nginx-jwt-auth

Lua module to authorize clients by validating JWT in Nginx.

Supported algorithms:

• HS256, HS384, HS512
• RS256, RS384, RS512

Dependencies

For Debian, install the following packages.

apt-get install libnginx-mod-http-lua
apt-get install lua-cjson lua-basexx lua-luaossl

Installation

wget -O /usr/local/share/nginx-jwt-auth.lua \
    https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nordeck/nginx-jwt-auth/main/nginx-jwt-auth.lua

Configuration

HMAC with a key

Sample Nginx location for HS256 algorithm with jwt_key.

location /hello {
    set $jwt_algo "HS256";
    set $jwt_key "myappsecret";
    access_by_lua_file /usr/local/share/nginx-jwt-auth.lua;
}

HMAC with a key file

Sample Nginx location for HS512 algorithm with jwt_key_file.

location /hello {
    set $jwt_algo "HS512";
    set $jwt_key_file /path/keyfile;
    access_by_lua_file /usr/local/share/nginx-jwt-auth.lua;
}

echo -n "myappsecret" >/path/keyfile

RSA with a key file

Sample Nginx location for RS256 algorithm with jwt_key_file.

location /hello {
    set $jwt_algo "RS256";
    set $jwt_key_file /path/keyfile;
    access_by_lua_file /usr/local/share/nginx-jwt-auth.lua;
}

/path/keyfile contains the public RSA key in PEM format.

mv jwt-rsa.pub /path/keyfile

Testing

TOKEN="\
eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.\
eyJzdWIiOiIxMjM0NTY3ODkwIiwibmFtZSI6Ik5vcmRlY2siLCJuYmYiOjE1MTYyMzkwMjIsImV4cCI6MjAxNjIzOTAyMn0.\
OWw9KK7xPXBJ_AXbaETrhkPMw_2NNyrrrHHhwTwCnKY\
"

curl -L -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" https://my.host.address/hello