AUTH_XKEYS Module

Daniel-Constantin Mierla

   <miconda@gmail.com>

Edited by

Daniel-Constantin Mierla

   <miconda@gmail.com>

   Copyright © 2015 asipto.com
     __________________________________________________________________

   Table of Contents

   1. Admin Guide

        1. Overview
        2. Dependencies

              2.1. Kamailio Modules
              2.2. External Libraries or Applications

        3. Parameters

              3.1. xkey (str)

        4. Functions

              4.1. auth_xkeys_add(hdr, kid, alg, data)
              4.2. auth_xkeys_check(hdr, kid, alg, data)

   List of Examples

   1.1. Set xkey parameter
   1.2. auth_xkeys_add usage
   1.3. auth_xkeys_check usage

Chapter 1. Admin Guide

   Table of Contents

   1. Overview
   2. Dependencies

        2.1. Kamailio Modules
        2.2. External Libraries or Applications

   3. Parameters

        3.1. xkey (str)

   4. Functions

        4.1. auth_xkeys_add(hdr, kid, alg, data)
        4.2. auth_xkeys_check(hdr, kid, alg, data)

1. Overview

   This module provides a custom mechanism to authenticate a SIP entity
   using a list of shared keys.

   It is similar to the API key based authentication used by many web
   services. In short, the sender adds a particular header with a hash
   token computed with the shared key and some values from the SIP request
   (e.g., local IP, From/To/R-URI username, Call-ID, CSeq). The receiver
   will check the hash value and decide whether the SIP message is
   authenticated or not. The sender and receiver have to agree beforehand
   on the name of the server, shared secret, algorithm to be used and what
   data is going to be hashed.

   The module is designed to work with many shared keys on the same group,
   for more flexibility in adding/removing keys. The last added key in the
   group is used to add the header, but older ones are used for matching
   the hash value. That allows to change the active shared key without
   affecting ongoing traffic. If one decides to use a new share key, add
   it first to receiver (it will still authenticate with older key) and
   then to the sender. Once both nodes are provisioned with the new key,
   the older one can be removed.

   For proper protection, it is recommended to use this authentication
   mechanism over a secure channel (e.g., TLS, VPN, private network).

   The benefit is avoiding the extra traffic and processing required by
   WWW-Digest authentication schema (no more 401/407 and a follow up
   request with credentials).

   Another goal is to provide more elasticity for scalability needs of the
   core SIP network nodes. Most of the nodes in the core network or the
   interconnecting peers trust each other based on IP address. But adding
   a new node requires updates to the exiting ones to trust the IP address
   of the new node. On large deployments, that can become rather complex.
   For example, as a replacement for IP trust relationships, the sender
   can hash the local IP with the secret shared key, add it in the header
   and the receiver will check if the source ip hased with the key results
   in the same value.

   Not being a challenge-reply mechanism, this can be used to authenticate
   SIP responses from trusted peers.

2. Dependencies

   2.1. Kamailio Modules
   2.2. External Libraries or Applications

2.1. Kamailio Modules

   The following modules must be loaded before this module:
     * none.

2.2. External Libraries or Applications

   The following libraries or applications must be installed before
   running Kamailio with this module loaded:
     * none

3. Parameters

   3.1. xkey (str)

3.1. xkey (str)

   Specify the attributes for a shared secret. The value is in the format
   'name1=value1;name2=value2;...'. The attributes can be:
     * id - the id of the group for keys
     * name - the name of the key within group
     * value - the value of the key
     * expires - expiration time (seconds)

   Default value is empty.

   Example 1.1. Set xkey parameter
...
modparam("auth_xkeys", "xkey", "id=abc;name=xyz;value=secret;expires=72000")
...

4. Functions

   4.1. auth_xkeys_add(hdr, kid, alg, data)
   4.2. auth_xkeys_check(hdr, kid, alg, data)

4.1. auth_xkeys_add(hdr, kid, alg, data)

   Add a header computed with the first key in the group kid, hasing with
   algorithm alg over the content of parameter data. The parameters can
   include variables.

   The algorithm can be: sha256, sha384, sha512.

   This function can be used from ANY_ROUTE.

   Example 1.2. auth_xkeys_add usage
...
auth_xkeys_add("X-My-Key", "abc", "sha256", "$Ri:$fu:$ru:$hdr(CSeq)");
...

4.2. auth_xkeys_check(hdr, kid, alg, data)

   Check if the value of header hdr matches the value computed with the
   first key in the group kid, hasing with algorithm alg over the content
   of parameter data. The parameters can include variables.

   The algorithm can be: sha256, sha384, sha512.

   Note that the header is not removed by the function, it is recommended
   to remove it if sending to untrusted destination.

   This function can be used from ANY_ROUTE.

   Example 1.3. auth_xkeys_check usage
...
if(!auth_xkeys_add("X-My-Key", "abc", "sha256", "$si:$fu:$ru:$hdr(CSeq)")) {
    send_reply("403", "Forbidden");
    exit;
}
remove_hf("X-My-Key");
...
