authn-and-authz.md

title	author	description	monikerRange	ms.author	ms.custom	ms.date	uid
Authentication and authorization in ASP.NET Core SignalR	bradygaster	Learn how to use authentication and authorization in ASP.NET Core SignalR.	>= aspnetcore-2.1	bradyg	mvc	07/15/2019	signalr/authn-and-authz

Authentication and authorization in ASP.NET Core SignalR

By Andrew Stanton-Nurse

View or download sample code (how to download)

Authenticate users connecting to a SignalR hub

SignalR can be used with ASP.NET Core authentication to associate a user with each connection. In a hub, authentication data can be accessed from the HubConnectionContext.User property. Authentication allows the hub to call methods on all connections associated with a user (See Manage users and groups in SignalR for more information). Multiple connections may be associated with a single user.

The following is an example of Startup.Configure which uses SignalR and ASP.NET Core authentication:

::: moniker range=">= aspnetcore-3.0"

public void Configure(IApplicationBuilder app)
{
    ...

    app.UseStaticFiles();

    app.UseRouting();

    app.UseAuthentication();
    app.UseAuthorization();

    app.UseEndpoints(endpoints =>
    {
        endpoints.MapHub<ChatHub>("/chat");
        endpoints.MapControllerRoute("default", "{controller=Home}/{action=Index}/{id?}");
    });
}

::: moniker-end

::: moniker range="<= aspnetcore-2.2"

public void Configure(IApplicationBuilder app)
{
    ...

    app.UseStaticFiles();

    app.UseAuthentication();

    app.UseSignalR(hubs =>
    {
        hubs.MapHub<ChatHub>("/chat");
    });

    app.UseMvc(routes =>
    {
        routes.MapRoute("default", "{controller=Home}/{action=Index}/{id?}");
    });
}

Note

The order in which you register the SignalR and ASP.NET Core authentication middleware matters. Always call UseAuthentication before UseSignalR so that SignalR has a user on the HttpContext.

::: moniker-end

Cookie authentication

In a browser-based app, cookie authentication allows your existing user credentials to automatically flow to SignalR connections. When using the browser client, no additional configuration is needed. If the user is logged in to your app, the SignalR connection automatically inherits this authentication.

Cookies are a browser-specific way to send access tokens, but non-browser clients can send them. When using the .NET Client, the Cookies property can be configured in the .WithUrl call in order to provide a cookie. However, using cookie authentication from the .NET Client requires the app to provide an API to exchange authentication data for a cookie.

Bearer token authentication

The client can provide an access token instead of using a cookie. The server validates the token and uses it to identify the user. This validation is done only when the connection is established. During the life of the connection, the server doesn't automatically revalidate to check for token revocation.

On the server, bearer token authentication is configured using the JWT Bearer middleware.

In the JavaScript client, the token can be provided using the accessTokenFactory option.

[!code-typescriptConfigure Access Token]

In the .NET client, there is a similar AccessTokenProvider property that can be used to configure the token:

var connection = new HubConnectionBuilder()
    .WithUrl("https://example.com/myhub", options =>
    { 
        options.AccessTokenProvider = () => Task.FromResult(_myAccessToken);
    })
    .Build();

Note

The access token function you provide is called before every HTTP request made by SignalR. If you need to renew the token in order to keep the connection active (because it may expire during the connection), do so from within this function and return the updated token.

In standard web APIs, bearer tokens are sent in an HTTP header. However, SignalR is unable to set these headers in browsers when using some transports. When using WebSockets and Server-Sent Events, the token is transmitted as a query string parameter. In order to support this on the server, additional configuration is required:

[!code-csharpConfigure Server to accept access token from Query String]

Cookies vs. bearer tokens

Because cookies are specific to browsers, sending them from other kinds of clients adds complexity compared to sending bearer tokens. For this reason, cookie authentication isn't recommended unless the app only needs to authenticate users from the browser client. Bearer token authentication is the recommended approach when using clients other than the browser client.

Windows authentication

If Windows authentication is configured in your app, SignalR can use that identity to secure hubs. However, in order to send messages to individual users, you need to add a custom User ID provider. This is because the Windows authentication system doesn't provide the "Name Identifier" claim that SignalR uses to determine the user name.

Add a new class that implements IUserIdProvider and retrieve one of the claims from the user to use as the identifier. For example, to use the "Name" claim (which is the Windows username in the form [Domain]\[Username]), create the following class:

[!code-csharpName based provider]

Rather than ClaimTypes.Name, you can use any value from the User (such as the Windows SID identifier, etc.).

Note

The value you choose must be unique among all the users in your system. Otherwise, a message intended for one user could end up going to a different user.

Register this component in your Startup.ConfigureServices method.

public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
{
    // ... other services ...

    services.AddSignalR();
    services.AddSingleton<IUserIdProvider, NameUserIdProvider>();
}

In the .NET Client, Windows Authentication must be enabled by setting the UseDefaultCredentials property:

var connection = new HubConnectionBuilder()
    .WithUrl("https://example.com/myhub", options =>
    {
        options.UseDefaultCredentials = true;
    })
    .Build();

Windows Authentication is only supported by the browser client when using Microsoft Internet Explorer or Microsoft Edge.

Use claims to customize identity handling

An app that authenticates users can derive SignalR user IDs from user claims. To specify how SignalR creates user IDs, implement IUserIdProvider and register the implementation.

The sample code demonstrates how you would use claims to select the user's email address as the identifying property.

Note

The value you choose must be unique among all the users in your system. Otherwise, a message intended for one user could end up going to a different user.

[!code-csharpEmail provider]

The account registration adds a claim with type ClaimsTypes.Email to the ASP.NET identity database.

[!code-csharpAdding the email to the ASP.NET identity claims]

Register this component in your Startup.ConfigureServices.

services.AddSingleton<IUserIdProvider, EmailBasedUserIdProvider>();

Authorize users to access hubs and hub methods

By default, all methods in a hub can be called by an unauthenticated user. In order to require authentication, apply the Authorize attribute to the hub:

[!code-csharpRestrict a hub to only authorized users]

You can use the constructor arguments and properties of the [Authorize] attribute to restrict access to only users matching specific authorization policies. For example, if you have a custom authorization policy called MyAuthorizationPolicy you can ensure that only users matching that policy can access the hub using the following code:

[Authorize("MyAuthorizationPolicy")]
public class ChatHub : Hub
{
}

Individual hub methods can have the [Authorize] attribute applied as well. If the current user doesn't match the policy applied to the method, an error is returned to the caller:

[Authorize]
public class ChatHub : Hub
{
    public async Task Send(string message)
    {
        // ... send a message to all users ...
    }

    [Authorize("Administrators")]
    public void BanUser(string userName)
    {
        // ... ban a user from the chat room (something only Administrators can do) ...
    }
}

::: moniker range=">= aspnetcore-3.0"

Use authorization handlers to customize hub method authorization

SignalR provides a custom resource to authorization handlers when a hub method requires authorization. The resource is an instance of HubInvocationContext. The HubInvocationContext includes the HubCallerContext, the name of the hub method being invoked, and the arguments to the hub method.

Consider the example of a chat room allowing multiple organization sign-in via Azure Active Directory. Anyone with a Microsoft account can sign in to chat, but only members of the owning organization should be able to ban users or view users' chat histories. Furthermore, we might want to restrict certain functionality from certain users. Using the updated features in ASP.NET Core 3.0, this is entirely possible. Note how the DomainRestrictedRequirement serves as a custom IAuthorizationRequirement. Now that the HubInvocationContext resource parameter is being passed in, the internal logic can inspect the context in which the Hub is being called and make decisions on allowing the user to execute individual Hub methods.

[Authorize]
public class ChatHub : Hub
{
    public void SendMessage(string message)
    {
    }

    [Authorize("DomainRestricted")]
    public void BanUser(string username)
    {
    }

    [Authorize("DomainRestricted")]
    public void ViewUserHistory(string username)
    {
    }
}

public class DomainRestrictedRequirement : 
    AuthorizationHandler<DomainRestrictedRequirement, HubInvocationContext>, 
    IAuthorizationRequirement
{
    protected override Task HandleRequirementAsync(AuthorizationHandlerContext context,
        DomainRestrictedRequirement requirement, 
        HubInvocationContext resource)
    {
        if (IsUserAllowedToDoThis(resource.HubMethodName, context.User.Identity.Name) && 
            context.User.Identity.Name.EndsWith("@microsoft.com"))
        {
            context.Succeed(requirement);
        }
        return Task.CompletedTask;
    }

    private bool IsUserAllowedToDoThis(string hubMethodName,
        string currentUsername)
    {
        return !(currentUsername.Equals("asdf42@microsoft.com") && 
            hubMethodName.Equals("banUser", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase));
    }
}

In Startup.ConfigureServices, add the new policy, providing the custom DomainRestrictedRequirement requirement as a parameter to create the DomainRestricted policy.

public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
{
    // ... other services ...

    services
        .AddAuthorization(options =>
        {
            options.AddPolicy("DomainRestricted", policy =>
            {
                policy.Requirements.Add(new DomainRestrictedRequirement());
            });
        });
}

In the preceding example, the DomainRestrictedRequirement class is both an IAuthorizationRequirement and its own AuthorizationHandler for that requirement. It's acceptable to split these two components into separate classes to separate concerns. A benefit of the example's approach is there's no need to inject the AuthorizationHandler during startup, as the requirement and the handler are the same thing.

::: moniker-end

Additional resources

• Bearer Token Authentication in ASP.NET Core
• Resource-based Authorization