How to propagate JAAS Subject when calling a remote EJB (RMI over IIOP) from a pure client

Question

I am testing the propagation of JAAS Subject with a custom Principal from a standalone EJB client running on a raw Java runtime to a JavaEE server. I am targeting both JBoss

Answer 1

probably this will help you with the price to use proprietary websphere-classes. as I remember , websphere does NOT propagate the jaas caller-subject, this is typical to ibm

    package foo.bar;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.Iterator;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.Set;
import javax.security.auth.Subject;
import javax.security.auth.login.CredentialExpiredException;
import org.apache.log4j.Logger;
import com.ibm.websphere.security.WSSecurityException;
import com.ibm.websphere.security.auth.CredentialDestroyedException;
import com.ibm.websphere.security.auth.WSSubject;
import com.ibm.websphere.security.cred.WSCredential;

public class IdentityHelper
{
    private static final Logger log = Logger.getLogger(IdentityHelper.class);
    private static final String CLASS_OBJECT = "java.util.HashMap";
    private static final String KEY_OBJECT = "java.lang.String";
    private static final String VALUE_OBJECT = "java.util.HashSet"; 

    private Subject subject=null;
    private WSCredential creds;
    private Set publicCredentials=null;
    public IdentityHelper(Subject _subject) throws WSSecurityException
    {
        if(_subject==null)
        {
            IdentityHelper.log.warn("given subject was null, using Caller-Subject or the RunAs-Subject!");
            this.subject = WSSubject.getCallerSubject();
            if(this.subject==null)this.subject=WSSubject.getRunAsSubject();
        }
        else
        {           
            this.subject=_subject;
        }
        init();
    }
    public IdentityHelper() throws WSSecurityException
    {
        this.subject=WSSubject.getRunAsSubject();
        if(this.subject==null)
        {
            IdentityHelper.log.warn("using Caller-Subject NOT the RunAs-Subject!");
            this.subject = WSSubject.getCallerSubject();
        }
        init();
    }

    private void init() throws WSSecurityException
    {
        Set<WSCredential> credSet= this.subject.getPublicCredentials(WSCredential.class);
        //set should contain exactly one WSCredential
        if(credSet.size() > 1) throw new WSSecurityException("Expected one WSCredential, found " + credSet.size());
        if(credSet.isEmpty())
        {
            throw new WSSecurityException("Found no credentials");
        }
        Iterator<WSCredential> iter= credSet.iterator();
        this.creds=(WSCredential) iter.next();
        this.publicCredentials=this.subject.getPublicCredentials();
    }
    public WSCredential getWSCredential() throws WSSecurityException
    {
        return this.creds;
    }
    public List<String> getGroups() throws WSSecurityException,CredentialDestroyedException,CredentialExpiredException
    {
        WSCredential c = this.getWSCredential();
        return c.getGroupIds();
    }
    /**
     * helper method for obtaining user attributes from Subject objects.
     * @param subject
     * @return
     */
    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
    public Map<String, Set<String>> getAttributes()
    {
        Map<String, Set<String>> attributes = null;
        Iterator<?> i = this.subject.getPublicCredentials().iterator();
        while (attributes == null && i.hasNext())
        {
            Map<String, Set<String>> tmp = null;
            Object o = i.next();
            if(IdentityHelper.log.isDebugEnabled())
            {
                IdentityHelper.log.debug("checking for attributes (class name): " + o.getClass().getName());
            }
            if(!o.getClass().getName().equals(CLASS_OBJECT))
                continue;//loop through
            tmp = (Map) o;
            Object tObject = null;
            Iterator<?> t = null;
            t = tmp.keySet().iterator();
            tObject = t.next();
            if(IdentityHelper.log.isDebugEnabled())
            {
                IdentityHelper.log.debug("checking for attributes (key object name): " + tObject.getClass().getName()); 
            }
            if(!tObject.getClass().getName().equals(KEY_OBJECT))
                continue;//loop through
            t = tmp.values().iterator();
            tObject = t.next();
            if(IdentityHelper.log.isDebugEnabled())
            {
                IdentityHelper.log.debug("checking for attributes (value object name): " + tObject.getClass().getName()); 
            }
            if(!tObject.getClass().getName().equals(VALUE_OBJECT))
                continue;//loop through
            attributes = (Map) o;
        }
        if (attributes == null)
        {
            attributes = new HashMap<String, Set<String>>(); 
        }
        return attributes;
    }
    public Subject getSubject()
    {
        return this.subject;
    }
    protected Set getPublicCredentials() {
        return publicCredentials;
    }


}

see also: Getting the caller subject from the thread for JAAS and Getting the RunAs subject from the thread

Answer 2

I suspect you don't have security enabled on the WAS server. Because security is not enabled and you didn't authenticate to WAS, there is no credential. Thus your call to getCallerPrincipal is returning UNAUTHENTICATED.

If you turn on application security in WAS, you'll have to authenticate via the CSIv2 protocol. Creating your own JAAS subject in a standalone client will not do it. If it could, then anyone could create a "hey, it's me" credential and login to any remote EJB they wanted.

Your code will work on the server by attaching your subject to the running thread of execution. Flowing subjects/credentials across the wire requires a protocol to effect the serialization of the subject info and ensure trust of the party asserting the identity in the credential. From a standalone client, WAS accepts user info in the form of basic authorization, LTPA, and kerberos. This can be configured on an inbound CSIv2 configuration within the admin console. It's documented in the Info Center link I referenced earlier.

It's fun stuff. Good luck.