[Openid-specs-fapi] Initial review of MODRNA Client initiated Backchannel Authentication Flow 1.0

Tom Jones thomasclinganjones at gmail.com
Fri May 26 15:45:29 UTC 2017


I don't believe that the questioning spec meets any of:
1. its own requirements, e.g. non-repudiation
2. strong ID of the client, the OP, the end user or the user agent are not
specified.
3. So far as I can tell the acr that it does use requires a level of
sophistication by the user that is not even conceivable e. g. "Parties
using this claim will need to agree upon the meanings of the values used,
which may be context-specific" (from OpenID Connect core).
4. The end user's consent to the questioning process is not even considered
as important, let alone solved.
5. Since the spec doesn't deal with strong IDs, I doubt it should even have
been approved by Open ID in the first place.

..tom

On Fri, May 26, 2017 at 3:59 AM, Dave Tonge via Openid-specs-fapi <
openid-specs-fapi at lists.openid.net> wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> We discussed on the last call that it would be good to review the
> MODRNA backchannel auth and user questioning specs from a FAPI perspective.
>
> I've started to go through them both and here are my initial thoughts on
> the Backchannel Authentication spec
> <http://openid.net/specs/openid-connect-modrna-client-initiated-backchannel-authentication-1_0.html#rfc.section.4.1>
> :
>
> 2. Terminology
>
> The definition for Consumption Device states that it is “most probably a
> browser”. It is envisaged that this will often not be the case, for payment
> APIs, e.g. the flow could be initiated via a POS device.
>
> 3. Overview
>
> Spelling mistake - “inmediatly” -> “immediately”
>
> 4.1 Authentication Request
>
> Client Authentication - this should be restricted to the methods listed in
> FAPI (i.e. private_key_jwt or MTLS)
>
> Client_notification_token - this is a bearer token used by the OP when
> notifying the client via the `client_notification_endpoint`. In the FAPI
> spec we are moving away from bearer tokens to either sender contained
> tokens or OATB tokens. While this token is used for OP -> client rather
> than client -> OP should we still consider constraining the tokens?
>
>
> A simpler approach may be to ensure that the OP signs any payload sent to
> the `client_notification_endpoint`. Currently, these payloads (error or
> success) are plain JSON payloads. The success payload contains an
> `id_token`, but this token contains claims about the identity of the user
> rather than acting as a detached signature for the access token (and
> refresh token)
>
> Binding_message - as I understand it the binding message is shown to the
> user on both the consumption and the authentication device. The spec then
> relies on the user checking that both messages are the same. If the spec
> were to be used for payments then I would suggest that the binding message
> is shown on the consumption device and entered by the user on the
> authentication device. This would be more secure than relying on the user
> to cross-check both messages are the same.
>
>
> For example, this spec could be used to support bank payments at a petrol
> station - the user could enter their phone number into the POS device, they
> would then receive a notification from their banking app asking them to
> authorise a payment. However what is to prevent someone entering the user’s
> phone number at the same time at the same petrol station when paying for
> fuel of the same amount. If the POS device displayed a 6 digit pin to the
> user, and the user entered that pin as part of the authorization flow in
> their banking app, then all parties would have a higher degree of
> confidence about the transaction.
>
> The binding message should be required and not optional for payments.
>
> 4.2.1 Authentication Request Validation
>
> The authentication request is a plain JSON payload, but because this is
> happening over a channel protected by client authentication this should be
> sufficient.
>
> 5. OpenID Provider Obtains End-user Consent/Authorization
>
> The spec is focussed on user authentication rather than a user authorising
> a specific action, e.g. making a payment. The wording in this section could
> be confusing to those implementing it for a financial API.
>
> In order to support fine-grained authorisation, the spec would need to
> support the OIDC claims parameter and guidance would need to be provided to
> implementers on example flows for payments and account information access.
>
> 6.1 Token Request Using Polling Mechanism
>
> The spec should refer back to OIDC Core - 3.1.3 - token endpoint - as all
> the verification steps described there should be performed.
>
> In addition, it should be made clear in the spec that the `auth_req_id`
> MUST be bound to the client to which it was issued. At the moment it would
> seem that any client could send any `auth_req_id`.
>
> 6.2 Successful Token Polling Response
>
> To conform with FAPI, the tokens returned in this response should be bound
> to the client either using MTLS or OATB.
>
> 6.3.1 Succesful Token Notification
>
> As per the notes on client_notification_token, I suggest that this payload
> is signed to ensure source authentication and integrity.
>
> Other notes:
>
>    -
>
>    No mention of what happens if the client notification endpoint is down
>    (e.g. retries)
>    - No mention of what acknowledgement the client should give to the OP
>    when it receives a notification
>
>
>
> _________
>> I believe that this spec could be useful for Financial APIs, however, it
> is more coupled to OIDC than the current FAPI drafts. It could be that we
> have to draft a new part to the FAPI spec that references this spec, but is
> more in line with the rest of the FAPI draft and geared towards the
> use-case of financial APIs.
>
> I have started a review of the user questioning API and will send that to
> the list shortly. However, on initial inspection, it doesn't result in
> access tokens being issued to the client and would, therefore, be
> unsuitable for "account information" access.
>
> This was my first review of the MODRNA specs and I may well have
> misinterpreted some of the specs. I hope that members of this group or are
> also members of the MODRNA group will help to correct any mistakes I may
> have made.
>
> Thanks
>
> --
> Dave Tonge
> CTO
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-- 
..tom
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