awx/docs/auth/session.md

Introduction

Session-based authentication is the main authentication method, and auth tokens have been replaced by OAuth 2 tokens.

Session authentication is a safer way of utilizing HTTP(S) cookies. Theoretically, the user can provide authentication information, like username and password, as part of the Cookie header, but this method is vulnerable to cookie hijacks, where crackers can see and steal user information from the cookie payload.

Session authentication, on the other hand, sets a single session_id cookie. The session_id is a random string which will be mapped to user authentication informations by server. Crackers who hijack cookies will only get the session_id itself, which does not imply any critical user info, is valid only for a limited time, and can be revoked at any time.

Note: The CSRF token will by default allow HTTP. To increase security, the CSRF_COOKIE_SECURE setting should be set to True.

Usage

In session authentication, users log in using the /api/login/ endpoint. A GET to /api/login/ displays the login page of API browser:

Users should enter correct username and password before clicking on the 'LOG IN' button, which fires a POST to /api/login/ to actually log the user in. The return code of a successful login is 302, meaning upon successful login, the browser will be redirected; the redirected destination is determined by the next form item described below.

It should be noted that the POST body of /api/login/ is not in JSON, but in HTTP form format. Four items should be provided in the form:

• username: The username of the user trying to log in.
• password: The password of the user trying to log in.
• next: The path of the redirect destination, in API browser "/api/" is used.
• csrfmiddlewaretoken: The CSRF token, usually populated by using Django template {% csrf_token %}.

The session_id is provided as a return Set-Cookie header. Here is a typical one:

Set-Cookie: sessionid=lwan8l5ynhrqvps280rg5upp7n3yp6ds; expires=Tue, 21-Nov-2017 16:33:13 GMT; httponly; Max-Age=1209600; Path=/

Any client should follow the standard rules of cookie protocol to parse that header to obtain information about the session, such as session cookie name (session_id), session cookie value, expiration date, duration, etc.

The duration of the cookie is configurable by Tower Configuration setting SESSION_COOKIE_AGE under category authentication. It is an integer denoting the number of seconds the session cookie should live. The default session cookie age is two weeks.

After a valid session is acquired, a client should provide the session_id as a cookie for subsequent requests in order to be authenticated. For example:

Cookie: sessionid=lwan8l5ynhrqvps280rg5upp7n3yp6ds; ...

User should use the /api/logout/ endpoint to log out. In the API browser, a logged-in user can do that by simply clicking logout button on the nav bar. Under the hood, the click issues a GET to /api/logout/. Upon success, the server will invalidate the current session and the response header will indicate for the client to delete the session cookie. The user should no longer try using this invalid session.

The duration of a session is constant. However, a user can extend the expiration date of a valid session by performing session acquire with the session provided.

A Tower configuration setting, SESSIONS_PER_USER under category authentication, is used to set the maximum number of valid sessions a user can have at the same time. For example, if SESSIONS_PER_USER is set to three and the same user is logged in from five different places, the earliest two sessions created will be invalidated. Tower will try broadcasting, via websocket, to all available clients. The websocket message body will contain a list of invalidated sessions. If a client finds its session in that list, it should try logging out.

Unlike tokens, sessions are meant to be short-lived and UI-only; therefore, whenever a user's password is updated, all sessions she owned will be invalidated and deleted.

Acceptance Criteria

• Users should be able to log in via the /api/login/ endpoint by correctly providing all necessary fields.
• Logged-in users should be able to authenticate themselves by providing correct session auth info.
• Logged-in users should be able to log out via /api/logout/.
• The duration of a session cookie should be configurable by SESSION_COOKIE_AGE.
• The maximum number of concurrent login for one user should be configurable by SESSIONS_PER_USER, and over-limit user sessions should be warned by websocket.
• When a user's password is changed, all her sessions should be invalidated and deleted.
• User should not be able to authenticate by HTTPS(S) request nor websocket connection using invalid sessions.
• No existing behavior, like job runs, inventory updates or callback receiver, should be affected by session auth.