JWS Component

Properties Methods Events Configuration Settings Errors

Create, Sign and Verify JSON Web Signatures (JWS).

Syntax

TipcJWS

Remarks

The JWS component supports signing and verifying JSON Web Signatures (JWS).

Specify any payload via input properties and use Sign to create a JWS message using a variety of algorithms including HMAC, RSA, and ECDSA. Use Verify to verify the signature of any received JWS message. The following algorithms are supported:

HS256
HS384
HS512
RS256
RS384
RS512
PS256
PS384
PS512
ES256
ES384
ES512
None

See Algorithm for more details about supported algorithms.

Signing

The Sign method may be used to sign a payload with a variety of algorithms. Before calling the Sign method set Algorithm to the algorithm which will be used to sign the message. The result of signing is a compact serialized JWS string. For instance:

eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.dGVzdA.o_JihJlCwvBO1AgY_Ao3_VBivdFmj3ufv3ZWAqYF4Ow

The component is agnostic of the payload that is signed. Any value may be signed. KeyId may be set to include an identifier to help the receiving party identify the key used to sign the message. The following properties are applicable when calling this method:

Algorithm (required)
Certificate (conditional - required for ECDSA and RSA)
Key (conditional - required for HMAC)
HeaderParams
KeyId
Overwrite

Input and Output Properties

The component will determine the source and destination of the input and output based on which properties are set.

The order in which the input properties are checked is as follows:

When a valid source is found the search stops. The order in which the output properties are checked is as follows:

SetOutputStream
OutputFile
OutputMessage: The output data is written to this property if no other destination is specified.

When using streams you may need to additionally set CloseInputStreamAfterProcessing or CloseOutputStreamAfterProcessing.

Notes for HMAC Algorithms (HS256, HS384, HS512)

When Algorithm is set to a HMAC algorithm Key must be set to a key of appropriate length for the algorithm. The Key should be the same number of bits as the algorithm being used. For instance a 256 bit key would be used for HS256.

The example code below uses the EzRand component to generate a key, but the key may be created using any means. The key must be known by both parties in order for signing and verification to take place.

//Generate a 256 bit (32 byte) key
Ezrand ezrand = new Ezrand();
ezrand.RandBytesLength = 32;
ezrand.GetNextBytes();
byte[] key = ezrand.RandBytesB;

//Sign the payload using HS256
Jws jws = new Jws();
jws.Algorithm = JwsAlgorithms.jwsHS256;
jws.InputMessage = "test data";
jws.KeyB = key;
jws.Sign();

string signedData = jws.OutputMessage;

To use an existing HMAC key provide the bytes to the Key property. For instance:

//HMAC SHA-256 Key
byte[] key = new byte[] { 170, 171, 221, 209, 7, 181, 48, 178, 48, 118, 242, 132, 36, 218, 74, 140, 216, 165, 161, 70, 11, 42, 246, 205, 235, 231, 19, 48, 87, 141, 122, 10 };

//Sign the payload using HS256
Jws jws = new Jws();
jws.Algorithm = JwsAlgorithms.jwsHS256;
jws.InputMessage = "test data";
jws.KeyB = key;
jws.Sign();

string signedData = jws.OutputMessage;

Notes for RSA Algorithms (RS256, RS384, RS512, PS256, PS384, PS512)

The RSA based algorithms use asymmetric encryption. Signing is done with a private key and verification is done with a public key. The private key may be in PFX or PEM format.

Jws jws = new Jws();
jws.Algorithm = JwsAlgorithms.jwsRS256;
jws.Certificate = new Certificate(CertStoreTypes.cstPFXFile, "..\\jwt.pfx", "test", "*");
jws.InputMessage = "test";
jws.Sign();

string signedMessage = jws.OutputMessage;

Notes for ECDSA Algorithms (ES256, ES384, ES512)

ECDSA algorithms require a valid ECC private key to sign. The ECC component can be used to create or import an ECC key into the Certificate format accepted by the JWS component.

//Create an ECC key with SHA-256
Ecc ecc = new Ecc();
ecc.HashAlgorithm = EccHashAlgorithms.ehaSHA256;
ecc.CreateKey();

string privKey = ecc.Key.PrivateKey;

//Sign the payload using ES256
Jws jws = new Jws();
jws.Algorithm = JwsAlgorithms.jwsES256;
jws.Certificate = new Certificate(CertStoreTypes.cstPEMKeyBlob, privKey, "", "*");
jws.InputMessage = "test";
jws.Sign();

string signedMessage = jws.OutputMessage;

To use an existing ECC Key populate the Rx, Ry, and K values of Key property in the ECC component first. For instance:

//Import an existing ECC private key
Ecc ecc = new Ecc();

byte[] x_bytes = new byte[] { 171, 170, 196, 151, 94, 196, 231, 12, 128, 232, 17, 61, 45, 105, 41, 209, 192, 187, 112, 242, 110, 178, 95, 240, 36, 55, 83, 171, 190, 176, 78, 13 };
byte[] y_bytes = new byte[] { 197, 75, 134, 245, 245, 28, 199, 9, 7, 117, 1, 54, 49, 178, 135, 252, 62, 89, 35, 180, 117, 80, 231, 23, 110, 250, 28, 124, 219, 253, 224, 156 };
byte[] k_bytes = new byte[] { 81, 65, 201, 24, 235, 249, 162, 148, 169, 150, 109, 181, 61, 238, 145, 122, 31, 30, 151, 94, 239, 90, 222, 217, 63, 103, 54, 2, 176, 232, 248, 168 };

ecc.Key.RxB = x_bytes;
ecc.Key.RyB = y_bytes;
ecc.Key.KB = k_bytes;

string privKey = ecc.Key.PrivateKey;

//Sign the payload using ES256
Jws jws = new Jws();
jws.Algorithm = JwsAlgorithms.jwsES256;
jws.Certificate = new Certificate(CertStoreTypes.cstPEMKeyBlob, privKey, "", "*");
jws.InputMessage = "test";
jws.Sign();

string signedMessage = jws.OutputMessage;

Notes for Unsecured (none)

To create a JWS token without any security set Algorithm to jwsNone.

Jws jws = new Jws();
jws.Algorithm = JwsAlgorithms.jwsNone;
jws.InputMessage = "test";
jws.Sign();

string unsecuredMessage = jws.OutputMessage;

Signature Verification

The Verify method may be used to verify a received JWS message. Before calling the Verify method set InputMessage or InputFile to a valid compact serialized JWS string. For instance:

eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.dGVzdA.o_JihJlCwvBO1AgY_Ao3_VBivdFmj3ufv3ZWAqYF4Ow

Key or Certificate should be set to the HMAC key or public certificate respectively. If the correct Key or Certificate is not known ahead of time the KeyId parameter of the SignerInfo event may be used to identify the correct key.

If this method returns without error verification was successful. If verification fails then this method raises an exception. After calling this method the payload will be present in the OutputMessage or file specified by OutputFile and the Header* properties will contain the headers. Headers of the parsed message are also available through the HeaderParam event.

The following properties are applicable when calling this method:

Key (conditional - required for HMAC)
Certificate (conditional - required for ECDSA and RSA)
Algorithm (only if StrictValidation is True)
Overwrite
StrictValidation

Input and Output Properties

The component will determine the source and destination of the input and output based on which properties are set.

The order in which the input properties are checked is as follows:

When a valid source is found the search stops. The order in which the output properties are checked is as follows:

SetOutputStream
OutputFile
OutputMessage: The output data is written to this property if no other destination is specified.

When using streams you may need to additionally set CloseInputStreamAfterProcessing or CloseOutputStreamAfterProcessing.

Notes for HMAC Algorithms (HS256, HS384, HS512)

When verifying a message originally signed with a HMAC algorithm Key must be set to the same key used during signing. The key must be known by both parties in order for signing and verification to take place.

byte[] key = new byte[] { 170, 171, 221, 209, 7, 181, 48, 178, 48, 118, 242, 132, 36, 218, 74, 140, 216, 165, 161, 70, 11, 42, 246, 205, 235, 231, 19, 48, 87, 141, 122, 10 };

Jws jws = new Jws();
jws.KeyB = key;
jws.InputMessage = signedData;
jws.Verify();

string verifiedPayload = jws.OutputMessage;

Notes for RSA Algorithms (RS256, RS384, RS512, PS256, PS384, PS512)

The RSA based algorithms use asymmetric encryption. Signing is done with a private key and verification is done with a public key. The public key is typically in PEM format.

Jws jws = new Jws();
jws.Certificate = new Certificate("..\\jwt.cer"); 
jws.InputMessage = signedData;
jws.Verify();

string verifiedPayload = jws.OutputMessage;

Notes for ECDSA Algorithms (ES256, ES384, ES512)

ECDSA algorithms require a valid ECC public key to verify the message. If the key was originally created with the ECC component the PEM encoded PublicKey may be used directly with the Certificate property. An example PEM encoded public certificate created by the ECC component:

-----BEGIN PUBLIC KEY----- MIIBMjCB7AYHKoZIzj0CATCB4AIBATAsBgcqhkjOPQEBAiEA/////wAAAAEAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAD///////////////8wRAQg/////wAAAAEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD///////////////wEIFrG NdiqOpPns+u9VXaYhrxlHQawzFOw9jvOPD4n0mBLBEEEaxfR8uEsQkf4vOblY6RA8ncDfYEt 6zOg9KE5RdiYwpZP40Li/hp/m47n60p8D54WK84zV2sxXs7LtkBoN79R9QIhAP////8AAAAA //////////+85vqtpxeehPO5ysL8YyVRAgEBA0EEIC5rbLp11Mnz6cBXLLriaDIov3rm8RAY x/OR0bOKiff0cQy+sLVaxjseqFk/+Xvl4ORSv5Z6HdHv5GyEpA0UoA== -----END PUBLIC KEY-----

Jws jws = new Jws();
jws.Certificate = new Certificate(CertStoreTypes.cstPublicKeyFile, pubKey, "", "*");
jws.InputMessage = signedData;
jws.Verify();

string verifiedPayload = jws.OutputMessage;

To use an ECC public key created by other means the ECC component may be used to import the key parameters. Populate the Rx and Ry of the ECC component first to obtain the PEM formatted public key. For instance:

//Import an existing ECC public key
Ecc ecc = new Ecc();

byte[] x_bytes = new byte[] { 171, 170, 196, 151, 94, 196, 231, 12, 128, 232, 17, 61, 45, 105, 41, 209, 192, 187, 112, 242, 110, 178, 95, 240, 36, 55, 83, 171, 190, 176, 78, 13 };
byte[] y_bytes = new byte[] { 197, 75, 134, 245, 245, 28, 199, 9, 7, 117, 1, 54, 49, 178, 135, 252, 62, 89, 35, 180, 117, 80, 231, 23, 110, 250, 28, 124, 219, 253, 224, 156 };

ecc.Key.RxB = x_bytes;
ecc.Key.RyB = y_bytes;

string pubKey = ecc.Key.PublicKey;

Jws jws = new Jws();
jws.Certificate = new Certificate(CertStoreTypes.cstPublicKeyFile, pubKey, "", "*");
jws.InputMessage = signedData;
jws.Verify();

string verifiedPayload = jws.OutputMessage;

Notes for Unsecured (none)

To parse a JWS token without any security call the Sign method without setting Key or Certificate.

Jws jws = new Jws();
jws.InputMessage = signedData;
jws.Verify();

string unsecuredPayload = jws.OutputMessage;

Other Functionality

In addition to standard signing and verifying the component also supports a variety of other features including:

Adding custom header parameters with AddHeaderParam
Enforcing algorithm restrictions when verifying by setting StrictValidation
Inspect the JWS without verifying by calling Parse

Property List

The following is the full list of the properties of the component with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.


Algorithm	The algorithm used when signing.
CertEncoded	The certificate (PEM/base64 encoded).
CertStore	The name of the certificate store for the client certificate.
CertStorePassword	If the certificate store is of a type that requires a password, this property is used to specify that password in order to open the certificate store.
CertStoreType	The type of certificate store for this certificate.
CertSubject	The subject of the certificate used for client authentication.
HeaderParams	The JOSE header parameters.
InputFile	The file to process.
InputMessage	The message to process.
Key	The secret key for the hash algorithm.
KeyId	The Id of the key used to sign the message.
OutputFile	The output file when encrypting or decrypting.
OutputMessage	The output message after processing.
Overwrite	Indicates whether or not the component should overwrite files.

Method List

The following is the full list of the methods of the component with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.


AddHeaderParam	Adds additional header parameters.
Config	Sets or retrieves a configuration setting.
Parse	Parses the compact serialized JWS string.
Reset	Resets the component.
SetInputStream	Sets the stream from which the component will read data.
SetOutputStream	Sets the stream to which the component will write data.
Sign	Signs the payload with the specified algorithm.
Verify	Verifies the signature of the JWS token.

Event List

The following is the full list of the events fired by the component with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.


Error	Information about errors during data delivery.
HeaderParam	Fires once for each JOSE header parameter.
SignerInfo	Fires with information about the signature.

Configuration Settings

The following is a list of configuration settings for the component with short descriptions. Click on the links for further details.


AllowedSigningAlgorithms	Allowed signing algorithms when StrictValidation is set to True.
IncludeCertificateFormat	The certificate values to include in the signed message (if any).
IssuerCerts	A collection of issuer certificates used with IncludeCertificateFormat.
KeyEncoding	The encoding of the Key value.
RawHeader	Holds the raw JOSE header.
SerializationType	Determines the serialization type to use when reading and writing JWS content.
StrictValidation	Requires a specific algorithm when verifying signatures.
BuildInfo	Information about the product's build.
CodePage	The system code page used for Unicode to Multibyte translations.
LicenseInfo	Information about the current license.
UseInternalSecurityAPI	Tells the component whether or not to use the system security libraries or an internal implementation.

IPWorks Encrypt 2020 Delphi Edition