RFC 7521: Assertion Framework for OAuth 2.0 Client Authentication and Authorization Grants | RFC Editor

Skip to content Primary navigationThe RFC SeriesFor AuthorsAbout UsHomeRFC 7521 View as: Plain Text, Compact HTML Info RFC 7521: Assertion Framework for OAuth 2.0 Client Authentication and Authorization Grantsfederated authenticationJWTMay 2015. B. Campbell, C. Mortimore, M. Jones, Y. GolandProposed StandardSubscribe22 subscribed Add to Set Added to 2 Sets Read aloud This RFC was updated, see RFC 10070.Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) B. Campbell Request for Comments: 7521 Ping Identity Category: Standards Track C. Mortimore ISSN: 2070-1721 Salesforce M. Jones Y. Goland Microsoft May 2015 Assertion Framework for OAuth 2.0 Client Authentication and Authorization Grants Abstract This specification provides a framework for the use of assertions with OAuth 2.0 in the form of a new client authentication mechanism and a new authorization grant type. Mechanisms are specified for transporting assertions during interactions with a token endpoint; general processing rules are also specified. The intent of this specification is to provide a common framework for OAuth 2.0 to interwork with other identity systems using assertions and to provide alternative client authentication mechanisms. Note that this specification only defines abstract message flows and processing rules. In order to be implementable, companion specifications are necessary to provide the corresponding concrete instantiations. Status of This Memo This is an Internet Standards Track document. This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). It represents the consensus of the IETF community. It has received public review and has been approved for publication by the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG). Further information on Internet Standards is available in Section 2 of RFC 5741. Information about the current status of this document, any errata, and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7521. Campbell, et al. Standards Track [Page 1] RFC 7521 OAuth Assertion Framework May 2015 Copyright Notice Copyright (c) 2015 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the document authors. All rights reserved. This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of publication of this document. Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect to this document. Code Components extracted from this document must include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as described in the Simplified BSD License. Table of Contents 1. Introduction ....................................................3 2. Notational Conventions ..........................................4 3. Framework .......................................................4 4. Transporting Assertions .........................................7 4.1. Using Assertions as Authorization Grants ...................7 4.1.1. Error Responses .....................................8 4.2. Using Assertions for Client Authentication .................9 4.2.1. Error Responses ....................................10 5. Assertion Content and Processing ...............................10 5.1. Assertion Metamodel .......................................10 5.2. General Assertion Format and Processing Rules .............12 6. Common Scenarios ...............................................12 6.1. Client Authentication .....................................13 6.2. Client Acting on Behalf of Itself .........................13 6.3. Client Acting on Behalf of a User .........................13 6.3.1. Client Acting on Behalf of an Anonymous User .......14 7. Interoperability Considerations ................................14 8. Security Considerations ........................................15 8.1. Forged Assertion ..........................................15 8.2. Stolen Assertion ..........................................15 8.3. Unauthorized Disclosure of Personal Information ...........16 8.4. Privacy Considerations ....................................17 9. IANA Considerations ............................................17 9.1. "assertion" Parameter Registration ........................17 9.2. "client_assertion" Parameter Registration .................18 9.3. "client_assertion_type" Parameter Registration ............18 10. References ....................................................18 10.1. Normative References .....................................18 10.2. Informative References ...................................18 Acknowledgements ..................................................20 Authors' Addresses ................................................20 Campbell, et al. Standards Track [Page 2] RFC 7521 OAuth Assertion Framework May 2015 1. Introduction An assertion is a package of information that facilitates the sharing of identity and security information across security domains. Section 3 provides a more detailed description of the concept of an assertion for the purpose of this specification. OAuth 2.0 [RFC6749] is an authorization framework that enables a third-party application to obtain limited access to a protected HTTP resource. In OAuth, those third-party applications are called clients; they access protected resources by presenting an access token to the HTTP resource. Access tokens are issued to clients by an authorization server with the (sometimes implicit) approval of the resource owner. These access tokens are typically obtained by exchanging an authorization grant, which represents the authorization granted by the resource owner (or by a privileged administrator). Several authorization grant types are defined to support a wide range of client types and user experiences. OAuth also provides an extensibility mechanism for defining additional grant types, which can serve as a bridge between OAuth