Wiring Up Custom Roles with MVC5 Identity - asp.net-mvc

I'm using ASP.Net Identity with ADFS 2.0 (I think).
Users log in at a separate server, come back to me, I check the ClaimsPrincipal and pull out the userID claim, then use that ID to retrieve the user.
So I'm only using ADFS/claims-based auth to get the user object; after that, I have things like usergroups and roles, but they are custom objects and I manage them in the application rather than using ADFS to manage them.
What I want to know is: How hard is it to use my custom database roles with the out-of-the-box role stuff? Specifically, I want to be able to use the Role("RoleName") attribute on controllers, and wrap some UI elements in User.IsInRole("RoleName") on the views to control user access.
What do I have to do to wire this up?

I'm not aware of any Role attribute. Do you mean Authorize("RoleName") attribute?
Adding a role claim that is compatible with IPrincipal.IsInRole and AuthorizeAttribute as a consequence is very easy. Just add a claim with the type ClaimTypes.Role
//when creating a new identity
var identity = new ClaimsIdentity(new Claim[] {
new Claim(ClaimTypes.Role, "MyRole1"),
new Claim(ClaimTypes.Role, "MyRole2")
});
//add a claim to an identity
identity.AddClaim(new Claim(ClaimTypes.Role, "MyRole3"));
Then in your controller, add the AuthorizeAttribute
Authorize("MyRole1")

Related

Setting up new default Roles in jhipster

How can I set up default roles in jhipster ? (using angularjs and spring).
I explain myself
in the registration page I want to specify the role for the registred user. let's say by a checkbox or a list. (for exemple human and animal )
How can I do that in the angular controller and in spring ?
What I can do now ?
I added the roles I need in the database and in angular and I can specify the roles for the new registred users , only through the Admin's users management page.
There is some work to do, to achieve that, so I will paste just the right parts with some small samples..
In general you must extend the API to become aware of a role selection, so this information can be provided explicitly. Then you change your angularJS frontend as you need.
for the backend
a registration happens by POSTing a ManagedUserVM to /api/account/register, so the first thing is to tell AccountResource.registerAccount(...) to pass a set of of strings (your roles) as additional parameter to userService.createUser
#Timed
public ResponseEntity registerAccount(#Valid #RequestBody ManagedUserVM managedUserVM) {
HttpHeaders textPlainHeaders = new HttpHeaders();
///...
User user = userService
.createUser(managedUserVM.getLogin(),
managedUserVM.getPassword(),
managedUserVM.getFirstName(),
managedUserVM.getLastName(),
managedUserVM.getEmail().toLowerCase(),
managedUserVM.getImageUrl(),
managedUserVM.getLangKey(),
//add authorities here
managedUserVM.getAuthorities()
);
mailService.sendActivationEmail(user);
//...
}
Then in UserService.createUser, you apply the set and add them to the user before saving it, by adding the Set<String> authorities to its parameters and
if (authorities != null) {
Set<Authority> authorities = new HashSet<>();
authorities.forEach(
authority -> authorities.add(authorityRepository.findOne(authority))
);
user.setAuthorities(authorities);
}
and this should be sufficient to pass authorities to /api/register/ and save them. You should be aware of users forbid to register themselves with ADMIN roles, but the security consideration is up to you and not part my answer.
apply to frontend
Knowing your API now can process also authorities, you could just pass them.
You just add some checkbox or selectbox with ng-model="vm.registerAccount.authorities" to src/main/webapp/app/account/register/register.html (if angularJS1) or
[(ngModel)]="registerAccount.authorities" tosrc/main/webapp/app/account/register/register.component.html` (if angular2).
AFAIK this should lead automatically to the angular services passing these authorities/roles to the API.
I hope my brief answer helps you to find the proper places! Feel free to ask in comments if you stuck

Windows Authentication use groupsid claims instead on role claims in IsInRole function

I'm building MVC 5 webapp with Windows Authentication.
Since I have external authorization store, so I want to add some custom claims authentication. I handle the PostAuthenticationRequest event
void Application_PostAuthenticateRequest()
{
if (Request.IsAuthenticated)
{
var id = ClaimsPrincipal.Current.Identities.First();
...
//query authorization store
id.AddClaim(new Claim(ClaimTypes.Role, "SomeRole"));
}
}
Then in controller, I check the IsInRole("SomeRole") , but I found it always return false even the identity have the SomeRole role claim
Then I found out that in Windows Authentication, the IsInRole() is using groupsid claims as role
Instead of add my custom claim to groupsid claim, how can I set the IsInRole function use the standard Role claims?
Look like RoleClaimType is the way to go, but it is readonly I cannot set it.
I don't think you can change the behavior of the WindowsPrincipal.IsInRole method.
What you can do is create a new ClaimsPrincipal from a new ClaimsIdentity, using the claims from the WindowsPrincipal. One of the ClaimsIdentity constructors lets you specify the nameType and roleType.
Having set the new ClaimsPrincipal, your IsInRole calls should work on the specified roleType.

MVC 5 Identity (v2) Authentication Without Creating an Application User

Is there a way to authenticate a session without creating an ApplicationUser in MVC 5 identity?
For various reasons, I ended up using a two layered authentication system. I parse a "user" object from my custom db into session, and in various places all over the site, the existence of this object is how the logged-in status of a user is determined.
I use Identity user stuff (e.g. claims, logins, etc.) at various places of the site. But at this one specific instance, I need to log in an anonymous Identity user and parse whatever user object is requested to the session. So how can I create an anonymously authenticated session with Identity V2?
In Identity you don't need to have user object to authenticate. You could create some claims on the fly and use them to authenticate. Consider this simple example:
[HttpPost]
public ActionResult AnonymousLogin()
{
var ident = new ClaimsIdentity(
new[]
{
// adding following 2 claim just for supporting default antiforgery provider
new Claim(ClaimTypes.NameIdentifier, "AnonymousUserID"),
new Claim("http://schemas.microsoft.com/accesscontrolservice/2010/07/claims/identityprovider", "ASP.NET Identity", "http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string"),
new Claim(ClaimTypes.Name, "AnonymousUserID"),
},
DefaultAuthenticationTypes.ApplicationCookie);
HttpContext.GetOwinContext().Authentication.SignIn(
new AuthenticationProperties { IsPersistent = false }, ident);
return RedirectToAction("MyAction"); // auth succeed
}
Now you have authenticated an anonymous user just like a real user:
[Authorize]
public ActionResult MyAction()
{
// all authorized users could use this method don't matter how have been authenticated
// you have access current user principal
var username=HttpContext.User.Identity.Name;
}

Best Practices for Roles vs. Claims in ASP.NET Identity

I am completely new to the use of claims in ASP.NETIdentity and want to get an idea of best practices in the use of Roles and/or Claims.
After all this reading, I still have questions like...
Q: Do we no longer use Roles?
Q: If so, why are Roles still offered?
Q: Should we only use Claims?
Q: Should we use Roles & Claims together?
My initial thought is that we "should" use them together. I see Claims as sub-categories to the Roles they support.
FOR EXAMPLE:
Role: Accounting
Claims: CanUpdateLedger, CanOnlyReadLedger, CanDeleteFromLedger
Q: Are they intended to be mutually exclusive?
Q: Or is it better to go Claims ONLY and "fully-qualify" you claims?
Q: So what are the best practices here?
EXAMPLE: Using Roles & Claims Together
Of course, you would have to write your own Attribute logic for this...
[Authorize(Roles="Accounting")]
[ClaimAuthorize(Permission="CanUpdateLedger")]
public ActionResult CreateAsset(Asset entity)
{
// Do stuff here
return View();
}
EXAMPLE: Fully-Qualifying Your Claims
[ClaimAuthorize(Permission="Accounting.Ledger.CanUpdate")]
public ActionResult CreateAsset(Asset entity)
{
// Do stuff here
return View();
}
A role is a symbolic category that collects together users who share the same levels of security privileges. Role-based authorization requires first identifying the user, then ascertaining the roles to which the user is assigned, and finally comparing those roles to the roles that are authorized to access a resource.
In contrast, a claim is not group based, rather it is identity based.
from Microsoft documentation:
When an identity is created it may be assigned one or more claims issued by a trusted party. A claim is a name value pair that represents what the subject is, not what the subject can do.
A security check can later determine the right to access a resource based on the value of one or more claims.
You can use both in concert, or use one type in some situations and the other in other situations. It mostly depends on the inter-operation with other systems and your management strategy. For example, it might be easier for a manager to manage a list of users assigned to a role than it is to manage who has a specific Claim assigned. Claims can be very useful in a RESTful scenario where you can assign a claim to a client, and the client can then present the claim for authorization rather than passing the Username and Password for every request.
As #Claies perfectly explained, claims could be a more descriptive and is a deep kind of role. I think about them as your role's ids. I have a gym Id, so I belong to the members role. I am also in the kickboxing lessons, so I have a kickboxing Id claim for them. My application would need the declaration of a new role to fit my membership rights. Instead, I have ids for each group class that I belong to, instead of lots of new membership types. That is why claims fit better for me.
There is a a great explanation video of Barry Dorrans, talking about the advantage of using claims over roles. He also states that roles, are still in .NET for backward compatibility. The video is very informative about the way claims, roles, policies, authorization and authentication works.
Or check a related session shared by Lafi
Having used various authentication and authorisation techniques over decades, my current MVC application uses the following methodology.
Claims are used for all authorisation. Users are assigned one role (multiple roles are possible but I do not need this) - more below.
As is common practice, A ClaimsAuthorize attribute class is used. Since most controller actions are CRUD, I have a routine in the code-first database generation that iterates all controller actions and creates claim types for each controller action attribute of Read/Edit/Create/Delete. E.g. from,
[ClaimsAuthorize("SomeController", "Edit")]
[HttpPost]
For use at in an MVC View, a base controller class presents view bag items
protected override void OnActionExecuting(ActionExecutingContext filterContext)
{
// get user claims
var user = filterContext.HttpContext.User as System.Security.Claims.ClaimsPrincipal;
if (user != null)
{
// Get all user claims on this controller. In this controler base class, [this] still gets the descendant instance type, hence name
List<Claim> claims = user.Claims.Where(c => c.Type == this.GetType().Name).ToList();
// set Viewbag with default authorisations on this controller
ViewBag.ClaimRead = claims.Any(c => c.Value == "Read");
ViewBag.ClaimEdit = claims.Any(c => c.Value == "Edit");
ViewBag.ClaimCreate = claims.Any(c => c.Value == "Create");
ViewBag.ClaimDelete = claims.Any(c => c.Value == "Delete");
}
base.OnActionExecuting(filterContext);
}
For website menus and other non-controller actions, I have other claims. E.g. whether a user can view a particular monetary field.
bool UserHasSpecificClaim(string claimType, string claimValue)
{
// get user claims
var user = this.HttpContext.User as System.Security.Claims.ClaimsPrincipal;
if (user != null)
{
// Get the specific claim if any
return user.Claims.Any(c => c.Type == claimType && c.Value == claimValue);
}
return false;
}
public bool UserHasTradePricesReadClaim
{
get
{
return UserHasSpecificClaim("TradePrices", "Read");
}
}
So where do Roles fit in?
I have a table that links a Role to a (default) set of claims. When setting user authorisation, the default is to give the user the claims of their role. Each user can have more or less claims than the default. To make editing simple, the claims list is show by controller and actions (in a row), with other claims then listed. Buttons are used with a bit of Javascript to select a set of actions to minimise the "clicking" required to select claims. On Save, the users claims are deleted and all of the selected claims are added. The web application loads claims only once, so any changes must prompt a reload within this static data.
Managers can therefore select which claims are in each role and which claims a user has after setting them to a role and those default claims. The system has only a small number of users so managing this data is straightforward
To understand the difference between Roles and Claims you must face the limitation of roles and feel how claims come over these issues, so let me give you 2 scenarios to recognize the power of claims where role can't resolve these issues :
1- Your site has two modules (pages, service ..etc) the first module for children (under 18 years old) the other for adults (over 18 years old)
your user identity has a birthday claim
You need to create a policy on this claim so the authorization for each module will be given on this value and if the age of the user is over 18 years then he can go to the adult module and not before this age.
Role is Boolean data type you can have or not have the role, it doesn't have multi values.
2- Your site has role user and you want to prevent access of users to make some maintenance without changing the code.
In claims, you can create an UnderConstrain policy that if true the user can't view the page give property authorize for role user.
At the time of writing this answer we were at '.NET 5.0' with '.NET 6.0' just around the corner. And this is my understanding of what I've seen:
Q: Do we no longer use Roles?
Yep, you're not supposed to use Roles any longer (at least not the way you did it in the previous frameworks.
Q: If so, why are Roles still offered?
To make upgrading projects easier/faster?
Q: Should we only use Claims?
yes. But be sure to check out the video posted here in the answer by #Jonathan Ramos.
Q: Should we use Roles & Claims together?
No, but you can put a role into a claim ofcourse, but be sure to upgrade your project to use Claims only.
And you should not have to write you're own attributes, you should use policy for that, as it's the way of the newer framework. If you need you're own attributes you're "doing it wrong", just create your own Requirement(handler) that's what the whole 'new' policy is all about.
In the current framework the attribute ClaimAuthorize is not even available anymore.

Extending Azure ACS Claims for MVC Sessions

I am developing an MVC 4 Application to be hosted in Azure and want to use their ACS service for authentication. Once the user is authenticated I will use the resulting claim details to correlate to my local records. Subsequent to that, I would like to extend the claimset to include additional claims that represent local authorizations which my application would use for authorization decisions. I assume I need to replace the Principle but I'm not sure where/when to do this in MVC and want to avoid breaking any of the authentication plumbing which would normally be used throughout the life of the session. Can anyone shed some light on this?
The extensibility point in WIF for enriching the claimset is the ClaimsAuthenticationManager
From the docs:
The claims authentication manager provides an extensibility point in
the RP processing pipeline that you can use to filter, modify, or
inject new claims into the set of claims presented by an
IClaimsPrincipal before the RP application is called.
You can also add rules in ACS to enrich the token with the claims you need.
In addition to what #Eugenio Pace has said, it's worth noting that you can just add and remove claims to and from the IClaimsPrincipal:
public static void UpdateClaims(IClaimsIdentity identity)
{
identity.Claims.Remove(identity.Claims.SingleOrDefault(x => x.ClaimType == ClaimTypes.Name));
identity.Claims.Remove(identity.Claims.SingleOrDefault(x => x.ClaimType == ClaimTypes.Email));
identity.Claims.Add(new Claim(ClaimTypes.Name, "Steve Smith"));
identity.Claims.Add(new Claim(ClaimTypes.Email, "steve#smith.com"));
}
UpdateClaims(User.Identity as IClaimsIdentity);
Claims added can either be one of the types enumerated in ClaimTypes, or a custom string of your own devising. You can add multiple claims of type ClaimTypes.Role - I'm not sure about the other types.
From the ClaimsCollection docs:
Represents a collection of claims associated with a single subject.
Adding a Claim to a ClaimCollection implicitly associates that Claim
with the subject associated with the collection by calling the
SetSubject method.
Removing a Claim from a ClaimCollection implicitly removes this
association by also calling the SetSubject method.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/microsoft.identitymodel.claims.claimcollection.aspx
Update
For .Net 4.5, the identity class and the method for updating claims have changed, as well as the namespace:
using System.IdentityModel;
using System.Security.Claims;
public static void UpdateClaims(Member member, ClaimsIdentity identity)
{
identity.RemoveClaim(identity.Claims.SingleOrDefault(x => x.Type == ClaimTypes.Name));
identity.RemoveClaim(identity.Claims.SingleOrDefault(x => x.Type == ClaimTypes.Email));
identity.AddClaim(new Claim(ClaimTypes.Name, "Steve Smith"));
identity.AddClaim(new Claim(ClaimTypes.Email, "steve#smith.com"));
}
UpdateClaims(User.Identity as ClaimsIdentity);
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.security.claims.claimsidentity.aspx

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