Submenu – JWKS Providers

JWK is a JSON representation of cryptographic keys widely used in the context of JWT. A set of such keys is known as JWKS, a JSON Web Key Set. JWKS is also the format used by the gateway to configure verification of access tokens.

When a JSON Web Key Set provider is configured to be used in a mapping, the keys in the set will be consulted when trying to verify a JWS or when decrypting a JWE.

The gateway uses a 2-stage filtering process to reduce the number of processed keys:

  • Stage 1 – JWKS are filtered by their Issuer information.
  • Stage 2 – The individual keys of the selected JWKS are finally filtered according to their key properties.

Local JWKS

Local (static) JWKS can be managed in the Local tab:

Name

When adding a new JWKS you should choose and add a unique provider name here. This provider name will appear in a drop-down list when choosing a JWKS provider for a mapping.

Content

This field holds the JWKS with its individual keys. Simply copy the JWKS content into the text box.

Issuer

This information is used for the first stage of the JWKS filter process. The issuer information is optional.

 
Info

JWKS without issuer information is less restricted and do potentially matches more often. This can result in a higher number of processed keys.

A fully configured local JWKS may look like the following:

Remote JWKS

When adding a new Remote JWKS Provider configuring settings on the Basic and additional SSL settings are necessary. For security reasons any remote source normally requires a secured connection using hostname verification and a valid SSL certificate/CA chain that can be configured in the SSL tab.

Refresh interval (in seconds)

Here you can choose the polling interval for re-fetching remotely stored JWKS from the Service URL addresses.

  • The JWKS is cached on the gateway.
  • The provider service is invoked whenever the gateway configuration is being loaded or reloaded or when the refresh interval is reached.
  • If the provider service invocation fails, the last JWKS fetched will be used until the service can be invoked successfully again.

Name

When adding a new JWKS you should choose and add a unique provider name here. This provider name will appear in a drop-down list when choosing a JWKS for a mapping.

Service URL

This field holds the URL from where the JWKS can be fetched. It is the source URL of the key set.

Issuer

This information is used for the first stage of the JWKS filter process. The issuer information is optional.

 
Info

JWKS without issuer information are less restricted and do potentially match more often. This can result in a higher number of processed keys.

Tab – Basic

When adding a new Remote JWKS Provider configuring settings on the Basic and additional SSL settings are necessary.

Name

When adding a new JWKS you should choose and add a unique provider name here. This provider name will appear in a drop-down list when choosing a JWKS for a mapping.

Service URL

This field holds the URL from where the JWKS can be fetched. It is the source URL of the key set.

Issuer

This information is used for the first stage of the JWKS filter process. The issuer information is optional.

Tab – SSL

For security reasons any remote source normally requires a secured connection using hostname verification and a valid SSL certificate/CA chain that can be configured in the SSL tab.

Section SSL Settings

Client certificate

A selectable list of SSL/TLS certificates for this client.

Content of SSL client certificate

Shows the content of the certificate.

Content of CA chain

Shows the chain of trust of the certificate chain.

SSL protocol

The SSL/TLS version which will be used by this back-end can be set here. If the setting is left empty, Airlock Gateway defaults will be used.

Cipher suite

List the ciphers that the client is permitted to negotiate. If the setting is left empty, the Airlock Gateway default will be used.

Restrictions:

  • Cipher-spec strings can be used with all SSL Protocol settings except TLSv1_3.
  • TLSv1.3 cipher names require setting the SSL protocol to TLSv1_3.

Force new session

Checkbox to enable/disable forced restart of SSL/TLS handshake.

Section Server Certificate Validation

ON/OFF

Enables or disables the server certificate validation mechanism.

Verify hostname

Checkbox to disable/enable hostname verification. Default is enabled.

Hostname verification requires a server identity check in combination with a valid CA chain to mitigate man-in-the-middle attacks. Without a CA, the configuration validation will fail. See also CAs for server chain validation.

CAs for server chain validation

Certificate chain verification to make sure a given certificate chain is valid, properly signed, and trustworthy. A CA has to be added when Verify hostname is enabled, otherwise, the configuration validation will fail.

Content of CAs for server chain validation

Shows the chain of trust of the certificate chain.