reading-notes

Authentication

What is OAuth? What is OAuth?

1. “OAuth is an open-standard authorization protocol or framework that describes how unrelated servers and services can safely allow authenticated access to their assets without actually sharing the initial, related, single logon credential. In authentication parlance, this is known as secure, third-party, user-agent, delegated authorization.”
2. “The simplest example of OAuth is when you go to log onto a website and it offers one or more opportunities to log on using another website’s/service’s logon. You then click on the button linked to the other website, the other website authenticates you, and the website you were originally connecting to logs you on itself afterward using permission gained from the second website.”
3. How it works:
   • The first website connects to the second website on behalf of the user, using OAuth, providing the user’s verified identity.
   • The second site generates a one-time token and a one-time secret unique to the transaction and parties involved.
   • The first site gives this token and secret to the initiating user’s client software.
   • The client’s software presents the request token and secret to their authorization provider (which may or may not be the second site).
   • If not already authenticated to the authorization provider, the client may be asked to authenticate. After authentication, the client is asked to approve the authorization transaction to the second website.
   • The user approves (or their software silently approves) a particular transaction type at the first website.
   • The user is given an approved access token (notice it’s no longer a request token).
   • The user gives the approved access token to the first website.
   • The first website gives the access token to the second website as proof of authentication on behalf of the user.
   • The second website lets the first website access their site on behalf of the user.
   • The user sees a successfully completed transaction occurring.
   • OAuth is not the first authentication/authorization system to work this way on behalf of the end-user. In fact, many authentication systems, notably Kerberos, work similarly. What is special about OAuth is its ability to work across the web and its wide adoption. It succeeded with adoption rates where previous attempts failed (for various reasons).
4. Open ID is for us to use to sign in personally not other sites doing it for us

Authorization and Authentication flows

Authorization and Authentication flows

1. Authorization is saying you are this “public identity” authentication is proving that.
2. Authorization code flow is for apps that are more server side based thats code is mostly hidden from the public
3. Authorization Code Flow with Proof Key for Code Exchange (PKCE) is the same as before but has an extra secret key to allow only certain people in.
4. For more open source content Implicit Flow with Form Post allows for only needing an ID token
5. Client Credentials Flow authenticated and authorizes teh app instead of the user
6. Device Authorization Flow asks a user to go to a link on the internet to verify
7. Resource Owner Password Flow is simple username and password.