Cracking JWT tokens: a tale of magic, Node.JS and parallel computing
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The document discusses JWT (JSON Web Tokens), explaining their workings, structure, and implementation in Node.js, including a method for brute-forcing JWT tokens using a distributed approach. It highlights the importance of security considerations and suggests utilizing strong passwords or RSA signatures for enhanced safety. Additionally, it provides insights into creating a JWT cracker and the practical aspects of working with JWTs in a web application context.
![bijection (int) (string)
if we sort all the possible strings over an alphabet
Alphabet = [a,b]
0 ⟶ (empty string)
1 ⟶ a
2 ⟶ b
3 ⟶ aa
4 ⟶ ab
5 ⟶ ba
6 ⟶ bb
7 ⟶ aaa
8 ⟶ aab
9 ⟶ aba
10 ⟶ abb
11 ⟶ baa
12 ⟶ bab
13 ⟶ bba
14 ⟶ bbb
15 ⟶ aaaa
16 ⟶ aaab
17 ⟶ aaba
18 ⟶ aabb
...
48](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/cracking-jwt-tokens-a-tale-of-magic-nodejs-and-parallel-computing-171112191634/85/Cracking-JWT-tokens-a-tale-of-magic-Node-JS-and-parallel-computing-48-320.jpg)
![The first client connects
{
"cursor": 3,
"clients": {
"client1": [0,2]
}
}
53](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/cracking-jwt-tokens-a-tale-of-magic-nodejs-and-parallel-computing-171112191634/85/Cracking-JWT-tokens-a-tale-of-magic-Node-JS-and-parallel-computing-53-320.jpg)
![Other clients connect
{
"cursor": 9,
"clients": {
"client1": [0,2],
"client2": [3,5],
"client3": [6,8]
}
} 54](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/cracking-jwt-tokens-a-tale-of-magic-nodejs-and-parallel-computing-171112191634/85/Cracking-JWT-tokens-a-tale-of-magic-Node-JS-and-parallel-computing-54-320.jpg)
![Client 2 finishes its job
{
"cursor": 12,
"clients": {
"client1": [0,2],
"client2": [9,11],
"client3": [6,8]
}
} 55](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/cracking-jwt-tokens-a-tale-of-magic-nodejs-and-parallel-computing-171112191634/85/Cracking-JWT-tokens-a-tale-of-magic-Node-JS-and-parallel-computing-55-320.jpg)
![let cursor = 0
const clients = new Map()
const assignNextBatch = client => {
const from = cursor
const to = cursor + batchSize - 1
const batch = [from, to]
cursor = cursor + batchSize
client.currentBatch = batch
client.currentBatchStartedAt = new Date()
return batch
}
const addClient = channel => {
const id = channel.toString('hex')
const client = {id, channel, joinedAt: new Date()}
assignNextBatch(client)
clients.set(id, client)
return client
} Server
56](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/cracking-jwt-tokens-a-tale-of-magic-nodejs-and-parallel-computing-171112191634/85/Cracking-JWT-tokens-a-tale-of-magic-Node-JS-and-parallel-computing-56-320.jpg)
![const router = (channel, rawMessage) => {
const msg = JSON.parse(rawMessage.toString())
switch (msg.type) {
case 'join': {
const client = addClient(channel)
const response = {
type: 'start',
id: client.id,
batch: client.currentBatch,
alphabet,
token
}
batchSocket.send([channel, JSON.stringify(response)])
break
}
case 'next': {
const batch = assignNextBatch(clients.get(channel.toString('hex')))
batchSocket.send([channel, JSON.stringify({type: 'batch', batch})])
break
}
case 'success': {
const pwd = msg.password
// publish exit signal and closes the app
signalSocket.send(['exit', JSON.stringify({password: pwd, client: channel.toString('hex')})], 0, () => {
batchSocket.close()
signalSocket.close()
exit(0)
})
break
}
}
}
Server
58](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/cracking-jwt-tokens-a-tale-of-magic-nodejs-and-parallel-computing-171112191634/85/Cracking-JWT-tokens-a-tale-of-magic-Node-JS-and-parallel-computing-58-320.jpg)
![How a chunk is processed
Given chunk [3,6] over alphabet "ab"
[3,6]
3 ⟶ aa
4 ⟶ ab
5 ⟶ ba
6 ⟶ bb
⇠ check if one of
the strings is the
secret that validates
the current token
60](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/cracking-jwt-tokens-a-tale-of-magic-nodejs-and-parallel-computing-171112191634/85/Cracking-JWT-tokens-a-tale-of-magic-Node-JS-and-parallel-computing-60-320.jpg)
Cracking JWT tokens: a tale of magic, Node.JS and parallel computing
- 1. Cracking JWT tokens: a tale of magic, Node.js and parallel computing CODEMOTION MILAN - SPECIAL EDITION 10 - 11 NOVEMBER 2017 Luciano Mammino ( )@loige loige.link/cracking-jwt-codemotion 1
- 3. About Luciano Let's connect: - -Twitter GitHub Linkedin https://loige.co Principal Application Engineer 3
- 4. Based on prior work Chapters 10 & 11 in (book) 2-parts article on RisingStack: " " Node.js design patterns ZeroMQ & Node.js Tutorial - Cracking JWT Tokens github.com/lmammino/jwt-cracker github.com/lmammino/distributed-jwt-cracker 4
- 5. Agenda What's JWT How it works Testing JWT tokens Brute-forcing a token! 5
- 6. RFC 7519 JSON Web Token (JWT) is a compact, URL-safe means of representing claims to be transferred between two parties. The claims in a JWT are encoded as a JSON object that is used as the payload of a JSON Web Signature (JWS) structure or as the plaintext of a JSON Web Encryption (JWE) structure, enabling the claims to be digitally signed or integrity protected with a Message Authentication Code (MAC) and/or encrypted. 6
- 8. OK Let's try to make it simpler... 8
- 9. JWT is... An URL safe, stateless protocol for transferring claims 9
- 11. URL Safe... It's a string that can be safely used as part of a URL (it doesn't contain URL separators like "=", "/", "#" or "?") 11
- 12. Stateless? Token validity can be verified without having to interrogate a third-party service 12
- 13. What is a claim? 13
- 14. some certified information identity (login session) authorisation to perform actions (api key) ownership (a ticket belongs to somebody) 14
- 15. also... validity constraints token time constraints (dont' use before/after) audience (a ticket only for a specific concert) issuer identity (a ticket issued by a specific reseller) 15
- 16. also... protocol information Type of token Algorithm 16
- 17. In general All the bits of information transferred through the token 17
- 22. Header and Payload are encoded let's decode them! Base64Url 22
- 23. HEADER: {"alg":"HS256","typ":"JWT"} The decoded info is JSON! PAYLOAD: {"message":"hello codemotion"} 23
- 24. HEADER: {"alg":"HS256","typ":"JWT"} alg: the kind of algorithm used "HS256" HMACSHA256 Signature (secret based hashing) "RS256" RSASHA256 Signature (public/private key hashing) 24
- 25. PAYLOAD: {"message":"hello codemotion"} Payload can be anything you can express in JSON 25
- 26. PAYLOAD: registered (or standard) claims iss: issuer ID ("auth0") sub: subject ID ("johndoe@gmail.com") aud: audience ID ("https://someapp.com") exp: expiration time ("1510047437793") nbf: not before ("1510046471284") iat: issue time ("1510045471284") jti: Unique identifier ("36c56616-2125-4a6e-b333-bc8327bd39d6") 26
- 27. So far it's just metadata... What makes it safe? 27
- 28. SIGNATURE: LfQ4AOIjQPeAotn237m5yiMgJacC_00e PvlFC4fyRXE A Base64URL encoded cryptographic signature of the header and the payload 28
- 29. With HS256 signature = HMACSHA256( base64UrlEncode(header) + "." + base64UrlEncode(payload), password ) header payload secret SIGNATURE+ + = 29
- 30. If a system knows the secret It can verify the authenticity of the token 30
- 34. Browser 1. POST /login 2. generate session id:"Y4sHySEPWAjc" user:"luciano" user:"luciano" pass:"mariobros" 3. session cookie SID:"Y4sHySEPWAjc" 4. GET /profile 5. query id:"Y4sHySEPWAjc" 6. record id:"Y4sHySEPWAjc" user:"luciano" 7. (page) <h1>hello luciano</h1> Server 34 Sessions Database id:"Y4sHySEPWAjc" user:"luciano"SID:"Y4sHySEPWAjc"
- 35. JWT implementation (NO session database) 35
- 36. Browser 1. POST /login 3. JWT Token {"sub":"luciano"} user:"luciano" pass:"mariobros" 6. (page) <h1>hello luciano</h1> Server eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJ zdWIiOiJsdWNpYW5vIn0.V92iQaqMrBUhkgEAyRa CY7pezgH-Kls85DY8wHnFrk4 4. GET /profile eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJ zdWIiOiJsdWNpYW5vIn0.V92iQaqMrBUhkgEAyRa CY7pezgH-Kls85DY8wHnFrk4 Token says this is "luciano" Signature looks OK 5. verify Create Token for "luciano" Add signature 2. create JWT 36
- 37. JWT LOOKS GREAT! But there are pitfalls... 37
- 38. Data is public If you have a token, you can easily read the claims! You only have to Base64Url-decode the token header and payload and you have a readable JSON 38
- 39. No token database... ...maybe I can forge a token and nobody will know it's not authentic! 39
- 40. DEMO JWT based web app github.com/lmammino/sample-jwt-webapp 40
- 41. Given an HS256 signed JWT We can try to "guess" the password! 41
- 42. How difficult can it be? 42
- 43. Let's build a distributed JWT token cracker! npm.im/distributed-jwt-cracker 43
- 44. The idea... Take a valid JWT token try to "guess" the secret and validate the token against it if the token is validated, then you found the secret! YOU CAN NOW CREATE AND SIGN ANY JWT TOKEN FOR THIS APPLICATION! 44
- 45. Tools of the trade Node.js module ZeroMQ jsonwebtoken 45
- 46. ZeroMQ an open source embeddable networking library and a concurrency framework 46
- 47. The brute force problem "virtually infinite" solutions space all the strings (of any length) that can be generated within a given alphabet (empty string), a, b, c, 1, aa, ab, ac, a1, ba, bb, bc, b1, ca, cb, cc, c1, 1a, 1b, 1c, 11, aaa, aab, aac, aa1, aba, ... 47
- 48. bijection (int) (string) if we sort all the possible strings over an alphabet Alphabet = [a,b] 0 ⟶ (empty string) 1 ⟶ a 2 ⟶ b 3 ⟶ aa 4 ⟶ ab 5 ⟶ ba 6 ⟶ bb 7 ⟶ aaa 8 ⟶ aab 9 ⟶ aba 10 ⟶ abb 11 ⟶ baa 12 ⟶ bab 13 ⟶ bba 14 ⟶ bbb 15 ⟶ aaaa 16 ⟶ aaab 17 ⟶ aaba 18 ⟶ aabb ... 48
- 49. Architecture Server Initialised with a valid JWT token and an alphabet coordinates the brute force attempts among connected clients Client knows how to verify a token against a given secret receives ranges of secrets to check 49
- 50. Networking patterns Router channels: dispatch jobs receive results Pub/Sub channel: termination signal 50
- 51. Server state the solution space can be sliced into chunks of fixed length (batch size) 51
- 52. Initial server state { "cursor": 0, "clients": {} } 52
- 53. The first client connects { "cursor": 3, "clients": { "client1": [0,2] } } 53
- 54. Other clients connect { "cursor": 9, "clients": { "client1": [0,2], "client2": [3,5], "client3": [6,8] } } 54
- 55. Client 2 finishes its job { "cursor": 12, "clients": { "client1": [0,2], "client2": [9,11], "client3": [6,8] } } 55
- 56. let cursor = 0 const clients = new Map() const assignNextBatch = client => { const from = cursor const to = cursor + batchSize - 1 const batch = [from, to] cursor = cursor + batchSize client.currentBatch = batch client.currentBatchStartedAt = new Date() return batch } const addClient = channel => { const id = channel.toString('hex') const client = {id, channel, joinedAt: new Date()} assignNextBatch(client) clients.set(id, client) return client } Server 56
- 57. Messages flow JWT Cracker Server JWT Cracker Client 1. JOIN 2. START {token, alphabet, firstBatch} 3. NEXT 4. BATCH {nextBatch} 5. SUCCESS {secret} 57
- 58. const router = (channel, rawMessage) => { const msg = JSON.parse(rawMessage.toString()) switch (msg.type) { case 'join': { const client = addClient(channel) const response = { type: 'start', id: client.id, batch: client.currentBatch, alphabet, token } batchSocket.send([channel, JSON.stringify(response)]) break } case 'next': { const batch = assignNextBatch(clients.get(channel.toString('hex'))) batchSocket.send([channel, JSON.stringify({type: 'batch', batch})]) break } case 'success': { const pwd = msg.password // publish exit signal and closes the app signalSocket.send(['exit', JSON.stringify({password: pwd, client: channel.toString('hex')})], 0, () => { batchSocket.close() signalSocket.close() exit(0) }) break } } } Server 58
- 59. let id, variations, token const dealer = rawMessage => { const msg = JSON.parse(rawMessage.toString()) const start = msg => { id = msg.id variations = generator(msg.alphabet) token = msg.token } const batch = msg => { processBatch(token, variations, msg.batch, (pwd, index) => { if (typeof pwd === 'undefined') { // request next batch batchSocket.send(JSON.stringify({type: 'next'})) } else { // propagate success batchSocket.send(JSON.stringify({type: 'success', password: pwd, index})) exit(0) } }) } switch (msg.type) { case 'start': start(msg) batch(msg) break case 'batch': batch(msg) break } } Client 59
- 60. How a chunk is processed Given chunk [3,6] over alphabet "ab" [3,6] 3 ⟶ aa 4 ⟶ ab 5 ⟶ ba 6 ⟶ bb ⇠ check if one of the strings is the secret that validates the current token 60
- 61. const jwt = require('jsonwebtoken') const generator = require('indexed-string-variation').generator; const variations = generator('someAlphabet') const processChunk = (token, from, to) => { let pwd for (let i = from; i < to; i++) { pwd = variations(i) jwt.verify(token, pwd, { ignoreExpiration: true, ignoreNotBefore: true }) // finished, password found return ({found: i}) } // finished, password not found return null } Client 61
- 62. Demo 62
- 63. Closing off 63
- 64. Is JWT safe to use? 64
- 66. but... 66
- 67. Use strong (≃long) passwords and keep them SAFE! Or, even better Use RS256 (RSA public/private key pair) signature Use it wisely! 67
- 68. Should I be worried about brute force? 68
- 69. Not really ... As long as you know the basic rules (and the priorities) to defend yourself 69
- 70. A challenge for you: Can you crack this one? eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6I kpXVCJ9.eyJjcmFjayI6Im1lIiwia WYiOiJ5b3UgY2FuIn0.tI8zO0gj6W BgaVoKNeHwCKOxOlr3Jo7OqKHwMgr qJJE If you can, tweet the secret to I have a prize for the first one! @loige 70