OAUTH WG G. Fletcher
Internet-Draft AOL
Intended status: Informational T. Lodderstedt
Expires: August 08, 2011 Deutsche Telekom AG
Z. Zeltsan
Alcatel-Lucent
February 04, 2011

OAuth Use Cases
draft-zeltsan-oauth-use-cases-01

Abstract

This document lists the OAuth use cases. The document's objective is to identify the use cases that will be a base for deriving the OAuth requirements. The provided list is based on the Internet-Drafts of the OAUTH working group and discussions on the group's mailing list.

Status of this Memo

This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Note that other groups may also distribute working documents as Internet-Drafts. The list of current Internet- Drafts is at http://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/.

Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."

This Internet-Draft will expire on August 08, 2011.

Copyright Notice

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction

The need for documenting the OAuth use cases was discussed at the oauth WG virtual meetings, on the group's mailing list, and at the IETF 77 and IETF 78. This Internet-Draft describes such use cases. The objective of the draft is to initiate discussion that will lead to defining a set of the use cases that the OAuth specifications should support. The following section provides the abbreviated descriptions of the use cases.

2. Notational Conventions

The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119].

3. OAuth use cases

This section lists the use cases that have been discussed by the oauth WG.

3.1. Web server


Description:

Alice accesses an application running on a web server at www.printphotos.example.com and instructs it to print her photographs that are stored on a server www.storephotos.example.com. The application at www.printphotos.example.com receives Alice's authorization for accessing her photographs without learning her authentication credentials with www.storephotos.example.com.

Pre-conditions:

Post-conditions:

A successful procedure results in the application www.printphotos.example.com receiving an authorization code from www.storephotos.example.com. The code is bound to the application at www.printphotos.example.com and to the callback URL supplied by the application. The application at www.printphotos.example.com uses the authorization code for obtaining an access token from www.storephotos.example.com. The application at www.storephotos.example.com issues an access token after authenticating the application at www.printphotos.example.com and validating the authorization code that it has submitted. The application at www.printphotos.example.com uses the access token for getting access to Alice's photographs at www.storephotos.example.com.

Note: When an access token expires, the service at www.printphotos.example.com needs to repeat the OAuth procedure for getting Alice's authorization to access her photographs at www.storephotos.example.com. Alternatively, if Alice wants to grant the application a long lasting access to her resources at www.storephotos.example.com, the authorization server associated with www.storephotos.example.com may issue the long-living tokens. Those tokens can be exchanged for short-living access tokens required to access www.storephotos.example.com.

Requirements:

3.2. User-agent


Description:

Alice has installed on her computer a gaming application. She keeps her scores in a database of a social site at www.fun.example.com. In order to upload Alice's scores, the application gets access to the database with her authorization.

Pre-conditions:

Post-conditions:

A successful procedure results in Alice's browser receiving an access token. The access token is received from www.fun.example.com as a fragment of a redirection URL of an auxiliary web server www.help.example.com. Alice's browser follows the redirection, but retains the fragment. From the auxiliary web server at www.help.example.com Alice's browser downloads a script that extracts access token from the fragment and makes it available to the gaming application. The application uses the access token to gain access to Alice's data at www.fun.example.com.

Requirements:

3.3. In-App-Payment (based on Native Application)


Description:

Alice has installed on her computer a gaming application (e.g., running as native code or as a widget). At some point she wants to play the next level of the game and needs to purchase an access to the advanced version of the game from her service provider at www.sp.example.com. With Alice's authorization the application accesses her account at www.sp.example.com and enables her to make the payment.

Pre-conditions:

Post-conditions:

A successful procedure results in the gaming application invoking the user browser and directing it to the authorization server of the service provider. The HTTP message includes information about the gaming application's request to access Alice's account. The authorization server presents to Alice the authentication and authorization interfaces. The authorization interface shows Alice the information about the application's request including the requested charge to her account. After Alice successfully authenticates and authorizes the the request, the authorization server enables Alice to save the transaction details incluing the authorization code issued for the gaming application. Then the authorization server redirects Alice's browser to a custom scheme URI (registered with the operating system). This redirection request contains the authorization code and invokes a special application that is able to extract the authorization code and present it to the gaming application. The gaming application presents the authorization code to the authorization server and exchanges it for an access token. The gaming application then uses the access token to get access to Alice's account and make the charges.

Requirements:

* The requirements denoted by '*' are not common for the Native Application use cases, but are specific to the In-App-Payment use case

3.4. Mobile App


Description:

Alice wants to upload (or download) her photographs to (or from) storephotos.example.com using her smartphone. She downloads and installs a photo app on her smartphone. In order to enable the app to access her photographs, Alice needs to authorize the app to access the web site on her behalf. The authorization shall be valid for a prolonged duration (e.g. several months), so that Alice does not need to authenticate and authorize access on every execution of the app. It shall be possible to withdraw the app's authorization both on the smartphone as well as on the site storephotos.example.com.

Pre-conditions:

Post-conditions:

A successful procedure results in Alice's app receiving an access and a refresh token. The app may obtain the tokens by utilizing either the web server or the user agent flow. The application uses the access token to gain access to Alice's data at storephotos.example.com. The refresh token is persistently stored on the device for use in sub-sequent app executions. If a refresh token exists on app startup, the app directly uses the refresh token to obtain a new access token.

Requirements:

3.5. Device


Description:

Alice has a device, such as a game console, that does not support an easy data-entry method. She also has an access to a computer with a browser. The application running on the Alice's device gets authorized access to a protected resource (e.g., photographs) stored on a server at www.storephotos.example.com.

Pre-conditions:

Post-conditions: Description:

A successful procedure results in the application running on Alice's game console receiving an access token that enables access to the photographs on www.storephotos.example.com.

Requirements:

3.6. Client password credentials


Description:

The company GoodPay prepares the employee payrolls for the company GoodWork. In order to do that the application at www.GoodPay.example.com gets authenticated access to the employees' attendance data stored at www.GoodWork.example.com.

Pre-conditions:

Post-conditions:

A successful procedure results in the application at www.GoodPay.example.com receiving an access token after authenticating to the application running at www.GoodWork.example.com.

Requirements:

3.7. Assertion


Description:

Company GoodPay prepares the employee payrolls for the company GoodWork. In order to do that the application at www.GoodPay.example.com gets authenticated access to the employees' attendance data stored at www.GoodWork.example.com.
This use case describes an alternative solution to the one described by the use case Client password credentials.

Pre-conditions:

Post-conditions:

A successful procedure results in the application at www.GoodPay.example.com receiving an access token after authenticating to the application running at www.GoodWork.example.com by presenting an assertion (e.g., SAML assertion).

Requirements:

3.8. Content manager


Description:

Alice and Bob are having a chat conversation using a content manager application running on a web server at www.contentmanager.example.com. Alice notifies Bob that she wants to share some photographs at www.storephotos.example.com and instructs the application at www.contentmanager.example.com to enable Bob's access to the photographs. The application at www.contentmanager.example.com, after Alice's authorization, obtains an access token for Bob, who uses it to access Alice's photographs at www.storephotos.example.com.

Pre-conditions:

Alice, Bob the content manager application at www.contentmanager.example.com, and the application at www.storephotos.example.com have registered with the same authorization server for authentication

Post-conditions:

A successful procedure results in the application at www.contentmanager.example.com receiving an access token that allows access to Alice's photographs at www.storephotos.example.com. The access token is issued by the authorization server after Alice has authorized the content manager at www.contentmanager.example.com to get an access token on Bob's behalf. The access token is passed to Bob by the content manager. Bob uses the access token to view Alice's photographs at www.storephotos.example.com.

Requirements:

3.9. Access token exchange


Description:

Alice uses an application running on www.printphotos.example.com for printing her photographs that are stored on a server at www.storephotos.example.com. The application running on www.storephotos.example.com, while serving the request of the application at www.printphotos.example.com, discovers that some of the requested photographs have been moved to www.storephotos1.example.com. The application at www.storephotos.example.com retrieves the missing photographs from www.storephotos1.example.com and provides access to all requested photographs to the application at www.printphotos.example.com. The application at www.printphotos.example.com carries out Alice's request.

Pre-conditions:

Post-conditions:

A successful procedure results in the application at www.printphotos.example.com receiving an access token that allows access to Alice's photographs. This access token is used for the following purposes:

As the result, there are two access token issued for two different applications. The tokens may have different properties (e.g., scope, permissions, and expiration dates).

Requirements:

3.10. Multiple access tokens


Description:

Alice uses a communicator application running on a web server at www.communicator.example.com to access her email service at www.email.example.com and her voice over IP service at www.voip.example.com. Email addresses and telephone numbers are obtained from Alice's address book at www.contacts.example.com. Those web sites all rely on the same authorization server, so the application at www.communicator.example.com can receive a single authorization from Alice for getting access to these three services on her behalf at once.

Note: This use case is especially useful for native applications since a web browser needs to be launched only once.

Pre-conditions:

Post-conditions:

A successful procedure results in the application at www.communicator.example.com receiving three different access tokens: one for accessing the email service at www.email.example.com, one for accessing the contacts at www.contacts.example.com, and one for accessing the VoIP service at www.voip.example.com.

Requirements:

3.11. Gateway for browser-based VoIP applets


Description:

Alice accesses a social site on a web server at www.social.example.com. Her browser loads a VoIP applet that enables her to make a VoIP call using her SIP server at www.sipservice.example.com. The application at www.social.example.com gets Alice's authorization to use her account with www.sipservice.example.com without learning her authentication credentials with www.sipservice.example.com.

Pre-conditions:

Post-conditions:

A successful procedure results in the application at www.social.example.com receiving access token from www.sipservice.example.com with Alice's authorization.

Requirements:

3.12. Signed Messages


Description:

Alice manages all her personal health records in her personal health data store at www.myhealth.example.com. Alice's Primary Care Physician (PCP), which has a Web site at www.pcp.example.com recommends her to see a sleep specialist (www.sleepwell.example.com). Alice arrives at the sleep specialist's office and authorizes it to access her basic health data at her PCP's web site. The application at www.pcp.example.com verifies that Alice has authorized www.sleepwell.example.com to access her health data as well as enforces that www.sleepwell.example.com is the only application that can retrieve that data with that specific authorization.

Pre-conditions:

Post-conditions:

Requirements:

3.13. Signature with asymmetric secret


Description:

Alice accesses an application running on a web server at www.printphotos.example.com and instructs it to print her photographs that are stored on a server www.storephotos.example.com. The application at www.printphotos.example.com, which does not have a shared secret with www.storephotos.example.com, receives Alice's authorization for accessing her photographs without learning her authentication credentials with www.storephotos.example.com.

Pre-conditions:

Post-conditions:

A successful procedure results in the application at www.printphotos.example.com receiving an access token for accessing the Alice's photographs at www.storephotos.example.com.

Requirements:

4. Authors of the use cases

The major contributors of the use cases are as follows:

W. Beck, Deutsche Telekom AG
G. Brail, Sonoa Systems
B. de hOra
B. Eaton, Google
S. Farrell, NewBay Software
G. Fletcher, AOL
Y. Goland, Microsoft
B. Goldman, Facebook
E. Hammer-Lahav, Yahoo!
D. Hardt
R. Krikorian, Twitter
T. Lodderstedt, Deutsche Telekom
E. Maler, PayPal
D. Recordon, Facebook
L. Shepard, Facebook
A. Tom, Yahoo!
B. Vrancken, Alcatel-Lucent
Z. Zeltsan, Alcatel-Lucent

5. Security considerations

TBD

6. IANA considerations

This Internet Draft includes no request to IANA.

7. Acknowledgements

The authors thank Igor Faynberg and Hui-Lan Lu for their invaluable help with preparing this document.

8. References

[RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels", RFC 2119, March 1997.

Authors' Addresses

George Fletcher AOL EMail: gffletch@aol.com
Dr.-Ing. Torsten Lodderstedt Deutsche Telekom AG EMail: torsten@lodderstedt.net
Zachary Zeltsan Alcatel-Lucent 600 Mountain Avenue Murray Hill, New Jersey USA Phone: +1 908 582 2359 EMail: Zachary.Zeltsan@alcatel-lucent.com