Writing an authorization filter for my web app(JSF 2.0)

Question

Following some advice, i decided to write my own authorization filter for my web app(I am not using container managed security so i have to do it this way).

This is my first filter so i am a bit confused in how i should implement it. This is what i did so far:

package filters;

import java.io.IOException;

import javax.servlet.Filter;
import javax.servlet.FilterChain;
import javax.servlet.FilterConfig;
import javax.servlet.ServletException;
import javax.servlet.ServletRequest;
import javax.servlet.ServletResponse;
import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;
import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse;
import javax.servlet.http.HttpSession;

import entities.Role;

public class RestrictPageFilter implements Filter {

    FilterConfig fc;

    public void init(FilterConfig filterConfig) throws ServletException {
        // The easiest way to initialize the filter
        fc = filterConfig;
    }

    public void doFilter(ServletRequest request, ServletResponse response,
            FilterChain chain) throws IOException, ServletException {

        HttpServletRequest req = (HttpServletRequest) request;
        HttpServletResponse resp = (HttpServletResponse) response;
        HttpSession session = req.getSession(true);
        String pageRequested = req.getRequestURL().toString();

        Role currentUser = (Role) session.getAttribute("userRole");

        //Pages that are allowed with no need to login:
        //-faq.xhtml
        //-index.jsp
        //-login.xhtml
        //-main.xhtml
        //-registration.xhtml

        //NOW pages that are restricted depending on the type of user
        //buyoffer.xhtml(Only BUYER)
        //sellerpanel.xhtml(Only SELLER)
        //adminpanel.xhtml(Only ADMINISTRATOR)

        //HOW SHOULD I IMPLEMENT THAT??
        if(currentUser != null && currentUser.getType().equals("BUYER")) {          

        }
        if(currentUser != null && currentUser.getType().equals("SELLER")) {         

        }
        if(currentUser != null && currentUser.getType().equals("ADMINISTRATOR")) {          

        }


    }

    public void destroy() {
        // Not needed
    }
}

As you see i left comments there where i got stuck. Can someone give me a hand finishing this filter or give me some pseudo code tips how should i finish it?

I saw some examples around the web, but none of them do different filtering depending on the user type.

Ill appreciate your help :)

Update

I created an xml file to help me do the filtering(It is located inside WEB-INF/classes)

<access>
    <buyer>
        <page>buyoffer.xhtml</page>
        <page>faq.xhtml</page>
        <page>index.jsp</page>
        <page>login.xhtml</page>
        <page>main.xhtml</page>
        <page>registrationSucceded.xhtml</page>     
    </buyer>
    <seller>
        <page>sellerpanel.xhtml</page>
        <page>faq.xhtml</page>
        <page>index.jsp</page>
        <page>login.xhtml</page>
        <page>main.xhtml</page>
        <page>registrationSucceded.xhtml</page>     
    </seller>
    <administrator>
        <page>sellerpanel.xhtml</page>
        <page>faq.xhtml</page>
        <page>index.jsp</page>
        <page>login.xhtml</page>
        <page>main.xhtml</page>
        <page>registrationSucceded.xhtml</page>     
    </administrator>
</access>

<!-- THE REGISTRATION PAGES SHOULD NOT BE ACCESSIBLE IF THE USER IS LOGGED IN -->

I read the file from the init() method.()

public class RestrictPageFilter implements Filter {

    private FilterConfig fc;
private InputStream in;

    public void init(FilterConfig filterConfig) throws ServletException {
        // The easiest way to initialize the filter
        fc = filterConfig;
        //Get the file that contains the allowed pages
        in = this.getClass().getResourceAsStream("/allowedpages.xml");
    }

    public void doFilter(ServletRequest request, ServletResponse response,
            FilterChain chain) throws IOException, ServletException {

        HttpServletRequest req = (HttpServletRequest) request;
        HttpServletResponse resp = (HttpServletResponse) response;
        HttpSession session = req.getSession(true);
        String pageRequested = req.getRequestURL().toString();

        //Get the value of the current logged user 
        Role currentUser = (Role) session.getAttribute("userRole");
        if (currentUser != null) {

        }
    }

    public void destroy() {
        // Not needed
    }
}

Answer 1

If you need to allow the access simply call the

// it will process request normally, means it will leave the control from Filter
chain.doFilter(request, response);

if you want to restrict user then call

//take some action
response.sendRedirect("URL to some page");//it will simply make user redirected 

---

Some Suggestion

• Make it configurable using some sort of XML of properties file , your code seems hard to me, tomorrow there might be another page added so you need to re compile your Filter.

• If allowed then Simply use Spring Security it has got nice features. Also you won't be re inventing the wheel