JSON Web Token (JWT)
RFC 7519

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Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)                          M. Jones
Request for Comments: 7519                                     Microsoft
Category: Standards Track                                     J. Bradley
ISSN: 2070-1721                                            Ping Identity
                                                             N. Sakimura
                                                                     NRI
                                                                May 2015

                          JSON Web Token (JWT)

Abstract

   JSON Web Token (JWT) is a compact, URL-safe means of representing
   claims to be transferred between two parties.  The claims in a JWT
   are encoded as a JSON object that is used as the payload of a JSON
   Web Signature (JWS) structure or as the plaintext of a JSON Web
   Encryption (JWE) structure, enabling the claims to be digitally
   signed or integrity protected with a Message Authentication Code
   (MAC) and/or encrypted.

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/rfc7519.

Jones, et al.                Standards Track                    [Page 1]
RFC 7519                  JSON Web Token (JWT)                  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.

Jones, et al.                Standards Track                    [Page 2]
RFC 7519                  JSON Web Token (JWT)                  May 2015

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     1.1.  Notational Conventions  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   2.  Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   3.  JSON Web Token (JWT) Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     3.1.  Example JWT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
   4.  JWT Claims  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     4.1.  Registered Claim Names  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
       4.1.1.  "iss" (Issuer) Claim  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
       4.1.2.  "sub" (Subject) Claim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
       4.1.3.  "aud" (Audience) Claim  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
       4.1.4.  "exp" (Expiration Time) Claim . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
       4.1.5.  "nbf" (Not Before) Claim  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
       4.1.6.  "iat" (Issued At) Claim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
       4.1.7.  "jti" (JWT ID) Claim  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
     4.2.  Public Claim Names  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
     4.3.  Private Claim Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
   5.  JOSE Header . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
     5.1.  "typ" (Type) Header Parameter . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
     5.2.  "cty" (Content Type) Header Parameter . . . . . . . . . .  11
     5.3.  Replicating Claims as Header Parameters . . . . . . . . .  12
   6.  Unsecured JWTs  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
     6.1.  Example Unsecured JWT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
   7.  Creating and Validating JWTs  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
     7.1.  Creating a JWT  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
     7.2.  Validating a JWT  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
     7.3.  String Comparison Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
   8.  Implementation Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  16
   9.  URI for Declaring that Content is a JWT . . . . . . . . . . .  17
   10. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
     10.1.  JSON Web Token Claims Registry . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
       10.1.1.  Registration Template  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18
       10.1.2.  Initial Registry Contents  . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18