Is delegation required to pass credentials between applications on the SAME server? - asp.net-mvc-4

I have a Web API application and an MVC4 client application on the same web server. They are both configured for Windows Authentication. The client application has impersonation enabled.
When I run the client in Visual Studio, it successfully passes my windows credentials to the Web API.
When I hit the client on the web server, the Web API receives "NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE" which I guess is coming from the application pool the client app is running in.
Client passes credentials as follows:
HttpClientHandler handler = new HttpClientHandler()
{
PreAuthenticate = true,
UseDefaultCredentials = true
};
HttpClient client = new HttpClient(handler);
So my question is...do I need delegation here?
The web server is not configured for this in Active Directory - but I thought as the applications are on the same server, that impersonation would be sufficient. I would turn delegation on but I need a system admin to do that - and have all sorts of hoops to jump through - so want to be sure that's what I need.

OK, in short, no - delegation was not required.
It turned out to be an impersonation issue. From what I'd read it sounded like that was what should be required since the applications are on the same server, but even though I thought I had configured it correctly, I was missing a crucial part. I needed to change two settings in aspnet.config:
<legacyImpersonationPolicy enabled="false"/>
<alwaysFlowImpersonationPolicy enabled="true"/>
More details here:
https://stackoverflow.com/a/10311823/1230905

Related

Authenticate with Kerberos in .NET Web API

I need to implement solution Desktop Client + Application server (Web Service) in .NET.
The Client shall Authenticate against Active Directory (Kerberos Single Sign On) and forward its verified Active Directory identity to Web Service (NET Web API or WCF).
Web-service should verify that the Client is signed against Active Directory. Both computers (Client and server) are running in one AD domain.
I suppose that this can be implemented using WCF (see code here), but today NET Web API is preferred over Windows Communication Foundation. It is possible to implement it in ASP Web API as well?
Similar question not answered is here.
Yes, it is possible. The answer is here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/web-api/overview/security/integrated-windows-authentication
The API can use Windows authentication. The authentication is handled by IIS, as long as you have your web.config setup right, as described in that article.
From your application, you just need to tell it to pass the Windows credentials by using the UseDefaultCredentials property:
HttpClientHandler handler = new HttpClientHandler() {
UseDefaultCredentials = true
};
HttpClient client = new HttpClient(handler);

Using Microsoft integrated windows authentication with WCF but without IIS

Is there a way to get the behavior of Microsoft Integrated Windows Authentication w/o having to deploy using IIS? We have our own standalone C#/WCF WebServer and we would like to add this functionality. We cannot use IIS as part of our deployment.
WCF is "self hosting". That's mean, you don't have to have an IIS in order to run it on the server (Depending on your implementations of of course). You can even run it on client's computers.
Look at this article for more information about WCF authentications:
Authentication and Authorization in WCF Services
And an example in this article:
Authenticate with a User Name and Password
You can set the ClientCredentialType
WebHttpBinding whb = ... ;
whb.Security.Transport.ClientCredentialType = HttpClientCredentialType.Windows;
and later get the WindowsIdentity with
WindowsIdentity identity = ServiceSecurityContext.Current.WindowsIdentity;

WCF Data Services with Integrated Authentication issue

I have a web project that has Anonymous access and Integrated Windows authentication enabled. I built a WCF Data Service and since it allows only one authentication, I enabled Integrated authentication on the service. I am able to view the service in browser. However when I try to query the service for any Entity, it gives me Forbidden error. I tried to enable Anonymous access on service too, but it does not work.
Do I need to give it some other access or it is not possible to enable one authentication on the service itself keeping the project virtual directory as Anonymous and Integrated.
Update: I do no have any operations in my Data Service. For the entities, I have already set the "All" permission on all entities.
Only one authentication method is permitted on a WCF Data Service.
If you choose to go the Integrated Security route then you need to set the credentials after constructing the DataServiceContext.
Something like this would work for using the current user's Windows identity.
employeeEntities = new EmployeeDataService.EmployeeEntities(new Uri("http://.../employeedata.svc"));
employeeEntities.Credentials = CredentialCache.DefaultCredentials;

How to write code that calls a WCF service and falls back from Kerberos to NTLM if needed?

I need to call a WCF service programmatically. The service may be hosted with either NTLM or Kerberos authentication and needs to work under either. That is, if connecting to the service via Kerberos fails, then it should fall back to NTLM.
Here's the code I'm using for Kerberos auth (if relevant, the service is hosted in SharePoint 2010 and is being called from a web part):
public static SiteMembershipSvc.SiteMembershipServiceClient InitialiseSiteMembershipService(string url)
{
var binding = new BasicHttpBinding();
binding.Security.Mode = BasicHttpSecurityMode.TransportCredentialOnly;
binding.Security.Transport.ClientCredentialType = HttpClientCredentialType.Windows;
url = url.EndsWith("/") ? url + SiteMembershipAddress : url + "/" + SiteMembershipAddress;
var endpoint = new EndpointAddress(url);
var proxy = new SiteMembershipSvc.SiteMembershipServiceClient(binding, endpoint);
proxy.ClientCredentials.Windows.AllowedImpersonationLevel = System.Security.Principal.TokenImpersonationLevel.Impersonation;
return proxy;
}
Calling a method on the proxy when run in an NTLM environment gives the error:
The HTTP request is unauthorized with
client authentication scheme
'Negotiate'. The authentication header
received from the server was 'NTLM'.
Note: The URL may be in another web application on another server. I can't check what authentication the web part's web app runs under and assume it is the same as where the WCF service is hosted.
How can I (automatically or manually) ensure authentication falls back from Kerberos back to NTLM on failure?
Update:
As mentioned, the authentication error occurs when a web method is called. However I don't want to wait that long as there are several web methods in the service called from several places. I'd like to test the authentication at the point where the proxy is configured (in the code snippet above).
I've tried using proxy.Open() but that doesn't seem to cause the failure.
This is a bit off a curveball, but why is it falling back to NTLM. I've had significant difficulty with security in active directory and WCF all related to service principal names (SPNs).
Kerberos will fail if you are running the service as something other than Network Service unless you have an SPN declared in the domain for your service. To set the SPN you need the windows server administrative kit, which has the command setspn.
setspn -A HTTP\machinename domain\service_account
This will then allow Kerberos to share client credentials to your service within the domain.
Please do some reading, as you could break kerberos for any other services running on the same box depending on your setup.
(I recognize the original post is very old.)
Can you use something other than BasicHttpBinding (like WsHttpBinding)? According to this article, BasicHttpBinding is the one exception to the binding objects, in that it does not automatically negotiate. This is why allowNTLM has no effect.
I had the same error msg which I posted about here and solved it by creating a dynamic endpoint like so:
public static SiteMembershipSvc.SiteMembershipServiceClient InitialiseSiteMembershipService(string url)
{
//create endpoint
EndpointAddress ep = new EndpointAddress(new Uri(string), EndpointIdentity.CreateUpnIdentity("MyDomain\WCFRunAsUser"));
//create proxy with new endpoint
SiteMembershipSvc.SiteMembershipServiceClient service = new SiteMembershipSvc.SiteMembershipServiceClient("wsHttp", ep);
//allow client to impersonate user
service.ClientCredentials.Windows.AllowedImpersonationLevel = System.Security.Principal.TokenImpersonationLevel.Impersonation;
//return our shiny new service
return service;
}
I was running the WCF service as a specific Active Directory user rather than the default NETWORK_SERVICE.
Try setting:
proxy.ClientCredentials.Windows.AllowNTLM = true;
According to this, AllowNTLM is now obsolete - i'm not sure what the correct alternative is.
I guess you are using the full dns name of the server as the address of the service. Try using the NETBIOS name or the IP address. That should force it to use NTLM.
If you know what protocol the server is using you can configure your app to use either the full name or the ip.
Hope that works for you.
If your Kerberos fail it will automatically default to NTLM, you don't have to do anything special.
http://www.windowsecurity.com/articles/Troubleshooting-Kerberos-SharePoint-environment-Part1.html
http://www.windowsecurity.com/articles/Troubleshooting-Kerberos-SharePoint-environment-Part2.html
http://www.windowsecurity.com/articles/Troubleshooting-Kerberos-SharePoint-environment-Part3.html
I haven't been able to find a way to do this automatically. Instead I've added UI to the application where the type of authentication must be chosen.

Identity of thread in self hosted WCF service when called from Web Application

I have a Windows Service that is self hosting a Wcf service, this Wcf service has a tcpBinding with default settings. The Windows service is running as LocalSystem.
The Wcf Service is referenced (default settings) by a Web application that is running in IIS 7.5 integrated pipeline within it's own application pool with its own identity.
Both are running on the same machine.
All is working fine, except that when in the Wcf Service when I check the identity of the current thread with:
Thread.CurrentPrincipal.Identity.Name
It returns the user of the Application Pool of the Web Application.. this is not what I expect. It looks like some sort of impersonation is going on in the Wcf service.
Is this standard behavior? I can't find any documentation on this.
And does it mean that when I try to access a database in the Wcf service i'm introducing a identity hop?
Edit, the config on service side:
Type serviceType = typeof(WcfService);
host = new ServiceHost(serviceType);
Binding tcpBinding = new NetTcpBinding( );
Uri tcpBaseAddress = new Uri("net.tcp://localhost:8001/Test");
host.AddServiceEndpoint(typeof (WcfService), tcpBinding, tcpBaseAddress);
host.Open();
On the client side:
NetTcpBinding tcpBinding = new NetTcpBinding(SecurityMode.Transport);
windowsService = new WindowsService.WcfServiceClient(tcpBinding, new EndpointAddress("net.tcp://localhost:8001/Test"));
I'm reading from Learning WCF by Michele Bustamante. I have used WCF for an application that I've refactored and we're interested in using WCF in new applications for the flexibility it offers. One of the downsides of WCF is that it can be tricky to use the .net attributes or .config files to get the settings just right. I have spent days tracking down issues with the WCF settings. I've even created automated tests that will check that my service runs the way it's supposed to.
In response to your question, Michele says very specifically in Chapter Seven that NetTcpBinding is secure by default, meaning that callers must provide Windows credentials for authentication. I believe that would explain why the thread appears to be running as the identity of the web service. This is to protect your service from being called by an unauthorized user.
I believe that the following quotation from pp. 419-420 will answer your question concisely. "If you are familiar with traditional .NET role-based security, you know that there is a security principal attached to each executing thread. That security principal holds the caller's identity, which may be tied to a Windows account or a custom database credential, and its roles."
That seems to state plainly that yes, this is standard behavior.
I believe that you can change the behavior through attributes and .config files. I recommend you get a good book on the subject. I spun my wheels in the sand a long time trying to get bits and pieces of information about WCF from the web.
To clearify:
I was checking the wrong property here. Because code would be executed under the WindowsIdentity.GetCurrent() identity.
By default this is NOT the same as the caller (which is in Thread.CurrentPrincipal.Identity). If you want this behaviour you can control this with:
host.Authorization.ImpersonateCallerForAllOperations = true;
and
[OperationBehavior(Impersonation = ImpersonationOption.Required)]
We actually have integrated security set at the website, and then any calls from the website to the WCF service we wrap in:
using (((WindowsIdentity)HttpContext.Current.User.Identity).Impersonate())
{
That makes sure the credentials of the logged in user are passed through, rather than the IIS app pool credentials.
Works like magic!
More information is needed, but I'm guessing that it's somewhere in the configuration for the binding on either the server side or the client side that impersonation is enabled. When adding service references, svcutil.exe is VERY aggressive in setting EVERY possible binding property in configuration.
If you could provide more information for the configuration on the server and client side, it would be appreciated.