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= Passwords and JWT (JSON Web Tokens) usage
== How are set and used passwords and JWT  in Apache OFBiz
The Apache OFBiz Project
Release 18.12

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:title-logo-image: image::OFBiz-Logo.svg[Apache OFBiz Logo, pdfwidth=4.25in, align=center]
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=== Passwords

Demo and seed passwords are stored in files loaded through security ofbiz-component.xml. To know more about that be sure to read:


* https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/OFBIZ/Apache+OFBiz+Technical+Production+Setup+Guide[The technical production setup guide] notably "Initial Data Loading" and "Security Settings" sections
* https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/OFBIZ/How+to+secure+your+deployment[How to secure your deployment]

[CAUTION]
These configuration steps are not to be neglected for the security of a *production environment*

=== JWT usage

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JSON_Web_Token[As says Wikipedia]:
____
JSON Web Token (JWT) is an Internet standard for creating JSON-based access tokens that assert some number of claims.
____


We currently use JWT in 2 places:

. To let users safely recreate passwords (in backend and frontend)
. To allow SSO (Single Sign-on) jumpings from an OFBiz instance to another on another domain, by also using https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-origin_resource_sharing[CORS] (
Cross-origin resource sharing) on the target server


==== How to secure JWT
When you use JWT, in order to sign your tokens, you have the choice of using a sole so called secret key or a pair of public/private keys: https://jwt.io/introduction/.

You might prefer to use pair of public/private keys, for now by default OFBiz uses a simple secret key. Remains the way how to store this secret key. https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/87130/json-web-tokens-how-to-securely-store-the-key[This is an interesting introduction about this question].

. The first idea which comes to mind is to use a property in the security.properties file. It's safe as long as your file system is not compromised.
. You may also pick a SystemProperty entity (overrides the file property). It's safe as long as your DB is not compromised.
. We recommend to not use an environment variable as those can be considered weak:
* http://movingfast.io/articles/environment-variables-considered-harmful
* https://security.stackexchange.com/questions/49725/is-it-really-secure-to-store-api-keys-in-environment-variables
    
. You may want to tie the encryption key to the logged in user. This is used by the password recreation feature. The JWT secret key is salted with a combination of the current logged in user and her/his password. This is a simple and effective safe way.
. Use a https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7519#section-4.1.7[JTI] (JWT ID). A JTI prevents a JWT from being replayed. This https://auth0.com/blog/blacklist-json-web-token-api-keys[auth0 blog article get deeper in that].  The same is kinda achieved with the password recreation feature. When the user log in after the new password creation, the password has already been  changed. So the link (in the sent email) containing the JWT for the creation of the new password can't be reused.
. Tie the encryption key to the hardware. You can refer to this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardware_security_module[Wikipedia page] for more information.
. If you want to get deeper in this get to this https://github.com/OWASP/CheatSheetSeries/blob/master/cheatsheets/Key_Management_Cheat_Sheet.md#user-content-storage[OWASP documentation]

Note: if you want to use a pair of public/private keys you might want to consider  leveraging the Java Key Store that is also used by the "catalina" component to store certificates. Then don't miss to read:

* https://cryptosense.com/blog/mighty-aphrodite-dark-secrets-of-the-java-keystore/
* https://neilmadden.blog/2017/11/17/java-keystores-the-gory-details/

Also remember that like everything a https://www.sjoerdlangkemper.nl/2016/09/28/attacking-jwt-authentication/[JWT can be attacked] and, though not used or tried in OFBiz yet,  https://github.com/auth0/java-jwt#using-a-keyprovider[a good way is to mitigate an attack by using a KeyProvider]. I have created https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/OFBIZ-11187[OFBIZ-11187] for that.

===== Properties

The _security.properties_ file contains five related properties:

    # -- If false, then no externalLoginKey parameters will be added to cross-webapp urls
    security.login.externalLoginKey.enabled=true

    # -- Security key used to encrypt and decrypt the autogenerated password in forgot password functionality.
    login.secret_key_string=login.secret_key_string

    # -- Time To Live of the token send to the external server in seconds, 10 seconds seems plenty enough OOTB. Custom projects might want set a lower value.
    security.jwt.token.expireTime=1800

    # -- Enables the internal Single Sign On feature which allows a token based login between OFBiz instances
    # -- To make this work you also have to configure a secret key with security.token.key
    security.internal.sso.enabled=false

    # -- The secret key for the JWT token signature. Configuration in the SystemProperty entity is recommended for security reasons.
    security.token.key=security.token.key


=== Last but not least
Be sure to read https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/OFBIZ/Keeping+OFBiz+secure[Keeping OFBiz secure]
