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Authorizers

An "authorizer" is responsible for properly permissioning a subject. Ory Oathkeeper supports different kinds of authorizers. The list of authorizers increases over time due to new features and requirements.

Authorizers assure that a subject, for instance a "user", has the permissions necessary to access or perform a particular service. For example, an authorizer can permit access to an endpoint or URL for specific subjects or "users" from a specific group "admin". The authorizer permits the subjects the desired access to the endpoint.

Each authorizer has two keys:

  • handler (string, required): Defines the handler, for example noop, to be used.
  • config (object, optional): Configures the handler. Configuration keys can vary for each handler.s
{
  "authorizer": {
    "handler": "noop",
    "config": {}
  }
}

There is a 1:1 mandatory relationship between an authoriser and an access rule. It isn't possible to configure more than one authorizer per Access Rule.

allow​

This authorizer permits every action allowed.

allow configuration​

This handler isn't configurable.

To enable this handler, set as follows:

# Global configuration file oathkeeper.yml
authorizers:
  allow:
    # Set enabled to "true" to enable the authenticator, and "false" to disable the authenticator. Defaults to "false".
    enabled: true

allow access rule example​

$ cat ./rules.json

[{
  "id": "some-id",
  "upstream": {
    "url": "http://my-backend-service"
  },
  "match": {
    "url": "http://my-app/some-route",
    "methods": [
      "GET"
    ]
  },
  "authenticators": [{ "handler": "anonymous" }],
  "authorizer": { "handler": "allow" },
  "mutators": [{ "handler": "noop" }]
}]

$ curl -X GET http://my-app/some-route

HTTP/1.0 200 Status OK
The request has been allowed!

deny​

This authorizer considers every action unauthorized therefore "forbidden" or "disallowed".

deny configuration​

This handler isn't configurable.

To enable this handler, set:

# Global configuration file oathkeeper.yml
authorizers:
  deny:
    # Set enabled to "true" to enable the authenticator, and "false" to disable the authenticator. Defaults to "false".
    enabled: true

deny access rule example​

$ cat ./rules.json

[{
  "id": "some-id",
  "upstream": {
    "url": "http://my-backend-service"
  },
  "match": {
    "url": "http://my-app/some-route",
    "methods": [
      "GET"
    ]
  },
  "authenticators": [{ "handler": "anonymous" }],
  "authorizer": { "handler": "deny" },
  "mutators": [{ "handler": "noop" }]
}]

$ curl -X GET http://my-app/some-route

HTTP/1.0 403 Forbidden
The request is forbidden!

keto_engine_acp_ory​

This authorizer uses the Ory Keto API to carry out access control using "Ory-flavored" Access Control Policies. The conventions used in the Ory Keto project are located on GitHub Ory Keto for consultation prior to using this authorizer.

keto_engine_acp_ory configuration​

  • base_url (string, required) - The base URL of Ory Keto, typically something like https://hostname:port/
  • required_action (string, required) - See section below.
  • required_resource (string, required) - See section below.
  • subject (string, optional) - See section below.
  • flavor (string, optional) - See section below.

Resource, action, subject​

This authorizer has four configuration options, required_action, required_resource, subject, and flavor:

{
  "handler": "keto_engine_acp_ory",
  "config": {
    "required_action": "...",
    "required_resource": "...",
    "subject": "...",
    "flavor": "..."
  }
}

All configuration options except flavor support Go text/template. For example in the following match configuration:

{
  "match": {
    "url": "http://my-app/api/users/<[0-9]+>/<[a-zA-Z]+>",
    "methods": ["GET"]
  }
}

The following example shows how to reference the values matched by or resulting from the two regular expressions, <[0-9]+> and <[a-zA-Z]+>. using the AuthenticationSession struct:

{
  "handler": "keto_engine_acp_ory",
  "config": {
    "required_action": "my:action:{{ printIndex .MatchContext.RegexpCaptureGroups 0 }}",
    "required_resource": "my:resource:{{ printIndex .MatchContext.RegexpCaptureGroups 1 }}:foo:{{ printIndex .MatchContext.RegexpCaptureGroups 0 }}"
  }
}

Assuming a request to http://my-api/api/users/1234/foobar was made, the config from above would expand to:

{
  "handler": "keto_engine_acp_ory",
  "config": {
    "required_action": "my:action:1234",
    "required_resource": "my:resource:foobar:foo:1234"
  }
}

The subject field configures the subject that passes to the Ory Keto endpoint. If subject isn't specified it will default to AuthenticationSession.Subject.

For more details about supported Go template substitution, see. How to use session variables

keto_engine_acp_ory example​

# Global configuration file oathkeeper.yml
authorizers:
  keto_engine_acp_ory:
    # Set enabled to "true" to enable the authenticator, and "false" to disable the authenticator. Defaults to "false".
    enabled: true

    config:
      base_url: http://my-keto/
      required_action: ...
      required_resource: ...
      subject: ...
      flavor: ...
# Some Access Rule: access-rule-1.yaml
id: access-rule-1
# match: ...
# upstream: ...
authorizers:
  - handler: keto_engine_acp_ory
    config:
      base_url: http://my-keto/
      required_action: ...
      required_resource: ...
      subject: ...
      flavor: ...

keto_engine_acp_ory access rule example​

$ cat ./rules.json

[{
  "id": "some-id",
  "upstream": {
    "url": "http://my-backend-service"
  },
  "match": {
    "url": "http://my-app/api/users/<[0-9]+>/<[a-zA-Z]+>",
    "methods": [
      "GET"
    ]
  },
  "authenticators": [
    {
      "handler": "anonymous"
    }
  ],
  "authorizer": {
    "handler": "keto_engine_acp_ory",
    "config": {
      "required_action": "my:action:$1",
      "required_resource": "my:resource:$2:foo:$1"
      "subject": "{{ .Extra.email }}",
      "flavor": "exact"
    }
  }
  "mutators": [
    {
      "handler": "noop"
    }
  ]
}]

remote​

This authorizer performs authorization using a remote authorizer. The authorizer makes a HTTP POST request to a remote endpoint with the original body request as body. If the endpoint returns a "200 OK" response code, the access is allowed, if it returns a "403 Forbidden" response code, the access is denied.

remote configuration​

  • remote (string, required) - The remote authorizer's URL. The remote authorizer is expected to return either "200 OK" or "403 Forbidden" to allow/deny access.
  • headers (map of strings, optional) - The HTTP headers sent to the remote authorizer. The values will be parsed by the Go text/template package and applied to an AuthenticationSession object. See Session for more details.
  • forward_response_headers_to_upstream (slice of strings, optional) - The HTTP headers that will be allowed from remote authorizer responses. If returned, headers on this list will be forward to upstream services.
  • retry (object, optional) - Configures timeout and delay settings for the request against the token endpoint
    • give_up_after (string) max delay duration of retry. The value will be parsed by the Go duration parser.
    • max_delay (string) time to wait between retries and max service response time. The value will be parsed by the Go duration parser.

remote example​

# Global configuration file oathkeeper.yml
authorizers:
  remote:
    # Set enabled to "true" to enable the authenticator, and "false" to disable the authenticator. Defaults to "false".
    enabled: true

    config:
      remote: http://my-remote-authorizer/authorize
      headers:
        X-Subject: "{{ print .Subject }}"
# Some Access Rule: access-rule-1.yaml
id: access-rule-1
# match: ...
# upstream: ...
authorizers:
  - handler: remote
    config:
      remote: http://my-remote-authorizer/authorize
      headers:
        X-Subject: "{{ print .Subject }}"

remote access rule example​

{
  "id": "some-id",
  "upstream": {
    "url": "http://my-backend-service"
  },
  "match": {
    "url": "http://my-app/api/<.*>",
    "methods": ["GET"]
  },
  "authenticators": [
    {
      "handler": "anonymous"
    }
  ],
  "authorizer": {
    "handler": "remote",
    "config": {
      "remote": "http://my-remote-authorizer/authorize",
      "headers": {
        "X-Subject": "{{ print .Subject }}"
      },
      "forward_response_headers_to_upstream": [
        "X-Foo"
      ]
    }
  }
  "mutators": [
    {
      "handler": "noop"
    }
  ]
}

remote_json​

This authorizer performs authorization using a remote authorizer. The authorizer makes a HTTP POST request to a remote endpoint with a JSON body. If the endpoint returns a "200 OK" response code, the access is allowed, if it returns a "403 Forbidden" response code, the access is denied.

remote_json configuration​

  • remote (string, required) - The remote authorizer's URL. The remote authorizer is expected to return either "200 OK" or "403 Forbidden" to allow/deny access.
  • payload (string, required) - The request's JSON payload sent to the remote authorizer. The string will be parsed by the Go text/template package and applied to an AuthenticationSession object. See Session for more details.
  • headers (map of strings, optional) - The HTTP headers sent to the remote authorizer. The values will be parsed by the Go text/template package and applied to an AuthenticationSession object. See Session for more details.
  • forward_response_headers_to_upstream (slice of strings, optional) - The HTTP headers that will be allowed from remote authorizer responses. If returned, headers on this list will be forward to upstream services.
  • retry (object, optional) - Configures timeout and delay settings for the request against the token endpoint
    • give_up_after (string) max delay duration of retry. The value will be parsed by the Go duration parser.
    • max_delay (string) time to wait between retries and max service response time. The value will be parsed by the Go duration parser.

remote_json example​

# Global configuration file oathkeeper.yml
authorizers:
  remote_json:
    # Set enabled to "true" to enable the authenticator, and "false" to disable the authenticator. Defaults to "false".
    enabled: true

    config:
      remote: http://my-remote-authorizer/authorize
      headers:
        Y-Api-Key: '{{ .MatchContext.Header.Get "X-Api-Key" }}'
      payload: |
        {
          "subject": "{{ print .Subject }}",
          "resource": "{{ printIndex .MatchContext.RegexpCaptureGroups 0 }}"
        }
# Some Access Rule: access-rule-1.yaml
id: access-rule-1
# match: ...
# upstream: ...
authorizers:
  - handler: remote_json
    config:
      remote: http://my-remote-authorizer/authorize
      headers:
        Y-Api-Key: '{{ .MatchContext.Header.Get "X-Api-Key" }}'
      payload: |
        {
          "subject": "{{ print .Subject }}",
          "resource": "{{ printIndex .MatchContext.RegexpCaptureGroups 0 }}"
        }

remote_json access rule example​

{
  "id": "some-id",
  "upstream": {
    "url": "http://my-backend-service"
  },
  "match": {
    "url": "http://my-app/api/<.*>",
    "methods": ["GET"]
  },
  "authenticators": [
    {
      "handler": "anonymous"
    }
  ],
  "authorizer": {
    "handler": "remote_json",
    "config": {
      "headers": {
         "Y-Api-Key": "{{ .MatchContext.Header.Get \"X-Api-Key\" }}"
      },
      "remote": "http://my-remote-authorizer/authorize",
      "payload": "{\"subject\": \"{{ print .Subject }}\", \"resource\": \"{{ printIndex .MatchContext.RegexpCaptureGroups 0 }}\"}"
    },
    "forward_response_headers_to_upstream": [
      "X-Foo"
    ]
  }
  "mutators": [
    {
      "handler": "noop"
    }
  ]
}
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