SecureBlackbox 2020 Kotlin Edition

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Authenticator Component

Properties   Methods   Events   Configuration Settings   Errors  

The Authenticator component specializes in user authentication.

Syntax

secureblackbox.Authenticator

Remarks

Authenticator provides capabilities for implementing the authenticating party (as opposed to the one being authenticated) of the authentication protocol.

Authenticator can be used in a variety of authentication scenarios, ranging from simple password checks to complicated multi-factor variants. It also supports authentication via a SBB-own DC protocol, which makes it a good pair for DCAuth control.

In default configuration the component uses the attached database of users to handle authentication requests. The authentication flow can be altered if needed to match specific authentication requirements.

In Authenticator's terms, the authentication process is divided into a sequence of atomic steps. Each step is characterized by a user providing an authentication token - such as a password or PIN - and the authenticator validating that token. Each validation step may result in one of the following outcomes:

  • Authentication succeeded: the authentication has been completed with the positive outcome;
  • Authentication failed: the authentication process has failed, the user didn't provide enough evidence to confirm they are who they claim they are;
  • Further authentication is required: the authentication was partly successful, but the settings of the component or user details require further step(s) to be taken.

Use the following logic when integrating the Authenticator into your project:

  • Whenever you receive an authentication request from a user, call the StartAuth method, passing the UserID as a parameter. This initiates the authentication procedure: the Authenticator control looks up the user in the Users database and picks the first authentication method. It then returns the Further authentication is required result and stores the details of the first authentication step in AuthInfo property. Apart from the information about the authentication method that is to be performed during this step, AuthInfo also contains a STATE> value, which accumulates parameters and progress of the user's authentication flow. You can save the state value on this stage, and restore it later when a response from the user is received. With that in mind, component is stateless; you can save the current authentication state in a database, and return to it from a different context.
  • Now that you have obtained Further authentication needed from StartAuth, it's time to check the AUTHMETHOD> and request the corresponding token from the user. For example, if the method is 'password', you may present the user with a password dialog.
  • Upon receiving a password (or other kind of authentication token) from the user, pass it to the ContinueAuth method, together with the state object that you saved on the preceding step. The component will process the token and come up with one of the three results given above, signifying the end of the first authentication step. If Further authentication is required result is returned, another authentication step needs to be performed (either because a multi-factor authentication is configured for this user, or because an alternative authentication method was chosen following failure of the previous attempt). If that is the case, follow the guidance for StartAuth-initiated step above.

    Depending on the settings, many authentication steps may need to be performed, so your code may ultimately end up calling ContinueAuth many times.

component can be customized to use external user information sources instead of a predefined user database. AuthStart, AuthVerify, and AuthAttemptResult events provide an opportunity for your code to intervene into the authentication process by defining your own authentication procedures and validating authentication tokens manually.

Property List


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

AuthInfoContains details of the current authentication step.
BlockedCertificatesThe certificates that must be rejected as trust anchors.
CertificatesA collection of certificates included in the electronic signature.
ChainValidationDetailsThe details of a certificate chain validation outcome.
ChainValidationResultThe general outcome of a certificate chain validation routine. Use ChainValidationDetails to get information about the reasons that contributed to the validation result.
DefaultAuthMethodsContains the list of default authentication methods.
ExternalCryptoProvides access to external signing and DC parameters.
IgnoreChainValidationErrorsMakes the component tolerant to chain validation errors.
KnownCertificatesAdditional certificates for chain validation.
KnownCRLsAdditional CRLs for chain validation.
KnownOCSPsAdditional OCSP responses for chain validation.
OfflineModeSwitches the component to the offline mode.
ProxyThe proxy server settings.
RevocationCheckSpecifies the kind(s) of revocation check to perform.
SigningCertificateThe certificate to be used for signing.
SocketSettingsManages network connection settings.
TLSSettingsManages TLS layer settings.
TrustedCertificatesA list of trusted certificates for chain validation.
UsersA collection of known users along with their authentication settings.
ValidationLogContains the complete log of the certificate validation routine.
ValidationMomentThe time point at which signature validity is to be established.

Method List


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

ConfigSets or retrieves a configuration setting.
ContinueAuthCall this method to process an authentication token and proceed to the next authentication step.
StartAuthInitiates an authentication process.

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.

AuthAttemptResultReports the outcome of an authentication attempt.
AuthAttemptStartSignifies the start of an authentication attempt.
AuthStartSignifies the start of an authentication process.
AuthVerifyRequests the application to validate an authentication token.
CustomAuthStartReports the beginning of a custom authentication method.
ErrorReports information about errors during authentication.
NotificationThis event notifies the application about an underlying control flow event.

Configuration Settings


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

ForceCompleteChainValidationForTrustedWhether to continue with the full validation up to the root CA certificate for mid-level trust anchors.
IgnoreOCSPNoCheckExtensionWhether OCSP NoCheck extension should be ignored.
IgnoreSystemTrustWhether trusted Windows Certificate Stores should be treated as trusted.
ImplicitlyTrustSelfSignedCertificatesWhether to trust self-signed certificates.
PromoteLongOCSPResponsesWhether long OCSP responses are requested.
TolerateMinorChainIssuesWhether to tolerate minor chain issues.
UseMicrosoftCTLEnables or disables automatic use of Microsoft online certificate trust list.
UseSystemCertificatesEnables or disables the use of the system certificates.
CheckKeyIntegrityBeforeUseEnables or disable private key integrity check before use.
CookieCachingSpecifies whether a cookie cache should be used for HTTP(S) transports.
CookiesGets or sets local cookies for the component (supported for HTTPClient, RESTClient and SOAPClient only).
DefDeriveKeyIterationsSpecifies the default key derivation algorithm iteration count.
EnableClientSideSSLFFDHEEnables or disables finite field DHE key exchange support in TLS clients.
GlobalCookiesGets or sets global cookies for all the HTTP transports.
HttpUserAgentSpecifies the user agent name to be used by all HTTP clients.
LogDestinationSpecifies the debug log destination.
LogDetailsSpecifies the debug log details to dump.
LogFileSpecifies the debug log filename.
LogFiltersSpecifies the debug log filters.
LogFlushModeSpecifies the log flush mode.
LogLevelSpecifies the debug log level.
LogMaxEventCountSpecifies the maximum number of events to cache before further action is taken.
LogRotationModeSpecifies the log rotation mode.
MaxASN1BufferLengthSpecifies the maximal allowed length for ASN.1 primitive tag data.
MaxASN1TreeDepthSpecifies the maximal depth for processed ASN.1 trees.
OCSPHashAlgorithmSpecifies the hash algorithm to be used to identify certificates in OCSP requests.
UseOwnDNSResolverSpecifies whether the client components should use own DNS resolver.
UseSharedSystemStoragesSpecifies whether the validation engine should use a global per-process copy of the system certificate stores.
UseSystemOAEPAndPSSEnforces or disables the use of system-driven RSA OAEP and PSS computations.
UseSystemRandomEnables or disables the use of the OS PRNG.

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SecureBlackbox 2020 Kotlin Edition - Version 20.0 [Build 8063]