OAUTH WG G. Fletcher
Internet-Draft AOL
Intended status: Informational T. Lodderstedt
Expires: April 25, 2013 Deutsche Telekom AG
Z. Zeltsan
Alcatel-Lucent
October 22, 2012
OAuth Use Cases
draft-ietf-oauth-use-cases-03
Abstract
This document lists the OAuth use cases. The provided list is based
on the Internet Drafts of the OAUTH working group and discussions on
the group's mailing list.
Status of this Memo
This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.
Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
Task Force (IETF). Note that other groups may also distribute
working documents as Internet-Drafts. The list of current Internet-
Drafts is at http://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/.
Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."
This Internet-Draft will expire on April 25, 2013.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2012 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
Fletcher, et al. Expires April 25, 2013 [Page 1]
Internet-Draft OAuth Use Cases October 2012
described in the Simplified BSD License.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2. OAuth use cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.1. Web server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.2. User-agent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.3. Native Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.4. In-App-Payment (based on Native Application) . . . . . . . 8
2.5. Device with an input method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.6. Client password (shared secret) credentials . . . . . . . 12
2.7. Assertion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.8. Access token exchange . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.9. Multiple access tokens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.10. Gateway for browser-based VoIP applets . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.11. Signed Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.12. Signature with asymmetric secret . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
3. Authors of the use cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
4. Security considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
5. IANA considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
6. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
7. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
7.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
7.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Fletcher, et al. Expires April 25, 2013 [Page 2]
Internet-Draft OAuth Use Cases October 2012
1. Introduction
This document describes the use cases that have been discussed on the
oauth WG mailing list and introduced by the Internet Drafts submitted
to the group. The selected use cases illustrate the use of the OAuth
flows by the clients of the various profiles and types. The document
also includes those cases that are not directly supported by the
OAuth 2.0 [I-D.ietf-oauth-v2], but were considered during its
development. The document provides a list of the requirements
derived from the use cases. The use cases supported by OAuth 2.0 are
indicated.
The document's objective is to help with understanding of the OAuth
2.0 protocol design.
The following section provides the abbreviated descriptions of the
use cases.
2. OAuth use cases
This section describes the use cases that have been discussed by the
oauth WG.
2.1. Web server
Description:
Alice accesses an application running on a web server at
www.printphotos.example and instructs it to print her photographs
that are stored on a server www.storephotos.example. The application
at www.printphotos.example receives Alice's authorization for
accessing her photographs without learning her authentication
credentials with www.storephotos.example.
Pre-conditions:
o Alice has registered with www.storephotos.example to enable
authentication
o The application at www.printphotos.example has established
authentication credentials with the application at
www.storephotos.example
Post-conditions:
A successful procedure results in the application
www.printphotos.example receiving an authorization code from
Fletcher, et al. Expires April 25, 2013 [Page 3]
Internet-Draft OAuth Use Cases October 2012
www.storephotos.example. The code is bound to the application at
www.printphotos.example and to the callback URL supplied by the
application. The application at www.printphotos.example uses the
authorization code for obtaining an access token from
www.storephotos.example. The application at www.storephotos.example
issues an access token after authenticating the application at
www.printphotos.example and validating the authorization code that it
has submitted. The application at www.printphotos.example uses the
access token for getting access to Alice's photographs at
www.storephotos.example.
Note: When an access token expires, the service at
www.printphotos.example needs to repeat the OAuth procedure for
getting Alice's authorization to access her photographs at
www.storephotos.example. Alternatively, if Alice wants to grant the
application a long lasting access to her resources at
www.storephotos.example, the authorization server associated with
www.storephotos.example may issue the long-living tokens. Those
tokens can be exchanged for short-living access tokens required to
access www.storephotos.example.
Requirements:
o The server www.printphotos.example, which hosts an OAuth client,
must be capable of issuing the HTTP redirect requests to Alice's
user agent - a browser
o Application at www.storephotos.example must be able to
authenticate Alice. The authentication method is not in the OAuth
scope
o Application at www.storephotos.example must obtain Alice's
authorization of the access to her photos by
www.printphotos.example
o Application at www.storephotos.example may identify to Alice the
scope of access that www.printphotos.example has requested while
asking for Alice's authorization
o Application at www.storephotos.example must be able to
authenticate the application at www.printphotos.example and
validate the authorization code before issuing an access token.
The OAuth 2.0 protocol [I-D.ietf-oauth-v2] specifies one
authentication method that MAY be used for such authentication -
Client Password Authentication.
o Application at www.printphotos.example must provide a callback URL
to the application at www.storephotos.example (note: the URL can
Fletcher, et al. Expires April 25, 2013 [Page 4]
Internet-Draft OAuth Use Cases October 2012
be pre-registered with www.storephotos.example)
o Application at www.storephotos.example is required to maintain a
record that associates the authorization code with the application
at www.printphotos.example and the callback URL provided by the
application
o Access tokens are bearer's tokens (they are not associated with a
specific application, such as www.printphotos.example) and should
have a short lifespan
o Application at www.storephotos.example must invalidate the
authorization code after its first use
o Alice's manual involvement in the OAuth authorization procedure
(e.g., entering an URL or a password) should not be required.
(Alice's authentication to www.storephotos.example is not in the
OAuth scope. Her registration with www.storephotos.example is
required as a pre-condition)
Note: OAuth 2.0 supports this use case
2.2. User-agent
Description:
Alice has on her computer a gaming application. She keeps her scores
in a database of a social site at www.fun.example. In order to
upload Alice's scores, the application gets access to the database
with her authorization.
Pre-conditions:
o Alice uses a gaming application implemented in a scripting
language (e.g., JavaScript) that runs in her browser and uses
OAuth for accessing a social site at www.fun.example
o There is no a web site supporting this application and capable of
handling the OAuth flow, so the gaming application needs to update
the database itself
o The application is registered with the social site at
www.fun.example and has an identifier
o Alice has registered with www.fun.example for identification and
authentication
Fletcher, et al. Expires April 25, 2013 [Page 5]
Internet-Draft OAuth Use Cases October 2012
o An auxiliary web server at www.help.example is reachable by
Alice's browser and capable of providing a script that extracts an
access token from an URL's fragment
Post-conditions:
A successful procedure results in Alice's browser receiving an access
token. The access token is received from www.fun.example as a
fragment of a redirection URL of an auxiliary web server
www.help.example. Alice's browser follows the redirection, but
retains the fragment. From the auxiliary web server at
www.help.example Alice's browser downloads a script that extracts
access token from the fragment and makes it available to the gaming
application. The application uses the access token to gain access to
Alice's data at www.fun.example.
Requirements:
o Registration of the application running in the Alice's browser
with the application running on www.fun.example is required for
identification
o Alice's authentication with www.fun.example is required
o Application running at www.fun.example must be able to describe to
Alice the request made by the gaming application running on her
computer and obtain Alice's authorization for or denial of the
requested access
o After obtaining Alice's authorization the application running at
www.fun.example must respond with an access token and redirect
Alice's browser to a web server (e.g., www.help.example) that is
capable of retrieving an access token from an URL
Note: OAuth 2.0 supports this use case
2.3. Native Application
Description:
Alice wants to upload (or download) her photographs to (or from)
storephotos.example using her smartphone. She downloads and installs
a photo app on her smartphone. In order to enable the app to access
her photographs, Alice needs to authorize the app to access the web
site on her behalf. The authorization shall be valid for a prolonged
duration (e.g. several months), so that Alice does not need to
authenticate and authorize access on every execution of the app. It
shall be possible to withdraw the app's authorization both on the
Fletcher, et al. Expires April 25, 2013 [Page 6]
Internet-Draft OAuth Use Cases October 2012
smartphone as well as on the site storephotos.example.
Pre-conditions:
o Alice has installed a (native) photo app application on her
smartphone
o The installed application is registered with the social site at
storephotos.example and has an identifier
o Alice holds an account with storephotos.example
o Authentication and authorization shall be performed in an
interactive, browser-based process. The smartphone's browser is
used for authenticating Alice and for enabling her to authorize
the request by the Mobile App
Post-conditions:
A successful procedure results in Alice's app receiving the access
and refresh tokens. The app obtains the tokens by utilizing the
Authorization Code flow. The application uses the access token to
gain access to Alice's data at storephotos.example. The refresh
tokens are persistently stored on the device for use in subsequent
app executions. If a refresh token exists on app startup, the app
directly uses the refresh token to obtain a new access token.
Requirements:
o Alice's authentication with storephotos.example is required
o Registration of the application running on Alice's smartphone is
required for identification and registration and may be carried
out on a per installation base
o The application at storephotos.example provides a capability to
view and delete the apps' authorizations. This implies that the
different installations of the same app on the different devices
can be distinguished (e.g., by a device name or a telephone
number)
o The app must provide Alice an option to logout. The logout must
result in revocation of the refresh tokens on the authorization
server
Note: OAuth 2.0 supports this use case
Fletcher, et al. Expires April 25, 2013 [Page 7]
Internet-Draft OAuth Use Cases October 2012
2.4. In-App-Payment (based on Native Application)
Description:
Alice has installed on her computer a gaming application (e.g.,
running as native code or as a widget). At some point she wants to
play the next level of the game and needs to purchase an access to
the advanced version of the game from her service provider at
www.sp.example. With Alice's authorization the application accesses
her account at www.sp.example and enables her to make the payment.
Pre-conditions:
o Alice has registered and has an account with her service provider
at www.sp.example
o The application is registered with the service provider at
www.sp.example. This enables the server provider to provide Alice
with all necessary information about the gaming application
(including the information about the purchasing price)
o Alice has a Web user-agent (e.g., a browser or a widget runtime)
installed on her computer
Post-conditions:
A successful procedure results in the gaming application invoking the
user browser and directing it to the authorization server of the
service provider. The HTTP message includes information about the
gaming application's request to access Alice's account. The
authorization server presents to Alice the authentication and
authorization interfaces. The authorization interface shows Alice
the information about the application's request including the
requested charge to her account. After Alice successfully
authenticates and authorizes the request, the authorization server
enables Alice to save the transaction details including the
authorization code issued for the gaming application. Then the
authorization server redirects Alice's browser to a custom scheme URI
(registered with the operating system). This redirection request
contains a one-time authorization code and invokes a special
application that is able to extract the authorization code and
present it to the gaming application. The gaming application
presents the authorization code to the authorization server and
exchanges it for a one-time access token. The gaming application
then uses the access token to get access to Alice's account and post
the charges at www.sp.example.
Requirements:
Fletcher, et al. Expires April 25, 2013 [Page 8]
Internet-Draft OAuth Use Cases October 2012
Note: The focus is on the requirements that are specific to this use
case. The requirements that are common to the native applications
are listed in the preceding use case.
o An authorization server associated with the server at
www.sp.example must be able to provide Alice with information
about the access request that the gaming application has made
(including the amount that is to be charged to her account with
the service provider and the purpose for the charge) over a secure
transport
o An authorization server associated with the server at
www.sp.example must be able to obtain Alice's authorization
decision on the request over a secure transport
o An authorization server associated with the server at
www.sp.example must be able to generate on demand a one-time
authorization code and a one-time access token according to the
scope authorized by Alice
o An authorization server associated with the server at
www.sp.example must be able to call back to the gaming application
with the authorization result over a secure transport
o An authorization server associated with the server at
www.sp.example must enable the gaming application to exchange an
authorization code for an access token over a secure transport
o An authorization server associated with the server at
www.sp.example must verify the authorization code and invalidate
it after its first use
o An authorization server associated with the server at
www.sp.example must enable Alice to save the details of the
requested transaction, including the authorization code
o An authorization server associated with the server at
www.sp.example must keep a record linking the requested
transaction with the authorization code and the respective access
token
o An authorization server associated with the server at
www.sp.example must enable the resource server www.sp.example to
obtain the transaction information that is linked to the issued
access token
o Resource server at www.sp.example must verify access token and
invalidate it after its first use
Fletcher, et al. Expires April 25, 2013 [Page 9]
Internet-Draft OAuth Use Cases October 2012
o A resource server at www.sp.example must enable the gaming
application to post charges to Alice's account according to the
access token presented over a secure transport
o The gaming application must provide a custom scheme URI to the
authorization server associated with www.sp.example (note: it can
be preregistered with the authorization server)
o Alice's manual involvement in the OAuth authorization procedure
(e.g., entering an URL or a password) should not be required.
(Alice's authentication to www.sp.example is not in the OAuth
scope)
Note: OAuth 2.0 does not directly support this use case
2.5. Device with an input method
Description:
Alice has a device, such as a gaming console, that does not support
an easy data-entry method. She also has access to a computer with a
browser. The application running on the Alice's device gets
authorized access to a protected resource (e.g., photographs) stored
on a server at www.storephotos.example
Pre-conditions:
o Alice uses a gaming console, which does not have an easy data-
entry method, for accessing her photographs at
www.storephotos.example
o Alice is able to connect to www.storephotos.example using a
computer that runs a browser
o Auhtorization server associated with www.storephotos.example is
able to generate an authorization code that is suitable for
reading and writing by a human (e.g., an alphanumeric string that
is not too long)
o The gaming device supports input of the characters that can be
found in an authorization code
o Alice has registered with the authorization server associated with
www.storephotos.example for identification and authentication
Post-conditions:
Fletcher, et al. Expires April 25, 2013 [Page 10]
Internet-Draft OAuth Use Cases October 2012
o Alice, interacting with an authorization server associated with
www.storephotos.example, authorizes access to her photographs by
her gaming console. She uses her browser-equipped computer for
OAuth authorization
o The authorization server associated with www.storephotos.example
responds to Alice's authorization by displaying an authorization
code in her browser's window
o Alice enters the displayed code into an input field on the gaming
console
o The gaming console exchanges with the authorization server the
authorization code for an access token
o Alice's gaming console uses the access token to access the
photographs on www.storephotos.example
Requirements:
o Alice's authentication with the authorization server is required
o Alice is required to perform authorization of her gaming console
by interacting with the authorization server associated with
www.storephotos.example. To that end she has to direct her
browser to the authorization server
o After authorizing the access and getting an authorization code
displayed in her browser, Alice has to enter the displayed code
into an input field on the gaming console
o The gaming console should be able to exchange the authorization
code for an access token through interaction with the
authorization server associated with www.storephotos.example
o The URL of the authorization server and the authorization code
must be suitable for manual entry
o The authorization code must be composed of the characters that are
appropriate for input to the gaming console
o Because the authorization code is relatively short and its
character set is limited, the code's lifetime should be configured
appropriately
Note: OAuth 2.0 supports this use case
Fletcher, et al. Expires April 25, 2013 [Page 11]
Internet-Draft OAuth Use Cases October 2012
2.6. Client password (shared secret) credentials
Description:
The company GoodPay prepares the employee payrolls for the company
GoodWork. In order to do that the application at www.GoodPay.example
gets authenticated access to the employees' attendance data stored at
www.GoodWork.example.
Pre-conditions:
o The application at www.GoodPay.example has established through a
registration an identifier and a shared secret with the
application running at www.GoodWork.example
o The scope of the access by the application at www.GoodPay.example
to the data stored at www.GoodWork.example has been defined
Post-conditions:
A successful procedure results in the application at
www.GoodPay.example receiving an access token after authenticating to
the application running at www.GoodWork.example.
Requirements:
o Authentication of the application at www.GoodPay.example to the
application at www.GoodWork.example is required
o The authentication method must be based on the identifier and
shared secret, which the application running at
www.GoodPay.example submits to the application at
www.GoodWork.example in the initial HTTP request
o Because in this use case GoodPay gets access to GoodWork's
sensitive data, GoodWork shall have a pre-established trust with
GoodPay on the security policy and the authorization method's
implementation
Note: OAuth 2.0 supports this use case
2.7. Assertion
Description:
Company GoodPay prepares the employee payrolls for the company
GoodWork. In order to do that the application at www.GoodPay.example
gets authenticated access to the employees' attendance data stored at
Fletcher, et al. Expires April 25, 2013 [Page 12]
Internet-Draft OAuth Use Cases October 2012
www.GoodWork.example.
This use case describes an alternative solution to the one described
by the use case Client password credentials.
Pre-conditions:
o The application at www.GoodPay.example has obtained an
authentication assertion from a party that is trusted by the
application at www.GoodWork.example
o The scope of the access by the application at www.GoodPay.example
to the data stored at www.GoodWork.example has been defined
o The application at www.GoodPay.example has established trust
relationship with the asserting party and is capable of validating
its assertions
Post-conditions:
A successful procedure results in the application at
www.GoodPay.example receiving an access token after authenticating to
the application running at www.GoodWork.example by presenting an
assertion (e.g., SAML assertion).
Requirements:
o Authentication of the application at www.GoodPay.example to the
application at www.GoodWork.example is required
o The application running at www.GoodWork.example must be capable of
validating assertion presented by the application running at
www.GoodPay.example
o Because in this use case GoodPay gets access to GoodWork's
sensitive data, GoodWork shall establish trust with GoodPay on the
security policy and the authorization method's implementation
Note: OAuth 2.0 supports this use case
2.8. Access token exchange
Description:
Alice uses an application running on www.printphotos.example for
printing her photographs that are stored on a server at
www.storephotos.example. The application running on
www.storephotos.example, while serving the request of the application
at www.printphotos.example, discovers that some of the requested
Fletcher, et al. Expires April 25, 2013 [Page 13]
Internet-Draft OAuth Use Cases October 2012
photographs have been moved to www.storephotos1.example. The
application at www.storephotos.example retrieves the missing
photographs from www.storephotos1.example and provides access to all
requested photographs to the application at www.printphotos.example.
The application at www.printphotos.example carries out Alice's
request.
Pre-conditions:
o The application running on www.printphotos.example is capable of
interacting with Alice's browser
o Alice has registered with and can be authenticated by
authorization server
o The applications at www.storephotos.example has registered with
authorization server
o The applications at www.storephotos1.example has registered with
authorization server
o The application at www.printphotos.example has registered with
authorization server
Post-conditions:
A successful procedure results in the application at
www.printphotos.example receiving an access token that allows access
to Alice's photographs. This access token is used for the following
purposes:
o By the application running at www.printphotos.example to get
access to the photographs at www.storephotos.example
o By the application running at www.storephotos.example to obtain
from authorization server another access token that allows it to
retrieve the additional photographs stored at
www.storephotos1.example
As the result, there are two access token issued for two different
applications. The tokens may have different properties (e.g., scope,
permissions, and expiration dates).
Requirements:
o The applications at www.printphotos.example and
www.storephotos.example require different access tokens
Fletcher, et al. Expires April 25, 2013 [Page 14]
Internet-Draft OAuth Use Cases October 2012
o The application at www.printphotos.example is required to provide
its callback URL to the application at www.storephotos.example
o Authentication of the application at www.printphotos.example to
the authorization server is required
o Alice's authentication by the authorization server is required
o The authorization server must be able to describe to Alice the
request of the application at www.printphotos.example and obtain
her authorization (or rejection)
o If Alice has authorized the request, the authorization server must
be able to issue an access token that enables the application at
www.printphotos.example to get access to Alice's photographs at
www.storephotos.example
o The authorization server must be able, based on the access token
presented by the application at www.printphotos.example, to
generate another access token that allows the application at
www.storephotos.example to get access to the photographs at
www.storephotos1.example. In this context the authorization
server must validate the authorization of the application at
www.storephotos.example to obtain the token.
o The application at www.storephotos.example must be able to
validate an access token presented by the application running at
www.printphotos.example
o The application at www.storephotos1.example must be able to
validate the access token presented by the application running at
www.storephotos.example
Note: This use case is indirectly supported by Assertion frmamework
for OAuth 2.0 [I-D.ietf-oauth-assertions] and its extensions SAML 2.0
Bearer Assertion Profiles for OAuth 2.0 [I-D.ietf-oauth-saml2-bearer]
and JSON Web Token (JWT) Bearer Token Profiles for OAuth 2.0
[I-D.ietf-oauth-jwt-bearer]
2.9. Multiple access tokens
Description:
Alice uses a communicator application running on a web server at
www.communicator.example to access her email service at
www.email.example and her voice over IP service at www.voip.example.
Email addresses and telephone numbers are obtained from Alice's
address book at www.contacts.example. Those web sites all rely on
Fletcher, et al. Expires April 25, 2013 [Page 15]
Internet-Draft OAuth Use Cases October 2012
the same authorization server, so the application at
www.communicator.example can receive a single authorization from
Alice for getting access to these three services on her behalf at
once.
The authorization server needs to issue different access tokens for
the involved services due to security and privacy policy. One
typical reason is the use of the symmetric secrets for signing self-
contained access tokens. In this use case, using a particular token
for more than a single service introduces a security risk.
Note: This use case is especially useful for native applications
since a web browser needs to be launched only once.
Pre-conditions:
o The same authorization server serves Alice and all involved
servers
o Alice has registered with the authorization server for
authentication and for authorization of the requests of the
communicator application running at www.communicator.example
o The email application at www.email.example has registered with the
authorization server for authentication
o The VoIP application at www.voip.example has registered with the
authorization server for authentication
o The address book at www.contacts.example has registered with the
authorization server for authentication
Post-conditions:
A successful procedure results in the application at
www.communicator.example receiving three different access tokens: one
for accessing the email service at www.email.example, one for
accessing the contacts at www.contacts.example, and one for accessing
the VoIP service at www.voip.example.
Requirements:
o The application running at www.communicator.example must be
authenticated by the authorization server
o Alice must be authenticated by the authorization server
o The application running at www.communicator.example must be able
to get a single Alice's authorization for access to the multiple
Fletcher, et al. Expires April 25, 2013 [Page 16]
Internet-Draft OAuth Use Cases October 2012
services (e.g., email and VoIP)
o The application running at www.communicator.example must be able
to recognize that all three applications rely on the same
authorization server
o A callback URL of the application running at
www.communicator.example must be known to the authorization server
o The authorization server must be able to issue the separate
service-specific tokens (with different, scope, permissions, and
expiration dates) for access to the requested services (such as
email and VoIP)
Note: OAuth 2.0 does not support this use case
2.10. Gateway for browser-based VoIP applets
Description:
Alice accesses a social site on a web server at www.social.example.
Her browser loads a VoIP applet that enables her to make a VoIP call
using her SIP server at www.sipservice.example. The application at
www.social.example gets Alice's authorization to use her account with
www.sipservice.example without learning her authentication
credentials with www.sipservice.example.
Pre-conditions:
o Alice has registered with www.sipservice.example for
authentication
o The application at www.social.example has established
authentication credentials with the application at
www.sipservice.example
Post-conditions:
A successful procedure results in the application at
www.social.example receiving access token from www.sipservice.example
with Alice's authorization.
Requirements:
o The server at www.social.example must be able to redirect Alice's
browser to www.sipservice.example
Fletcher, et al. Expires April 25, 2013 [Page 17]
Internet-Draft OAuth Use Cases October 2012
o The application running at www.sipservice.example must be capable
of authenticating Alice and obtaining her authorization of a
request from www.social.example
o The server at www.sipservice.example must be able to redirect
Alice's browser back to www.social.example
o The application at www.social.example must be able to translate
the messages of the Alice's VoIP applet into SIP and RTP messages
o The application at www.social.example must be able to add the
access token to the SIP requests that it sends to
www.sipservice.example
o Application at www.sipservice.example must be able to authenticate
the application at www.social.example and validate the access
token
o Alice's manual involvement in the OAuth authorization procedure
(e.g., entering an URL or a password) should not be required.
(Alice's authentication to www.sipservice.example is not in the
OAuth scope)
Note: OAuth 2.0 does not support this use case
2.11. Signed Messages
Description:
Alice manages all her personal health records in her personal health
data store at a server at www.myhealth.example, which manages
authorization of access to Alice's participating health systems.
Alice's Primary Care Physician (PCP), which has a Web site at
www.pcp.example, recommends her to see a sleep specialist
(www.sleepwell.example). Alice arrives at the sleep specialist's
office and authorizes it to access her basic health data at her PCP's
web site. The application at www.pcp.example verifies that Alice has
authorized www.sleepwell.example to access her health data as well as
enforces that www.sleepwell.example is the only application that can
retrieve that data with that specific authorization.
Pre-conditions:
o Alice has a personal health data store that allows for discovery
of her participating health systems (e.g. psychiatrist, sleep
specialist, PCP, orthodontist, ophthalmologist, etc)
Fletcher, et al. Expires April 25, 2013 [Page 18]
Internet-Draft OAuth Use Cases October 2012
o The application at www.myhealth.example manages authorization of
access to Alice's participating health systems
o The application at www.myhealth.example can issue authorization
tokens understood by Alice's participating health systems
o The application at www.pcp.example stores Alice's basic health and
prescription records
o The application at www.sleepwell.com stores results of Alice's
sleep tests
Post-conditions:
o A successful procedure results in just the information that Alice
authorized being transferred from the Primary Care Physician
(www.pcp.example) to the sleep specialist (www.sleepwell.example)
o The transfer of health data only occurs if the application at
www.pcp.example can verify that www.sleepwell.example is the party
requesting access and that the authorization token presented by
www.sleepwell.example is issued by the application at
www.myhealth.example with a restricted audience of
www.sleepwell.example
Requirements:
o The application at www.sleepwell.example interacting with
www.myhealth.example must be able to discover the location of the
PCP system (e.g., XRD discovery)
o The application at www.sleepwell.example must be capable of
requesting Alice's authorization of access to the application at
www.pcp.example for the purpose of retrieving basic health data
(e.g. date-of-birth, weight, height, etc). The mechanism Alice
uses to authorize this access is out of scope for this use case
o The application at www.myhealth.example must be capable of issuing
a token bound to www.sleepwell.example for access to the
application at www.pcp.example. Note that a signed token (JWT)
can be used to prove who issued the token
o The application at www.sleepwell.example must be capable of
issuing a request (which includes the token issued by
www.myhealth.example) to the application at www.pcp.example
o The application at www.sleepwell.example must sign the request
before sending it to www.pcp.example
Fletcher, et al. Expires April 25, 2013 [Page 19]
Internet-Draft OAuth Use Cases October 2012
o The application at www.pcp.example must be capable of receiving
the request and verifying the signature
o The application at www.pcp.example must be capable of parsing the
message and finding the authorization token
o The application at www.pcp.example must be capable of verifying
the signature of the authorization token
o The application at www.pcp.example must be capable of parsing the
authorization token and verifying that this token was issued to
the application at www.sleepwell.com
o The application at www.pcp.example must be capable of retrieving
the requested data and returning it to the application at
www.sleepwell.example
Note: OAuth 2.0 does not support this use case
2.12. Signature with asymmetric secret
Description:
Alice accesses an application running on a web server at
www.printphotos.example and instructs it to print her photographs
that are stored on a server www.storephotos.example. The application
at www.printphotos.example, which does not have a shared secret with
www.storephotos.example, receives Alice's authorization for accessing
her photographs without learning her authentication credentials with
www.storephotos.example.
Pre-conditions:
o Alice has registered with www.storephotos.example to enable
authentication
o The application at www.printphotos.example has a private and a
matching public keys
Post-conditions:
A successful procedure results in the application at
www.printphotos.example receiving an access token from
www.storephotos.example for accessing the Alice's photographs.
Requirements:
Fletcher, et al. Expires April 25, 2013 [Page 20]
Internet-Draft OAuth Use Cases October 2012
o The application at www.printphotos.example must be capable of
issuing the HTTP redirect requests to Alice's user agent - a
browser
o The application at www.storephotos.example must be able to
authenticate Alice
o The application running at www.storephotos.example must be able to
obtain the public key of the application at
www.printphotos.example
o The application running at www.printphotos.example is required to
sign using its private key the requests to the application at
www.storephotos.example
o The application at www.storephotos.example must obtain Alice's
authorization of the access to her photos by
www.printphotos.example
o The application at www.storephotos.example is required to identify
to Alice the scope of access that www.printphotos.example has
requested while asking for Alice's authorization
o The application at www.storephotos.example must be able to
authenticate the application at www.printphotos.example by
validating a signature of its request using the public key of
www.printphotos.example
o The application at www.printphotos.example must provide a callback
URL to the application at www.storephotos.example (note: the URL
can be pre-registered with www.storephotos.example)
o The application at www.storephotos.example must be capable of
issuing the HTTP redirect requests to Alice's browser
o Alice's manual involvement in the OAuth authorization procedure
(e.g., entering an URL or a password) should not be required.
(Alice's authentication to www.storephotos.example is not in the
OAuth scope)
Note: OAuth 2.0 does not support this use case
3. Authors of the use cases
The major contributors of the use cases are as follows:
W. Beck, Deutsche Telekom AG
Fletcher, et al. Expires April 25, 2013 [Page 21]
Internet-Draft OAuth Use Cases October 2012
G. Brail, Sonoa Systems
B. de hOra
B. Eaton, Google
S. Farrell, NewBay Software
G. Fletcher, AOL
Y. Goland, Microsoft
B. Goldman, Facebook
E. Hammer-Lahav, Yahoo!
D. Hardt
R. Krikorian, Twitter
T. Lodderstedt, Deutsche Telekom
E. Maler, PayPal
D. Recordon, Facebook
L. Shepard, Facebook
A. Tom, Yahoo!
B. Vrancken, Alcatel-Lucent
Z. Zeltsan, Alcatel-Lucent
4. Security considerations
The OAuth 2.0 specification [I-D.ietf-oauth-v2] provides the
implementers with security guidelines for all OAuth 2.0 client
profiles. In addition, a comprehensive OAuth security model and
background for the protocol design are provided by
[I-D.ietf-oauth-v2-threatmodel].
5. IANA considerations
This Internet Draft includes no request to IANA.
6. Acknowledgements
The authors thank Igor Faynberg and Hui-Lan Lu for their invaluable
help with preparing this document. Special thanks are to the draft
reviewers Thomas Hardjono and Melinda Shore, whose suggestions have
helped to improve the draft.
7. References
7.1. Normative References
[I-D.ietf-oauth-v2]
Hardt, D., "The OAuth 2.0 Authorization Framework",
draft-ietf-oauth-v2-31 (work in progress), August 2012.
Fletcher, et al. Expires April 25, 2013 [Page 22]
Internet-Draft OAuth Use Cases October 2012
7.2. Informative References
[I-D.ietf-oauth-v2-threatmodel]
Lodderstedt, T., McGloin, M., and P. Hunt, "OAuth 2.0
Threat Model and Security Considerations",
draft-ietf-oauth-v2-threatmodel-07 (work in progress),
August 2012.
[I-D.ietf-oauth-assertions]
Campbell, B., Mortimore, C., Jones, M., and Y. Goland,
"Assertion Framework for OAuth 2.0",
draft-ietf-oauth-assertions-05 (work in progress),
September 2012.
[I-D.ietf-oauth-saml2-bearer]
Campbell, B. and C. Mortimore, "SAML 2.0 Bearer Assertion
Profiles for OAuth 2.0", draft-ietf-oauth-saml2-bearer-14
(work in progress), September 2012.
[I-D.ietf-oauth-jwt-bearer]
Jones, M., Campbell, B., and C. Mortimore, "JSON Web Token
(JWT) Bearer Token Profiles for OAuth 2.0",
draft-ietf-oauth-jwt-bearer-02 (work in progress),
September 2012.
Authors' Addresses
George Fletcher
AOL
Email: gffletch@aol.com
Torsten Lodderstedt
Deutsche Telekom AG
Email: torsten@lodderstedt.net
Fletcher, et al. Expires April 25, 2013 [Page 23]
Internet-Draft OAuth Use Cases October 2012
Zachary Zeltsan
Alcatel-Lucent
600 Mountain Avenue
Murray Hill, New Jersey
USA
Phone: +1 908 582 2359
Email: Zachary.Zeltsan@alcatel-lucent.com
Fletcher, et al. Expires April 25, 2013 [Page 24]
