APEREO CASDocumentation

Enterprise Authentication for All Earthlings and Beyond

Identity, Single Sign-On and Access Management
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SAML v1.1 Protocol

CAS supports the standardized SAML 1.1 protocol primarily to:

A SAML 1.1 ticket validation response is obtained by validating a ticket via POST at the /samlValidate URI.

Support is enabled by including the following dependency in the WAR overlay:

Show in CAS Initializr Generate CAS Server WAR Overlay 


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<dependency>
    <groupId>org.apereo.cas</groupId>
    <artifactId>cas-server-support-saml</artifactId>
    <version>${cas.version}</version>
</dependency>





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implementation "org.apereo.cas:cas-server-support-saml:${project.'cas.version'}"





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dependencyManagement {
    imports {
        mavenBom "org.apereo.cas:cas-server-support-bom:${project.'cas.version'}"
    }
}

dependencies {
    implementation "org.apereo.cas:cas-server-support-saml"
}





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dependencies {
    /*
        The following platform references are included automatically and are listed for reference only.

        implementation enforcedPlatform("org.apereo.cas:cas-server-support-bom:${project.'cas.version'}")
        implementation platform(org.springframework.boot.gradle.plugin.SpringBootPlugin.BOM_COORDINATES)
        
    */
    implementation "org.apereo.cas:cas-server-support-saml"
}

Applications

Registering SAML v1.1 applications with CAS is similar to any other CAS applications:



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{
  "@class" : "org.apereo.cas.services.CasRegisteredService",
  "serviceId" : "^https://app.example.org.+",
  "name" : "App",
  "id" : 1,
  "supportedProtocols": [ "java.util.HashSet", [ "SAML1" ] ]
}

Please note that there is no dedicated separate application type in CAS for SAML v1.1 applications. As the example indicates, you should register your SAML v1.1 applications with CAS using the CasRegisteredService type.

Actuator Endpoints

The following endpoints are provided by CAS:

samlValidate
CAS endpoint1 operationNot exposed by default
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Turn the endpoint on and expose it over the web. One entry covers every operation. By default only info, health and status are exposed.



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management.endpoint.samlValidate.access=UNRESTRICTED
management.endpoints.web.exposure.include=samlValidate

Endpoints may be mapped to other paths. For example, to serve health at healthcheck:



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management.endpoints.web.path-mapping.health=healthcheck

Sample Request



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POST /cas/samlValidate?ticket=
Host: cas.example.com
Content-Length: 491
Content-Type: text/xml

<SOAP-ENV:Envelope xmlns:SOAP-ENV="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">
  <SOAP-ENV:Header/>
  <SOAP-ENV:Body>
    <samlp:Request xmlns:samlp="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.0:protocol" MajorVersion="1"
      MinorVersion="1" RequestID="_192.168.16.51.1024506224022"
      IssueInstant="2002-06-19T17:03:44.022Z">
      <samlp:AssertionArtifact>
        ST-1-u4hrm3td92cLxpCvrjylcas.example.com
      </samlp:AssertionArtifact>
    </samlp:Request>
  </SOAP-ENV:Body>
</SOAP-ENV:Envelope>

Sample Response



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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<SOAP-ENV:Envelope xmlns:SOAP-ENV="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/envelope/">
  <SOAP-ENV:Body>
    <saml1p:Response xmlns:saml1p="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.0:protocol" InResponseTo="...." IssueInstant="2017-08-15T06:30:04.622Z" MajorVersion="1" MinorVersion="1" ResponseID="_bf6957bad275fc74a1c079a445581441">
      <saml1p:Status>
        <saml1p:StatusCode Value="saml1p:Success" />
      </saml1p:Status>
      <saml1:Assertion xmlns:saml1="urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.0:assertion" AssertionID="_d9673d8af414cc9612929480b58cb2a1" IssueInstant="2017-08-15T06:30:04.622Z" Issuer="testIssuer" MajorVersion="1" MinorVersion="1">
        <saml1:Conditions NotBefore="2017-08-15T06:30:04.622Z" NotOnOrAfter="2017-08-15T06:30:05.622Z">
          <saml1:AudienceRestrictionCondition>
            <saml1:Audience>https://google.com</saml1:Audience>
          </saml1:AudienceRestrictionCondition>
        </saml1:Conditions>
        <saml1:AuthenticationStatement AuthenticationInstant="2017-08-15T06:46:43.585Z" AuthenticationMethod="urn:ietf:rfc:2246">
          <saml1:Subject>
            <saml1:NameIdentifier>testPrincipal</saml1:NameIdentifier>
            <saml1:SubjectConfirmation>
              <saml1:ConfirmationMethod>urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.0:cm:artifact</saml1:ConfirmationMethod>
            </saml1:SubjectConfirmation>
          </saml1:Subject>
        </saml1:AuthenticationStatement>
        <saml1:AttributeStatement>
          <saml1:Subject>
            <saml1:NameIdentifier>testPrincipal</saml1:NameIdentifier>
            <saml1:SubjectConfirmation>
              <saml1:ConfirmationMethod>urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:1.0:cm:artifact</saml1:ConfirmationMethod>
            </saml1:SubjectConfirmation>
          </saml1:Subject>
          <saml1:Attribute AttributeName="testAttribute" AttributeNamespace="whatever">
            <saml1:AttributeValue>testValue</saml1:AttributeValue>
          </saml1:Attribute>
          <saml1:Attribute AttributeName="samlAuthenticationStatementAuthMethod" AttributeNamespace="whatever">
            <saml1:AttributeValue>urn:ietf:rfc:2246</saml1:AttributeValue>
          </saml1:Attribute>
          <saml1:Attribute AttributeName="testSamlAttribute" AttributeNamespace="whatever">
            <saml1:AttributeValue>value</saml1:AttributeValue>
          </saml1:Attribute>
          <saml1:Attribute AttributeName="testAttributeCollection" AttributeNamespace="whatever">
            <saml1:AttributeValue>tac1</saml1:AttributeValue>
            <saml1:AttributeValue>tac2</saml1:AttributeValue>
          </saml1:Attribute>
        </saml1:AttributeStatement>
      </saml1:Assertion>
    </saml1p:Response>
  </SOAP-ENV:Body>
</SOAP-ENV:Envelope>

Configuration

The following settings and properties are available from the CAS configuration catalog:

cas.saml-core.attribute-namespaceAttribute namespace to use when generating SAML1 responses.
http://www.ja-sig.org/products/cas/

Attribute namespace to use when generating SAML1 responses.

Type
String
Default
http://www.ja-sig.org/products/cas/
Defined by
SamlCoreProperties
cas.saml-core.issue-lengthIssue length that controls the validity period of the assertion.
PT30S
Duration

Issue length that controls the validity period of the assertion.

Type
String
Default
PT30S
Defined by
SamlCoreProperties
cas.saml-core.issuerIssuer of the assertion when generating SAML1 responses.
localhost

Issuer of the assertion when generating SAML1 responses.

Type
String
Default
localhost
Defined by
SamlCoreProperties
cas.saml-core.persistent-id-saltSalt used to generate persistent or transient ids in particular when generating SAML2 responses or logout requests, etc.
no default

Salt used to generate persistent or transient ids in particular when generating SAML2 responses or logout requests, etc. When left undefined, CAS will generate a random salt. For production use, it is recommended to define a salt value particularly when multiple CAS nodes are involved.

Type
String
Default
none
Defined by
SamlCoreProperties
cas.saml-core.skew-allowanceSkew allowance that controls the issue instance of the authentication.
PT30S
Duration

Skew allowance that controls the issue instance of the authentication.

Type
String
Default
PT30S
Defined by
SamlCoreProperties
cas.saml-core.ticketid-saml2Whether ticket ids generated should be saml2 compliant when generating SAML1 responses.
false

Whether ticket ids generated should be saml2 compliant when generating SAML1 responses.

Type
Boolean
Default
false
Defined by
SamlCoreProperties

Required settings may be needed to activate or affect the feature; review them even when they have a default. Optional settings only need to be set to change a default or to turn on the behavior they control. Third party settings belong to libraries such as Spring Boot that CAS builds on; their own documentation may have more detail.

Notes on configuration

Configuration Metadata

The collection of configuration properties listed in this section are automatically generated from the CAS source and components that contain the actual field definitions, types, descriptions, modules, etc. This metadata may not always be 100% accurate, or could be lacking details and sufficient explanations.

Be Selective

This section is meant as a guide only. Do NOT copy/paste the entire collection of settings into your CAS configuration; rather pick only the properties that you need. Do NOT enable settings unless you are certain of their purpose and do NOT copy settings into your configuration only to keep them as reference. All these ideas lead to upgrade headaches, maintenance nightmares and premature aging.

YAGNI

Note that for nearly ALL use cases, declaring and configuring properties listed here is sufficient. You should NOT have to explicitly massage a CAS XML/Java/etc configuration file to design an authentication handler, create attribute release policies, etc. CAS at runtime will auto-configure all required changes for you. If you are unsure about the meaning of a given CAS setting, do NOT turn it on without hesitation. Review the codebase or better yet, ask questions to clarify the intended behavior.

Naming Convention

Property names can be specified in very relaxed terms. For instance cas.someProperty, cas.some-property, cas.some_property are all valid names. While all forms are accepted by CAS, there are certain components (in CAS and other frameworks used) whose activation at runtime is conditional on a property value, where this property is required to have been specified in CAS configuration using kebab case. This is both true for properties that are owned by CAS as well as those that might be presented to the system via an external library or framework such as Spring Boot, etc.

:information_source: Note

When possible, properties should be stored in lower-case kebab format, such as cas.property-name=value. The only possible exception to this rule is when naming actuator endpoints; The name of the actuator endpoints (i.e. ssoSessions) MUST remain in camelCase mode.

Settings and properties that are controlled by the CAS platform directly always begin with the prefix cas. All other settings are controlled and provided to CAS via other underlying frameworks and may have their own schemas and syntax. BE CAREFUL with the distinction. Unrecognized properties are rejected by CAS and/or frameworks upon which CAS depends. This means if you somehow misspell a property definition or fail to adhere to the dot-notation syntax and such, your setting is entirely refused by CAS and likely the feature it controls will never be activated in the way you intend.

Validation

Configuration properties are automatically validated on CAS startup to report issues with configuration binding, especially if defined CAS settings cannot be recognized or validated by the configuration schema. Additional validation processes are also handled via Configuration Metadata and property migrations applied automatically on startup by Spring Boot and family.

Indexed Settings

CAS settings able to accept multiple values are typically documented with an index, such as cas.some.setting[0]=value. The index [0] is meant to be incremented by the adopter to allow for distinct multiple configuration blocks.

You may also need to declare the following repository in your CAS Overlay to be able to resolve dependencies:



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repositories {
    maven { 
        mavenContent { releasesOnly() }
        url "https://build.shibboleth.net/maven/releases/" 
    }
}