is so it can lookup the data
+on that principal.
+
+When reading ``mod_lookup_identity`` documentation one often sees
+references to the ``REMOTE_USER`` CGI environment variable with the
+implication ``REMOTE_USER`` is how one accesses the name of the
+authenticated principal. This is a bit misleading, ``REMOTE_USER`` is
+a CGI environment variable. CGI environment variables are only set by
+Apache when it believes the request is going to be processed by a CGI
+implementation. In this case ``REMOTE_USER`` is initialized from the
+``request->user`` value.
+
+How is the authenticated principal actually forwarded to our proxy?
+===================================================================
+
+If we are using the AJP proxy protocol the ``mod_proxy_ajp`` module
+when preparing the proxy request will read the value of
+``request->user`` and insert it into the ``SC_A_REMOTE_USER`` AJP
+attribute. On the receiving end ``SC_A_REMOTE_USER`` will be extracted
+from the AJP request and used to populate the value returned
+by``HttpServletRequest.getRemoteUser()``. The exchange of the
+authenticated principal when using AJP is transparent to both the
+sender and receiver, nothing special needs to be done. See
+`Transporting Identity Metadata from Apache to a Java EE Servlet`_
+for details on how metadata can be exchanged with the proxy.
+
+However, if AJP is not being used to proxy the request the
+authenticated principal must be passed through some other mechanism,
+an HTTP extension header is the obvious solution. The Apache
+``mod_headers`` module can be used to add HTTP request headers to the
+proxy request, for example:
+
+::
+
+ RequestHeader set MY_HEADER MY_VALUE
+
+Where does the value MY_VALUE come from? It can be hardcoded into the
+``RequestHeader`` statement or it can reference an existing
+environment variable like this:
+
+::
+
+ RequestHeader set MY_HEADER %{FOOBAR}e
+
+where the notation ``%{FOOBAR}e`` is the contents of the environment
+variable FOOBAR. Thus we might expect we could do this:
+
+::
+
+ RequestHeader set REMOTE_USER %{REMOTE_USER}e
+
+The conundrum is the presumption the ``REMOTE_USER`` environment
+variable has already been set at the time ``mod_headers`` executes the
+``RequestHeader`` statement. Unfortunately this often is not the
+case.
+
+The Apache environment variables ``REMOTE_USER`` and ``AUTH_TYPE`` are
+set by the Apache function ``ap_add_common_vars()`` defined in
+server/util_script.c. ``ap_add_common_vars()`` and is called by the
+following modules:
+
+ * mod_authnz_fcgi
+ * mod_proxy_fcgi
+ * mod_proxy_scgi
+ * mod_isapi
+ * mod_ext_filter
+ * mod_include
+ * mod_cgi
+ * mod_cgid
+
+Apache variables
+================
+
+Apache modules provide access to variables which can be referenced by
+configuration directives. Unfortunately there isn't a lot of
+uniformity to what the variables are and how they're referenced; it
+mostly depends on how a given Apache module was implemented. As you
+might imagine a bit of inconsistent historical cruft has accumulated
+over the years, it can be confusing. The Apache Foundation is trying
+to clean some of this up bringing uniformity to modules by utilizing
+the common ``expr`` (expression) module `ap_expr`_. The idea being modules will
+forgo their home grown expression syntax with its numerous quirks and
+instead expose the common ``expr`` language. However this is a work in
+progress and at the time of this writing only a few modules have acquired
+``expr`` expression support.
+
+Among the existing Apache modules there currently are three different
+sets of variables.
+
+ 1. Server variables.
+ 2. Environment variables.
+ 3. SSL variables.
+
+Server variables (item 1) are names given to internal values. The set
+of names for server variables and what they map to are defined by the
+module implementing the server variable lookup. For example
+``mod_rewrite`` has its own variable lookup implementation.
+
+Environment variables (item 2) are variables *exported* to a
+subprocess. Internally they are stored in
+``request->subprocess_env``. The most common use of environment
+variables exported to a subprocess are the CGI variables.
+
+SSL variables are connection specific values describing the SSL
+connection. The lookup is implemented by ``ssl_var_lookup()``, which
+given a variable name looks in a variety of internal data structures to
+find the matching value.
+
+The important thing to remember is **server variables != environment
+variables**. This can be confusing because they often share the same
+name. For example, there is the server variable ``REMOTE_USER`` and
+there is the environment variable ``REMOTE_USER``. The environment
+variable ``REMOTE_USER`` only exists if some module has called
+``ap_add_common_vars()``. To complicate matters, some modules allow you
+to access *server variables*, other modules allow you to access
+*environment variables* and some modules provide access to both
+*server variables* and *environment variables*.
+
+Coming back to our goal of setting an HTTP extension header to the
+value of ``REMOTE_USER``, we observe that ``mod_headers`` provides the
+needed ``RequestHeader`` operation to set a HTTP header in the
+request. Looking at the documentation for ``RequestHeader`` we see a
+value can be specified with one of the following lookups:
+
+%{VARNAME}e
+ The contents of the environment variable VARNAME.
+
+%{VARNAME}s
+ The contents of the SSL environment variable VARNAME, if mod_ssl is enabled.
+
+But wait! This only gives us access to *environment variables* and the
+``REMOTE_USER`` environment variable is only set if
+``ap_add_common_vars()`` is called by a module **after** an
+authentication module runs! ``ap_add_common_vars()`` is usually only
+invoked if the request is going to be passed to a CGI script. But
+we're not doing CGI; instead we're proxying the request. The
+likelihood the ``REMOTE_USER`` environment variable will be set is
+quite low. See `Setting the REMOTE_USER environment variable`_.
+
+``mod_headers`` is the only way to set a HTTP extension header and
+``mod_headers`` only gives you access to environment variables and the
+``REMOTE_USER`` environment variable is not set. Therefore if we're
+not using AJP and must depend on setting a HTTP extension header for
+``REMOTE_USER``, we have a **serious problem**.
+
+But there is a solution; you can either try the machinations described
+in `Setting the REMOTE_USER environment variable`_ or assure you're
+running at least Apache version 2.4.10. In Apache 2.4.10 the
+``mod_headers`` module added support for `ap_expr`_. `ap_expr`_
+provides access to *server variables* by using the ``%{VARIABLE}``
+notation. `ap_expr`_ also can lookup subprocess environment variables
+and operating system environment variables using its ``reqenv()`` and
+``osenv()`` functions respectively.
+
+Thus the simple solution for exporting the ``REMOTE_USER`` HTTP
+extension header if you're running Apache 2.4.10 or later is:
+
+::
+
+ RequestHeader set X-SSSD-REMOTE_USER expr=%{REMOTE_USER}
+
+The ``expr=%{REMOTE_USER}`` in the above statement says pass
+``%{REMOTE_USER}`` as an expression to `ap_expr`_, evaluate the
+expression and return the value. In this case the expression
+``%{REMOTE_USER}`` is very simple, just the value of the server
+variables ``REMOTE_USER``. Because ``RequestHeader`` runs after
+authentication ``request->user`` will have been set.
+
+Setting the REMOTE_USER environment variable
+============================================
+
+If you do a web search on how to export ``REMOTE_USER`` in a HTTP
+extension header for a proxy you will discover this is a common
+problem that has frustrated a lot of people [2]_. The usual advice seems to
+be to use ``mod_rewrite`` with a look-ahead. In fact this is even
+documented in the `mod_rewrite documentation for REMOTE_USER`_ which says:
+
+ %{LA-U:variable} can be used for look-aheads which perform an
+ internal (URL-based) sub-request to determine the final value of
+ variable. This can be used to access variable for rewriting which is
+ not available at the current stage, but will be set in a later
+ phase.
+
+ For instance, to rewrite according to the REMOTE_USER variable from
+ within the per-server context (httpd.conf file) you must use
+ %{LA-U:REMOTE_USER} - this variable is set by the authorization
+ phases, which come after the URL translation phase (during which
+ mod_rewrite operates).
+
+One suggested solution is this:
+
+::
+
+ RewriteCond %{LA-U:REMOTE_USER} (.+)
+ RewriteRule .* - [E=RU:%1]
+ RequestHeader set X_REMOTE_USER %{RU}e
+
+1. The RewriteCond with the %{LA-U:} construct performs an internal
+ redirect to obtain the value of ``REMOTE_USER`` *server variable*,
+ if that value is non-empty because the (.+) regular expression
+ matched the rewrite condition succeeds and the following
+ RewriteRule executes.
+
+2. The RewriteRule executes, the first parameter is a pattern, the
+ second parameter is the replacement which can be followed by
+ optional flags inside brackets. The .* pattern is a regular
+ expression that matches anything, the - replacement is a special
+ value which indicates no replacement is to be performed. In other
+ words the pattern and replacement are no-ops and the RewriteRule is
+ just being used for it's side effect defined in the flags. The
+ E=NAME:VALUE notation says set the NAME environment variable to
+ VALUE. In this case the environment variable is RU and the value is
+ %1. The documentation for RewriteRule tells us that %N are
+ back-references to the last matched RewriteCond pattern, in this
+ case it's the value of ``REMOTE_USER``.
+
+3. Finally ``RequestHeader`` sets the request header
+ ``X_REMOTE_USER`` to the value of the ``RU`` environment variable.
+
+Another suggested solution is this:
+
+::
+
+ RewriteRule .* - [E=REMOTE_USER:%{LA-U:REMOTE_USER}]
+
+The Problem with mod_rewrite lookahead
+--------------------------------------
+
+I **do not recommend** using mod_rewrite's lookahead to gain access to
+authentication data values. Although the above suggestions will work
+to get access to ``REMOTE_USER`` it is *extremely inefficient* because
+it causes Apache to reprocess the request with an internal
+redirect. The documentation suggests a lookahead reference will cause
+one internal redirect. However from examining Apache debug logs the
+``mod_rewite`` lookahead caused ``mod_lookup_identity`` to be invoked
+**11 times** while handling one request. If the ``mod_rewrite``
+lookahead is removed and another technique is used to get access to
+``REMOTE_USER`` then ``mod_lookup_identity`` is invoked exactly once
+as expected.
+
+But it's not just ``REMOTE_USER`` which we need access to, we also need
+to reference ``AUTH_TYPE`` which has the identical issues associated
+with ``REMOTE_USER``. If an equivalent ``mod_rewrite`` block is added
+to the configuration for ``AUTH_TYPE`` so that both ``REMOTE_USER``
+and ``auth_type`` are resolved using a lookahead Apache appears to go
+into an infinite loop and the request stalls.
+
+I tried to debug what was occurring when Apache was configured this way
+and why it seemed to be executing the same code over and over but I
+was not able to figure it out. My conclusion is **using mod_rewrite
+lookahead's is not a viable solution!** Other web posts also make
+reference to the inefficiency but they seem to be unaware of just how
+bad it is.
+
+.. [1]
+ Tomcat has a bug/feature, not all attributes are enumerated by
+ getAttributeNames() therefore getAttributeNames() cannot be used to
+ obtain the full set of attributes. However if you know the name of
+ the attribute a priori you can call getAttribute() and obtain the
+ value. Therefore we maintain a list of attribute names
+ (httpAttributes) which will be used to call getAttribute() with so we
+ don't miss essential attributes.
+
+ This is the Tomcat bug, note it is marked WONTFIX. Bug 25363 -
+ request.getAttributeNames() not working properly Status: RESOLVED
+ WONTFIX https://issues.apache.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=25363
+
+ The solution adopted by Tomcat is to document the behavior in the
+ "The Apache Tomcat Connector - Reference Guide" under the JkEnvVar
+ property where is says:
+
+ You can retrieve the variables on Tomcat as request attributes via
+ request.getAttribute(attributeName). Note that the variables send via
+ JkEnvVar will not be listed in request.getAttributeNames().
+
+.. [2]
+ Some examples of posts concerning the export of ``REMOTE_USER`` include:
+ http://www.jaddog.org/2010/03/22/how-to-proxy-pass-remote_user/ and
+ http://serverfault.com/questions/23273/apache-proxy-passing-on-remote-user-to-backend-server/
+
+.. [3]
+ The ``mod_lookup_identity`` ``LookupUserGroups`` option accepts an
+ optional parameter to specify the separator used to separate group
+ names. By convention this is normally the colon (:) character. In
+ our examples we explicitly specify the colon separator because the
+ mapping rules split the value found in ``REMOTE_USER_GROUPS`` on
+ the colon character.
+
+.. [4]
+ The example of using the `The Mapping Rule Processor`_ to establish
+ the set of roles assigned to a user based on group membership is
+ for illustrative purposes in order to show features of the
+ federated IdP and mapping mechanism. Role assignment in AAA may be
+ done in other ways. For example an unscoped token without roles can
+ be used to acquire a scoped token with roles by presenting it to
+ the appropriate REST API endpoint. In actual deployments this may
+ be preferable because it places the responsibility of deciding who
+ has what role/permission on what part of the controller/network
+ resources more in the hands of the SDN controller administrator
+ than the IdP administrator.
+
+.. _FreeIPA: http://www.freeipa.org/
+
+.. _SSSD: https://fedorahosted.org/sssd/
+
+.. _mod_identity_lookup: http://www.adelton.com/apache/mod_lookup_identity/
+
+.. _AJP: http://tomcat.apache.org/connectors-doc/ajp/ajpv13a.html
+
+.. _Tomcat Security How-To: http://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-7.0-doc/security-howto.html
+
+.. _The Apache Tomcat Connector - Generic HowTo: http://tomcat.apache.org/connectors-doc/generic_howto/printer/proxy.html
+
+.. _CGI RFC: http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3875
+
+.. _ap_expr: http://httpd.apache.org/docs/current/expr.html
+
+.. _mod_rewrite documentation for REMOTE_USER: http://httpd.apache.org/docs/current/mod/mod_rewrite.html#rewritecond
+
+.. _bug 53098: https://issues.apache.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=53098
+
+.. _Jetty AJP Configuration Guide: http://wiki.eclipse.org/Jetty/Howto/Configure_AJP13
+
+.. _Bug 387928: https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=387928
+
+.. _Tomcat Remote Address Valve: http://tomcat.apache.org/tomcat-7.0-doc/config/valve.html#Remote_Address_Filter