Login Tokens

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Revision as of 22:28, 2 June 2020

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Tokens

login_token

It is the token generated each time a visitor performs a social login.

The token is returned on the socialid.events.onLoginSuccess event or sent as a parameter to the callback url configured on the Social Login application.

Characteristics:

  • Created: every time the user logs in.
  • Validity: expires in 1 hour.

APIs:

connection_id

It is an identifier generated for each visitors' active connection. It represents the Social Login session for the current visitor.

The Social Login widgets automatically identifies users logged in, given the connection_id saved on a cookie on the visitor's browser.


Characteristics:

  • Created: every time the user logs in or using an API call.
  • Validity: expires according to "Session Lifetime" configuration defined in the Social Login application.

APIs:

user_token

It is a token used in a few JavaScript APIs to identify the user in a secure way.

Characteristics:

  • Created: when the user is created.
  • Updated: every time the user logs in or via API.
  • Validity: never expires.

APIs:

access_token

It is a token provided by OAuth2 APIs through the token endpoint. This token is used to access OAuth2 resources.

Characteristics:

  • Created: every time the user logs in using OAuth2 APIs.
  • Validity: expires in 1 week.

APIs:

refresh_token

It is a token provided by OAuth2 APIs through the token endpoint. This token is used to retrieve a new access token after expiration.

Characteristics:

  • Created: every time an access token is generated.
  • Validity: never expires, but it's revoked after its use.

APIs:

id_token

It's a JWT token provided by OAuth2 APIs used in combination with OpenID Connect (OIDC) Protocol.

Characteristics:

  • Created: every time an access token for OIDC is generated using the response_type id_token in the Authorization request.
  • Validity: expires according to "JWT Expiration" configuration defined in the Social Login application.

Security

The REST APIs use the HTTP Basic protocol for authentication. See the Authentication documentation.

The JavaScript APIs use the session of the user currently logged into the Social Login, or identifiers like connection_id and user_token as authentication parameters.

JavaScript APIs requires a bigger effort to ensure security because they are used on the visitor's browser (i.e. it is not possible to guarantee JavaScript code validity) and in unpredictable conditions (i.e. in public, non-encrypted Wi-Fi networks). As with any browser session, JavaScript APIs may be subject to Session Hijacking or Man-in-the-middle, among others.

To minimize security risks, we show below a list of good practices. Developers using our APIs need to be aware that the indiscriminate use of connection_id and user_token identifiers may increase those risks.

Good Practices

  • Update the user_token periodically using the PUT login/users/:user_id/token REST API. Since the user_token doesn't expire and may be used on critical JavaScript APIs (e.g. to log in or move users), it is advisable to update this token periodically to avoid Session Hijacking.
  • Use secure connections (HTTPS) on your website to avoid tokens to be intercepted by attackers on unprotected networks. See Man-in-the-middle attack.
  • Avoid storing any tokens in cookies. If you must, use the "secure" attribute on the cookie.
  • Use RESTful APIs only on backend, never via JavaScript (frontend). The API ID and Secret that are used as Authentication must not be exposed on a users's browser.
  • Use extra authentication (e.g. login/password authentication) in critical operations of your website (financial operations, credit card data management, etc).
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