API Gateway Hybrid Tokens for Decentralized Cloud Authorization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing API gateways face security lapses and resource inefficiencies due to inconsistent user experiences and redundant credential requests when permissions change, leading to potential security breaches and resource duplication across varying authentication criteria.
Innovation Solution
Implementing an API gateway that generates short-lived authentication tokens, hybrid tokens indicating user attributes and roles, and proxy tokens for service access, while adapting to different ingress modes, ensuring seamless and secure access across services.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the API gateway uses long-lived authentication tokens, then user convenience is improved, but security is worsened because the user can access services even after permissions change
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts token validation behavior based on the service type. For stateful services, the gateway maintains session state and re-evaluates permissions on each request. For stateless services, it uses short-lived tokens that require re-authentication. This dynamic approach resolves the contradiction by adapting the authentication mechanism to the specific service requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The authentication system is segmented into different modes: stateful authentication for services requiring continuous permission validation, and stateless authentication for services using short-lived tokens. This segmentation allows the system to provide both user convenience (through stateful sessions) and security (through stateless short-lived tokens) simultaneously by dividing the authentication approach based on service needs.
2Reliability
If the API gateway requests credentials for each service access, then security is improved, but user experience is worsened due to redundant credential requests
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway dynamically determines the authentication mode based on service configuration and token type. For stateful services, it maintains session state and avoids repeated credential requests. For stateless services, it enforces short-lived tokens with re-authentication. This dynamic behavior resolves the contradiction by adapting credential request frequency to security requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses service-issued tokens that contain embedded permissions and scopes. Services can independently validate these tokens without requiring gateway-mediated credential verification for each request. This self-service approach improves user experience by reducing redundant credential requests while maintaining security through service-specific token validation.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple gateways are used for different ingress modes, then adaptability is improved, but resource efficiency is worsened due to duplication of resources
Solution Approach 1:
The API gateway is designed with multi-functionality to handle multiple ingress modes (HTTP, HTTPS, WebSocket, gRPC) through a unified authentication framework. It supports both stateful and stateless authentication modes, and can issue different token types based on the service configuration. This universality eliminates the need for separate gateways for different ingress modes, reducing resource duplication while maintaining adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The gateway dynamically adapts its behavior based on the ingress mode and service requirements. It can switch between stateful and stateless authentication, adjust token expiration times, and select appropriate validation strategies. This dynamic adaptability allows a single gateway to replace multiple specialized gateways, improving resource efficiency while maintaining versatility.
4Reliability
If the API gateway maintains session state for all users, then security is improved through continuous authorization checks, but system complexity is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments session management by service type. Stateful services receive sessions with continuous authorization checks, while stateless services receive short-lived tokens without server-side session storage. This segmentation reduces overall system complexity by applying session management only where necessary, while maintaining high authorization accuracy for stateful services.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts session state management from the gateway for stateless services, using self-contained tokens that encode all necessary authorization information. This extraction eliminates the need for server-side session storage for these services, reducing system complexity while maintaining security through token-based authorization validation.
Data Source
AI summary
A device includes one or more processors configured to receive, from a user device, an authentication request including credentials of a user. The one or more processors are also configured to obtain user attributes of the user from one or more user data records associated with one or more identity systems. The one or more processors are further configured to obtain one or more roles of the user based on one or more membership lists. The one or more processors are also configured to generate an authentication token indicating the user attributes and the one or more roles.