Is JWT or session more secure?
Not storing JWT access token server side makes it hard for immediate invalidation which then, makes JWT way less safer than session. You should never need to invalidate jwts immediately, they should expire fast (a few minutes).
These methods are usually used for different purposes. For example, sessions are commonly used in websites applications while tokens are preferred in server-to-server connections.
JWTs vs session tokens
To authenticate a user, developers can either implement a JWT or session token-based solution. A JSON Web Token (or JWT) is an open standard that allows clients and servers to communicate and share critical information.
Google does not use JWTs for user sessions in the browser. They use regular cookie sessions. JWTs are used purely as Single Sign On transports so that your login session on one server or host can be transferred to a session on another server or host.
JWTs versus sessions cookies
JWTs enable faster authorization and more interoperability with external apps, but they demand more developer investment to address their security complexities, and might not be the best fit for applications that enable access to sensitive data or actions.
- Not easy to revoke a JWT as it is a stateless authentication mechanism. It makes difficult to implement feature like Sign out from all devices . ...
- Need to write some code to implement whereas cookies work out of the box.
Problems with JWT
You can't. You (the server) can tell the user's client software to forget their JWT and hope they'll do it, but you can never be sure. Well, you could keep a list of tokens that are no longer valid - that is, the user has logged out and the token should be ignored.
The main difference between the session and token authentication is that the authentication details are stored on the server side in session authentication and on the user side in token authentication. Token authentication is more secure than session authentication because a token cannot be tampered with.
A session ID is an opaque reference to actual session data stored on the server. It is safe insofar as it is random enough to not be guessed easily, and the data is safe because it is not directly accessible by or beholden to the front-end. The session ID is stored in a cookie to simplify authenticated requests.
JWT also allows us to use the same JSON Web Token in multiple servers that you can run without running into problems where one server has a certain session, and the other server doesn't. Most modern web applications use JWT for authentication reasons like scalability and mobile device authentication.
What should you not store in a JWT?
To reiterate, whatever you do, don't store a JWT in local storage (or session storage). If any of the third-party scripts you include in your page is compromised, it can access all your users' tokens. To keep them secure, you should always store JWTs inside an httpOnly cookie.
You should implement it on both backend / frontend. The Front end should have a UI to get the login / password entered by the user.
Sessions are more secured compared to cookies, as they save data in encrypted form. Cookies are not secure, as data is stored in a text file, and if any unauthorized user gets access to our system, he can temper the data.
JSON web token (JWT) is the most popular token-based authentication. However, many security threats have been exposed in recent years, causing people to migrate to other types of tokens. Platform Agnostic Security Token or PASETO is one such token which is being accepted as the best secured alternative for JWT.
Disadvantages: 1. Performance overhead in case of large number of user, because of session data stored in server memory. 2. Overhead involved in serializing and De-Serializing session data because in case of StateServer and SQLServer session mode we need to serialize the object before store.
Use sessions only if the data is too big for cookies or if the data is so big that it would decrease the performance if you used cookies.
If the answer is "the current value", session variables may be useful. An example would be a shopping cart: you don't expect things to be removed from the shopping cart as you go back through the history. It's always in its current state. If the answer is "a previous value", you should not be using session variables.
JWT Deprecation - The JWT app type will be completely deprecated as of June 2023. New and current users will have 12 months to migrate their JWT based solutions to the server-to-server OAuth app type.
OAuth2 vs JWT, Both systems have their particular use cases and advantages. While JWT is excellent for API authentication and server-to-server authorization, OAuth 2.0 takes the lead in session management.
JWT is mainly used for APIs while OAuth can be used for web, browser, API, and various apps or resources. JWT token vs oauth token: JWT defines a token format while OAuth deals in defining authorization protocols. JWT is simple and easy to learn from the initial stage while OAuth is complex.
Is JWT bad for authentication?
JWTs can be used in various ways: Authentication: When a user successfully logs in using their credentials, an ID token is returned. According to the OpenID Connect (OIDC) specs, an ID token is always a JWT.
Using JWTs securely goes beyond verifying their signatures. Apart from the signature, the JWT can contain a few other security-related properties. These properties come in the form of reserved claims that can be included in the body of the JWT. The most crucial security claim is the "exp" claim.
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Making the access token request.
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| assertion | The JWT, including signature. |
Web applications need to store tokens to help manage user sessions. Because the browser/server relationship is “stateless,” every request would otherwise require reauthentication. As a web developer, you typically have two options for client-side token storage: local storage (aka localStorage) and cookies.
Non-persistent session tokens have a Max Inactive Time of 24 hours whereas persistent session tokens have a Max Inactive Time of 90 days. Any time the SSO session token is used within its validity period, the validity period is extended another 24 hours or 90 days.
The session token, also known as a sessionID, is an encrypted, unique string that identifies the specific session instance. If the session token is known to a protected resource such as an application, the application can access the session and all user information contained in it.
After a user starts a session such as logging into a banking website, an attacker can hijack it. In order to hijack a session, the attacker needs to have substantial knowledge of the user's cookie session. Although any session can be hacked, it is more common in browser sessions on web applications.
1. Biometric Authentication Methods. Biometric authentication relies on the unique biological traits of a user in order to verify their identity. This makes biometrics one of the most secure authentication methods as of today.
Session hijacking is a technique used by hackers to gain access to a target's computer or online accounts. In a session hijacking attack, a hacker takes control of a user's browsing session to gain access to their personal information and passwords.
Both API key and JWT are used for authentication and authorization, but they do it differently. Authentication allows the user or application to use one or more methods of the API. Authorization defines how they can use those methods.
Which JWT algorithm is best?
While both HS256 and RS256 can be used to allow verification the integrity of JWTs, the recommended algorithm at this time is RS256. A signature must ensure authenticity, which means that the JWT content is the same as that generated by the sender. Both HS256 and RS256 algorithms ensure JWT authenticity.
JWT is not fully immune to attacks. The biggest threat facing JWTs is the risk of tokens being stolen. When access token and refresh token are stolen, it will be possible to impersonate their owner. In case of using JWT without a refresh token, the problem will be resolved as soon as the access token expires.
A JWT needs to be stored in a safe place inside the user's browser. Any way,you shouldn't store a JWT in local storage (or session storage). If you store it in a LocalStorage/SessionStorage then it can be easily grabbed by an XSS attack.
Things like Database Data such as User Rows should not be stored in the session and you should create a separate cache mechanism to do this for you.
The HttpOnly tag for Cookie is one of solutions to defend XSS. The HttpOnly tag will restrict users to manipulate the Cookie by JavaScript. It's the reason people recommends us to save JWT in the HttpOnly Cookie instead of the localStorage.
'JWT Claims set' of a JWT request should contain an email address, which, according to the respective article, is used as the unique identifier for a user unless an external ID is received.
After a user logs in, an Amazon Cognito user pool returns a JWT. The JWT is a base64url-encoded JSON string ("claims") that contains information about the user. Amazon Cognito returns three tokens: the ID token, the access token, and the refresh token.
JWT decode only look for public part so it is totally safe to do that in your front-end code.
Should I always allow session cookies? Session cookies are essential for a website's functionalities or for it to deliver a service that it intends to. They are also exempt from consent requirements under privacy regulations like the GDPR.
Cookies store it directly on the client. Sessions use a cookie as a key of sorts, to associate with the data that is stored on the server side. It is preferred to use sessions because the actual values are hidden from the client, and you control when the data expires and becomes invalid.
What is the best practice to prevent cookies?
Can I Stop Receiving Cookies? One way to do that is by browsing in “Private" mode (for Safari or Firefox) or “Incognito” (for Chrome). Browsing this way doesn't keep your internet service provider or a web server from knowing what you're doing online, but it does keep cookies from working.
One of the simplest ways is to return both a session_token and a JWT when a user starts a session. The session_token is a static value that is good for the lifetime of the session (stored server-side), while the JWT has its own, shorter-lived expiry.
PASETO is designed as a replacement for JWTs, particularly their use in protocols such as OAuth and OpenID Connect.
JWTs can be best and secure but it is very secured only if it is used in the right way. Attacks like token stealing, XSS, Middle man attacks are still possible.
The JWT access token is only valid for a finite period of time. Using an expired JWT will cause operations to fail. As you saw above, we are told how long a token is valid through expires_in . This value is normally 1200 seconds or 20 minutes.
Cracking a JWT signed with weak keys is possible via brute force attacks.
When JWT is used for simple client-to-server identification there is no need for signing or asymmetric encryption. JWT can be encrypted with AES which is fast and supersecure. If the server can decrypt it, it means the server is the one who encrypted it. Summary: non-encrypted JWT is not secure.
OAuth2 vs JWT, Both systems have their particular use cases and advantages. While JWT is excellent for API authentication and server-to-server authorization, OAuth 2.0 takes the lead in session management.
The general opinion is that they're good for being used as ID Tokens or Access Tokens and that they're secure — as the tokens are usually signed or even encrypted. You have to remember though, that JWT is not a protocol but merely a message format.
The token can be used to access the application
If your JWT is stolen or compromised, then the attacker has full access to your account. The attacker can send requests to applications, pretending to be you, and can make potentially harmful changes.
Should I use OAuth or JWT?
JWT is mainly used for APIs while OAuth can be used for web, browser, API, and various apps or resources. JWT token vs oauth token: JWT defines a token format while OAuth deals in defining authorization protocols. JWT is simple and easy to learn from the initial stage while OAuth is complex.
The finance app (client) can now request protected resources from the bank's resource server using the JWT access token. The bank's resource server, upon recognizing a valid JWT access token, returns the protected resources on request.
JWT offers many features, and puts them in a standard so they can be used between parties. A JWT can act as a signed assertion of some facts in many different places. A cookie, no matter what data you put in it or if you sign it, only really makes sense to use between a browser and a specific back end.