Changing session cookie name and added a way for clients to know what the name is #11413 (#11679)

* Changing session cookie name and added a way for clients to know what the key name is
* Adding session information to docs
* Fixing how awxkit gets the session id header
This commit is contained in:
John Westcott IV
2022-02-27 07:27:25 -05:00
committed by GitHub
parent 895c05a84a
commit cb57752903
7 changed files with 39 additions and 17 deletions

View File

@@ -6,9 +6,9 @@ Session authentication is a safer way of utilizing HTTP(S) cookies. Theoreticall
`Cookie` header, but this method is vulnerable to cookie hijacks, where crackers can see and steal user
information from the cookie payload.
Session authentication, on the other hand, sets a single `session_id` cookie. The `session_id`
is *a random string which will be mapped to user authentication informations by server*. Crackers who
hijack cookies will only get the `session_id` itself, which does not imply any critical user info, is valid only for
Session authentication, on the other hand, sets a single `awx_sessionid` cookie. The `awx_sessionid`
is *a random string which will be mapped to user authentication information by the server*. Crackers who
hijack cookies will only get the `awx_sessionid` itself, which does not imply any critical user info, is valid only for
a limited time, and can be revoked at any time.
> Note: The CSRF token will by default allow HTTP. To increase security, the `CSRF_COOKIE_SECURE` setting should
@@ -34,22 +34,27 @@ be provided in the form:
* `next`: The path of the redirect destination, in API browser `"/api/"` is used.
* `csrfmiddlewaretoken`: The CSRF token, usually populated by using Django template `{% csrf_token %}`.
The `session_id` is provided as a return `Set-Cookie` header. Here is a typical one:
The `awx_session_id` is provided as a return `Set-Cookie` header. Here is a typical one:
```
Set-Cookie: sessionid=lwan8l5ynhrqvps280rg5upp7n3yp6ds; expires=Tue, 21-Nov-2017 16:33:13 GMT; httponly; Max-Age=1209600; Path=/
Set-Cookie: awx_sessionid=lwan8l5ynhrqvps280rg5upp7n3yp6ds; expires=Tue, 21-Nov-2017 16:33:13 GMT; httponly; Max-Age=1209600; Path=/
```
In addition, when the `awx_sessionid` a header called `X-API-Session-Cookie-Name` this header will only be displayed once on a successful logging and denotes the name of the session cookie name. By default this is `awx_sessionid` but can be changed (see below).
Any client should follow the standard rules of [cookie protocol](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6265) to
parse that header to obtain information about the session, such as session cookie name (`session_id`),
parse that header to obtain information about the session, such as session cookie name (`awx_sessionid`),
session cookie value, expiration date, duration, etc.
The name of the cookie is configurable by Tower Configuration setting `SESSION_COOKIE_NAME` under the category `authentication`. It is a string. The default session cookie name is `awx_sessionid`.
The duration of the cookie is configurable by Tower Configuration setting `SESSION_COOKIE_AGE` under
category `authentication`. It is an integer denoting the number of seconds the session cookie should
live. The default session cookie age is two weeks.
After a valid session is acquired, a client should provide the `session_id` as a cookie for subsequent requests
After a valid session is acquired, a client should provide the `awx_sessionid` as a cookie for subsequent requests
in order to be authenticated. For example:
```
Cookie: sessionid=lwan8l5ynhrqvps280rg5upp7n3yp6ds; ...
Cookie: awx_sessionid=lwan8l5ynhrqvps280rg5upp7n3yp6ds; ...
```
User should use the `/api/logout/` endpoint to log out. In the API browser, a logged-in user can do that by