Security extension: first announcement + RFC

[Wolfgang Kleinertz <wolfgang.kleinertz at epost.de>]

Hello!

Two weeks ago Marcel, Konrad and I met to exchange our views regarding
the topic: xmlBlaster and security.

Meanwhile I was preoccupied with this first draft.

The major goal of this project is to provide a mechanism to be able to
write and use plugins. The purpose of such a plugin is to satisfy the
requested security level.
This way, it should be possible to add real authentication and
authorisation (e.g. using kerberos or a2blaster), to make use of digital
signatures or encrypt the data on a per message level. Adapters to
different apis like Suns JAAS, JCE, etc. or GSS are also conceivable.

Interfaces:
  1. I_Subject
     subject related information and actions (e.g. public key)

     + String init(String qos);
     + boolean isAuthorized(String key);

  2. I_UsrSessionSecurityContext
     contains session related things like a kerberos "Service Ticket"

     + String init(String qos);
     + I_Subject getSubject();
     + boolean isValid();

  3. I_SecurityManager
     servs as factory for the objects behind these interfaces

     + I_SecurityManager getInstance(); // singleton
     + I_UsrSessionSecurityContext creatUsrSessionContext();
     + I_Message createMessage();
     + I_Subject createSubject();

  4. I_Message
     used to sign and encrypt messages

     + void setTarget(I_UsrSessionSecurityContext s);
     + I_UsrSessionSecurityContext getTarget();
     + void setSource(I_UsrSessionSecurityContext s);
     + I_UsrSessionSecurityContext getSource();
     + void setContent(String xmlMsg);
     + String getContent();
     + void setQoS(String xmlQoS);
     + String getQoS();
     + void seal(); // i.e. sign + encrypt
     + void unseal();
     + boolean isSealed(); // is the message sealed?
     + boolean isTrustworth(); // was it sealed while transmission?
     + boolean isValid; // is the signature correct?

To reduce the necessary changes, it's recommended to introduce helper
classes. Example for the message flow and the intention of such a
helper:

net  protocol helper xmlBlaster
     handler         (blackbox)
     .------- ------ ---------.
     |  key | |    | |        |
     |     / /    / /         |
---> |    | | -> | |          |
<--- |     \ \    \ \         |
     |  QoS | |    | |        |
     |     / /    / /         |
     |    | | <- | |          |
     |     \ \    \ \         |
     |  msg | |    | |        |
     `------- ------ ---------ï
               ^  |  .--------.
               |  `->| I_Msg. |
               `-----|        |<--- (I_UsrSessionSecurityContext)
                     `--------ï                 ^
                                                |
                                           (I_Subject)

---

Additional facts:
+ the old I_Authenticate interface etc. is deprecated
+ changes in the external (client) interfaces are not necessary, except:
    login( ... ): deprecated
    qos init(String qos): replaces login
  wrappers are recommended for compatibility

+ all security features are optional xmlBlaster extensions
+ clients need extensions, too

+ plugins are bound via xmlBlaster.properties
---

Next steps:

+ design, discussion, prototyping
+ implementation + implementation of a dummy plugin
+ implementation of a plugin to integrate the a2Blaster 
  authentication and authorisation system (www.a2blaster.org) 


Okay, that's all for the first time. Further information will follow.

Cheers,
Wolfgang Kleinertz

PS: Comments are welcome!!!