I have a WCF HTTP REST Service and I tie into it with an HTTP client in a different programming language who writes its own custom HTTP.
I would like to add WWW-Authenticate basic authentication support to my WCF service.
My methods look like this:
[WebInvoke(UriTemplate = "widgets", Method = "POST")]
public XElement CreateWidget(XElement e)
{
...
}
Is it possible for me to somehow filter incoming HTTP requests so I can check for a valid Basic auth string before it hits each of the REST methods like CreateWidget
above?
Note: My auth info is stord in my database.
Basically I want to check for this in the request headers:
Authorization: Basic QWxhZGRpbjpvcGVuIHNlc2FtZQ==
and then I can myself parse that string and validate the u/p in the database.
The web.config file is as follows:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<configuration>
<connectionStrings>
<add name="DatabaseConnectionString" connectionString="Data Source=.\SQLEXPRESS;Initial Catalog=Database;Integrated Security=True" providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" />
</connectionStrings>
<system.web>
<compilation debug="true" targetFramework="4.0" />
<httpRuntime maxRequestLength="10485760" />
</system.web>
<system.webServer>
<modules runAllManagedModulesForAllRequests="true">
<add name="UrlRoutingModule" type="System.Web.Routing.UrlRoutingModule, System.Web, Version=4.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a" />
</modules>
</system.webServer>
<system.serviceModel>
<serviceHostingEnvironment aspNetCompatibilityEnabled="true" />
<standardEndpoints>
<webHttpEndpoint>
<standardEndpoint name="" helpEnabled="true" automaticFormatSelectionEnabled="true" maxReceivedMessageSize="1048576" maxBufferSize="1048576" />
</webHttpEndpoint>
</standardEndpoints>
</system.serviceModel>
</configuration>
I was also interested in custom authentication in a REST HTTP WCF service and finally got it to work.
That being said my code will give you a way to get it working, but I recommend reading this guide which explains everything in more depth: http://wcfsecurityguide.codeplex.com/
First, change the system.web
portion of your Web.Config to look like this:
<system.web>
<compilation debug="true" targetFramework="4.0" />
<httpRuntime maxRequestLength="10485760" />
<authentication mode="None"></authentication>
<httpModules>
<add name="BasicAuthenticationModule" type="YourNamespace.UserNameAuthenticator" />
</httpModules>
</system.web>
Then add another file to your project: UserNameAuthenticator.cs
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.Security;
using System.Security.Principal;
using System.ServiceModel.Activation;
namespace YourNamespace
{
public class UserNameAuthenticator : IHttpModule
{
public void Dispose()
{
}
public void Init(HttpApplication application)
{
application.AuthenticateRequest += new EventHandler(this.OnAuthenticateRequest);
application.AuthorizeRequest += new EventHandler(this.OnAuthorizationRequest);
application.EndRequest += new EventHandler(this.OnEndRequest);
}
public bool CustomAuth(string username, string password)
{
//TODO: Implement your custom auth logic here
return true;
}
public string[] GetCustomRoles(string username)
{
return new string[] { "read", "write" };
}
public void OnAuthorizationRequest(object source, EventArgs eventArgs)
{
HttpApplication app = (HttpApplication)source;
//If you want to handle authorization differently from authentication
}
public void OnAuthenticateRequest(object source, EventArgs eventArgs)
{
HttpApplication app = (HttpApplication)source;
//the Authorization header is checked if present
string authHeader = app.Request.Headers["Authorization"];
if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(authHeader))
{
string authStr = app.Request.Headers["Authorization"];
if (authStr == null || authStr.Length == 0)
{
// No credentials; anonymous request
return;
}
authStr = authStr.Trim();
if (authStr.IndexOf("Basic", 0) != 0)
{
//header not correct we do not authenticate
return;
}
authStr = authStr.Trim();
string encodedCredentials = authStr.Substring(6);
byte[] decodedBytes = Convert.FromBase64String(encodedCredentials);
string s = new ASCIIEncoding().GetString(decodedBytes);
string[] userPass = s.Split(new char[] { ':' });
string username = userPass[0];
string password = userPass[1];
//the user is validated against the SqlMemberShipProvider
//If it is validated then the roles are retrieved from the
//role provider and a generic principal is created
//the generic principal is assigned to the user context
// of the application
if (CustomAuth(username, password))
{
string[] roles = GetCustomRoles(username);
app.Context.User = new GenericPrincipal(new
GenericIdentity(username, "Membership Provider"), roles);
}
else
{
DenyAccess(app);
return;
}
}
else
{
//the authorization header is not present
//the status of response is set to 401 and it ended
//the end request will check if it is 401 and add
//the authentication header so the client knows
//it needs to send credentials to authenticate
app.Response.StatusCode = 401;
app.Response.End();
}
}
public void OnEndRequest(object source, EventArgs eventArgs)
{
if (HttpContext.Current.Response.StatusCode == 401)
{
//if the status is 401 the WWW-Authenticated is added to
//the response so client knows it needs to send credentials
HttpContext context = HttpContext.Current;
context.Response.StatusCode = 401;
context.Response.AddHeader("WWW-Authenticate", "Basic Realm");
}
}
private void DenyAccess(HttpApplication app)
{
app.Response.StatusCode = 401;
app.Response.StatusDescription = "Access Denied";
// error not authenticated
app.Response.Write("401 Access Denied");
app.CompleteRequest();
}
} // End Class
} //End Namespace
I've had similar problems and found a lot of different approaches, especially the cross domain calls, together with basic authentication seems to be a bit of a challenge. Jquery for example first issues an OPTIONS call to verify it the POST is allowed. Wcf normally declines this request and you get a strange error.
I've finally got it working and you can download sample code from my blog: http://sameproblemmorecode.blogspot.com/2011/10/creating-secure-restfull-wcf-service.html
Just to add to this, Chrome will not load the login dialog unless you change "BasicRealm" to "BasicRealm=site" in the OnEndRequest method:
public void OnEndRequest(object source, EventArgs eventArgs)
{
if (HttpContext.Current.Response.StatusCode == 401)
{
//if the status is 401 the WWW-Authenticated is added to
//the response so client knows it needs to send credentials
HttpContext context = HttpContext.Current;
context.Response.StatusCode = 401;
context.Response.AddHeader("WWW-Authenticate", "Basic Realm=site");
}
}
And thanks, this is such a simple solution.