An Illustrated Guide to OAuth and OpenID Connect
Summary
TLDRThis video script simplifies the complexities of OAuth and OpenID Connect, two crucial standards for secure data sharing between applications. It explains OAuth 2.0 as a security protocol that allows apps to access user data without passwords, using a key-based authorization process. The script then introduces OpenID Connect as an extension of OAuth, adding user authentication and identity information to the data access capabilities. Through an engaging example of a pun-sharing website, it illustrates the OAuth flow, terminology, and the benefits of using these standards for both users and developers.
Takeaways
- đ OAuth 2.0 is a security standard that allows one application to access data in another application without sharing your username and password.
- đ The OAuth flow includes steps for granting permission or consent, often referred to as authorization or delegated authorization.
- đ€ The key roles in OAuth are the resource owner (you), the client (the application requesting access), the authorization server (where you have an account), and the resource server (the service you want to use).
- đ The authorization code flow is the most common OAuth 2.0 flow, involving a series of steps to securely exchange information between services.
- đ The authorization server issues a temporary authorization code, which the client exchanges for an access token to access the resource server on your behalf.
- đ·ïž Scopes define the specific permissions the client is requesting, such as access to data or the ability to perform certain actions.
- đ OpenID Connect (OIDC) is a layer on top of OAuth 2.0 that adds functionality for authentication and providing profile information about the logged-in person.
- đïž With OIDC, the client receives both an access token and an ID token, with the latter containing claims about the user's identity.
- đ The OIDC flow is similar to OAuth, but with the use of a specific scope and the issuance of an ID token, which includes identity information.
- đ OIDC enables single sign-on (SSO) scenarios, allowing users to log in once and access multiple applications with the same credentials.
Q & A
What is the primary issue with sharing your username and password with other services?
-Sharing your username and password with other services is problematic because there's no guarantee that the organization will keep your credentials safe or that their service won't access more of your personal information than necessary.
What is OAuth 2.0 and how does it improve upon the old method of sharing credentials?
-OAuth 2.0 is a security standard that allows one application to access your data in another application without sharing your username and password. Instead, you give one app a key that grants specific permissions to access your data or perform actions on your behalf.
Can you explain the authorization code flow in OAuth 2.0?
-The authorization code flow is a common OAuth 2.0 flow where the client redirects the user to the authorization server, which then asks for permission. If granted, the authorization server sends a temporary authorization code back to the client, which it exchanges for an access token to access the user's data.
What is the role of the 'resource owner' in OAuth 2.0?
-The resource owner is the entity that owns the identity, data, and any actions that can be performed with their account. In the context of the script, the resource owner is the user who grants or denies access to their data to the client application.
What is the difference between an authorization server and a resource server?
-The authorization server is the service that authenticates the resource owner and issues access tokens to the client. The resource server is the service that holds the protected resources and uses the access token to verify that the client is allowed to access the resource.
What is the purpose of a redirect URI in OAuth 2.0?
-The redirect URI is the endpoint to which the authorization server redirects the resource owner back after they have granted or denied permission. This URI is provided by the client and is used to return the authorization code or access token.
How does OpenID Connect extend the functionality of OAuth 2.0?
-OpenID Connect is a layer that sits on top of OAuth 2.0 and adds functionality for authentication and providing basic profile information about the person who is logged in. It allows clients to verify the identity of the resource owner and obtain information like their name and email address.
What is the significance of the ID token in OpenID Connect?
-The ID token in OpenID Connect is a specially formatted string (JSON Web Token or JWT) that contains claims about the resource owner, such as their ID, name, and authentication information. It provides both authorization and identity information to the client.
What is the concept of Single Sign-On (SSO) and how does OpenID Connect support it?
-Single Sign-On (SSO) is a concept where a user logs in once and gains access to multiple applications without needing to log in again. OpenID Connect supports SSO by allowing clients to establish a login session and gain information about the logged-in user across different applications.
How does the OAuth 2.0 flow differ from the OpenID Connect flow?
-The OAuth 2.0 flow focuses on authorization and accessing data, while the OpenID Connect flow includes the same authorization steps but also provides an ID token with identity information. The key difference is that OIDC uses a specific scope in the initial request to indicate that it will return an ID token along with the access token.
Outlines
đ Introduction to OAuth and OpenID Connect
This paragraph introduces the concepts of OAuth and OpenID Connect, explaining the challenges of understanding their terminology and the conflicting information available. The video aims to simplify these standards using clear illustrations. It starts with the historical practice of sharing information by exchanging usernames and passwords, which is now considered insecure. OAuth 2.0 is introduced as a security standard that allows one application to access data from another without sharing credentials directly. The process of granting permission is called authorization, and the video uses the example of a website called 'Terrible Pun of the Day' to illustrate how OAuth works in practice, including the steps of choosing an email provider, logging in, and granting access to contacts.
đ OAuth Terminology and Flow
This paragraph delves into the specific terms and components of OAuth 2.0. It defines the roles of the resource owner (the user), the client (the application requesting access), the authorization server (the service where the user has an account), and the resource server (the service providing the data or actions). It explains the concept of the redirect URI, response type, scope, and the process of client identification using client ID and client secret. The paragraph also describes the authorization code flow, which involves the client requesting access, the authorization server verifying the user, the user granting permission, and the client receiving an access token to use with the resource server.
đ OpenID Connect Overview
This paragraph introduces OpenID Connect (OIDC) as an extension of OAuth 2.0, focusing on user authentication and providing profile information. It explains that while OAuth is about authorization and granting access, OIDC adds a layer for identifying the user. The paragraph uses the analogy of an ATM to describe how OIDC works, with the ATM being the client, the bank card as the token, and the bank infrastructure as the underlying OAuth framework. The paragraph also discusses the process of OIDC, including the use of an ID token (JWT) that contains identity information about the user, and how the client can request additional identity information using the access token.
đ Wrapping Up OAuth and OIDC
The final paragraph summarizes the key points about OAuth and OIDC, emphasizing their roles in secure data access and user authentication. It mentions that OIDC provides not just a key (access token) but also a badge (ID token) that contains basic user information. The paragraph encourages viewers to explore additional resources for a deeper understanding and invites feedback through likes, subscriptions, and comments. It concludes with a call to action to apply the knowledge gained from the video.
Mindmap
Keywords
đĄOAuth
đĄOpenID Connect
đĄResource Owner
đĄClient
đĄAuthorization Server
đĄResource Server
đĄRedirect URI
đĄScope
đĄAccess Token
đĄID Token
đĄSingle Sign-On (SSO)
Highlights
OAuth and OpenID Connect can be confusing due to their terminology and conflicting information.
In the past, sharing information between services required sharing usernames and passwords, which is insecure.
OAuth 2.0 is a security standard that allows one application to access data in another application without sharing passwords.
OAuth 2.0 uses a key for granting permissions, which can be revoked at any time.
The OAuth flow is a process of granting consent and exchanging information securely between services.
Key OAuth terminology includes resource owner, client, authorization server, and resource server.
The authorization code flow is the most common OAuth 2.0 flow and involves visible and invisible steps.
OpenID Connect is a layer on top of OAuth 2.0 that adds login and profile information functionality.
OpenID Connect enables single sign-on (SSO) across multiple applications.
An identity provider in OpenID Connect provides information about the resource owner back to the client.
The OpenID Connect flow is similar to OAuth, but it includes an ID token in addition to the access token.
The ID token is a JSON web token (JWT) that contains identity information about the user.
Claims within the ID token provide various pieces of information about the user's identity and authentication.
OpenID Connect allows clients to request additional identity information using the access token.
The video aims to simplify understanding of OAuth and OpenID Connect with illustrations and examples.
The example of 'terrible pun of the day' is used to demonstrate the OAuth and OpenID Connect flows.
The video concludes with additional resources for further learning on OAuth and OpenID Connect.
Transcripts
hey have you ever tried to learn about
OAuth and open ID connect but became
overwhelmed by all the strange
terminology and jargon there's also a
lot of conflicting information out there
which can be really frustrating the goal
for this video is to explain how these
standards work using simplified easy to
understand illustrations and I hope we
have a lot of fun let's get started in
the stone-age days of the Internet
sharing information between services was
easy you simply gave your username and
password for one service to another so
they could log into your account and
grab whatever information they wanted
hikes you should never be required to
share your username and password your
credentials to another service there's
no guarantee than our organization will
keep your credential safe or guarantee
their service won't access more of your
personal information than necessary it
might sound crazy but some applications
still try to get away with this today we
have agreed-upon standards to securely
allow one service to access data from
another the first standard we need to
cover is oo-oo-oo auth 2.0 is a security
standard where you give one application
permission to access your data in
another application instead of giving
them your username and password you can
essentially give one app a key that
gives them specific permission to access
your data or do things on your behalf in
another application the steps to grant
permission or consent are often referred
to as authorization or even delegated
authorization you authorize one
application to access your data or use
features in another application on your
behalf without giving them your password
what's more
you can take back that key whenever you
wish awesome as an example let's say
you've discovered a website named
terrible pun of the day and create an
account to have it send an awful pun
joke as a text message every day to your
phone you love it so much you want to
share this site with everyone you've
ever met online
who wouldn't want to read a bad pun
every day am i right however writing an
email to every person in your contacts
list sounds like a lot of work and if
you're like me you'll go to great
lengths to avoid anything that smells
like work so here's you everyone needs
bad puns a good thing terrible pun of
the day has a feature to invite your
friends the first step is to choose your
email provider and when you click on
your email provider you are redirected
to your email service your email service
then checks to see if you are currently
logged in if not you get a prompt to log
in after you log in or if you already
have an active login session you'll be
presented with a question similar to do
you want to give terrible pun of the day
access to your contacts assuming you
haven't changed your mind you click
allow you are redirected back to the
terrible pun of the day and the
application can now read your contacts
and that's the only thing it can do
terrible pun of the day can now send
emails to everyone you know and you'll
be the most popular person forever
ooofff for the win you've just stepped
through what is commonly referred to as
an OAuth flow the OAuth flow in this
example is made of visible steps to
grant consent as well as some invisible
state
we're the two services agree on a secure
way of exchanging information the
previous terrible pun of the day example
uses the most common 2.0 flow known as
the authorization code flow now before
we dive into more details on what oh ah
this' doing let's map some of the oauth
terminologies resource owner that's you
you are the owner of your identity your
data and any actions that can be
performed with your accounts the client
is the application in our example
terrible pun of the day that wants to
access data or perform actions on behalf
of you the resource owner the
authorization server is the application
that knows the resource owner where the
resource owner already has an account
the resource server is the application
programming interface or API or service
the client wants to use on behalf of the
resource owner sometimes the
authorization server and the resource
server are the same server however there
are cases where they will not be the
same server or even part of the same
organization for example the
authorization server might be a third
party service the resource server trusts
the redirect URI this is the URL the
authorization server will redirect the
resource owner back to after granting
permission to the client this is
sometimes referred to as the callback
URL response type the type of
information the client expects to
receive the most common response type is
code where the client expects to receive
an authorization code scope these are
the granular permissions the client
wants such as access
to data or to perform actions consent
the authorization server takes the
Scopes the client is requesting and
verifies with the resource owner whether
or not they want to give the client
permission client ID this ID is used to
identify the client with the
authorization server there's also a
client secret this is a secret password
that only the client and the
authorization server know this allows
them to securely share information
privately behind the scenes
authorization code this is a short-lived
temporary code the authorization server
sends back to the client the client then
privately sends the authorization code
back to the authorization server along
with the client secret in exchange for
an access token an access token is the
key the client will use from that point
forward to communicate with the resource
server this is like a key or a key card
that gives the client permission to
request data or perform actions with the
resource server on your behalf now that
we have some of the OAuth 2.0 vocabulary
handy let's revisit our example with a
closer look at what's going on
throughout the OAuth flow you the
resource owner want to allow a terrible
pun of the day the client to access your
contacts so that they can send
invitations to all your friends the
client redirects your browser to the
authorization server and includes with
the request the client ID redirect URI
response type and one or more scopes it
needs the authorization server verifies
who you are and if necessary prompts for
a login the authorization server then
presents you with a
form based on the Scopes requested by
the client and you have the opportunity
to grant or deny permission the
authorization server redirects back to
the client using the redirect URI along
with a temporary authorization code the
client then contacts the authorization
server directly it does not use the
resource owners browser and securely
sends its client ID client secret and
the authorization code the authorization
server verifies the data and responds
with an access token the access token is
a value the client doesn't understand as
far as the client is concerned the
access token is just a string of
gibberish
however the client can use the access
token to send requests to the resource
server the client is like here's an
access token I would like the contacts
associated with the resource owner of
this token the resource server verifies
the access token and if valid responds
with the contacts requested it's also
important to note that long before you
gave terrible pun of the day permission
to access your contacts the client and
the authorization server established a
working relationship the authorization
server generated a client ID and client
secret sometimes called the app ID and
app secret and gave them to the client
to use for all future
exchanges as the name implies the client
secret must be kept secret so that only
the client and the authorization server
know what it is this is how the
authorization server can verify the
client now let's talk about open ID
Connect
ooofff 2.0 is designed only for
authorization
for granting access to data and features
from one application to another o auth
is like giving an application the client
a key that key is useful but it doesn't
tell the client who you are or anything
about you open ID Connect sometimes
referred to as oh I DC is a thin layer
that sits on top of OAuth 2.0 that adds
functionality around login and profile
information about the person who is
logged in instead of a key o IDC is like
giving the client application a badge
the badge not only gives the client
specific permissions it also provides
some basic information about who you are
where worth
enables authorization from one app to
another o IDC enables a client to
establish a login session often referred
to as authentication as well as to gain
information about the person logged in
the resource owner which is often called
identity when an authorization server
supports oh I DC it is sometimes called
an identity provider since it provides
information about the resource owner
back to the client open ID Connect
enables scenarios where one login can be
used across multiple applications also
known as single sign-on or SSO for
example an application could support SSO
with social networking services such as
Facebook or Twitter so that users can
choose to leverage a login they already
have and are comfortable using one way
you might think of oh I D C is kind of
like using an ATM the ATM machine is the
client it's job is to access data such
as your bank balance
and perform banking transactions such as
withdraw money from an account or
deposit money into an account your bank
card is the token that's issued by the
bank it not only gives the ATM access to
your account the authorization it also
has some basic information about who you
are your identity such as your name and
authentication information such as when
the card expires who issued the card and
the bank's phone number an ATM can't
work without the underlying bank
infrastructure similarly oh I DC sits on
top of OAuth and cannot work without the
underlying oo auth framework let's
revisit our terrible pun of the day
example the open ID connect flow looks
the same as ooofff
the only differences are is in the
initial request a specific scope of open
ID is used this lets the authorization
server know this will be an open ID
Connect exchange the authorization
server goes through all the same steps
as before and issues an authorization
code back to the client using the
resource owners browser the key
difference in OID C is when the client
exchanges the authorization code for an
access token the client receives both an
access token and an ID token as before
the access token is a value the client
doesn't understand the ID token however
is very different the ID token is a
specifically formatted string of
characters known as a JSON web token or
JWT JWT s are sometimes pronounced shots
a JWT may look like gibberish to you and
me but the client can extract
information embedded in the JWT such as
your ID
name when you logged in the ID tokens
expiration and it can tell if anyone has
tried to tamper with the JWT the data
inside the ID token are called claims
with oh I D C there's also a standard
way the client can request additional
identity information from the
authorization server such as your email
address using the access token well
that's it folks that is oo-oo-oo ID c in
a nutshell if you'd like to dig deeper
there are some additional resources
linked in the description below I hope
you found this video helpful please like
subscribe and leave me comments down
below I'd love to hear from you until
next time get out there and be awesome
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