Clustered Revoked Token List for Immediate Invalidation
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Solution Overview
Problem
User security tokens in network communication between devices and remote computing resources are vulnerable to unauthorized access due to lag between token invalidation and expiration, allowing malicious users to access data and services.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for managing user security tokens in clusters, where a list of revoked tokens is maintained across nodes, allowing immediate invalidation of tokens upon user request or expiration, using authenticated encryption and symmetric keys, and replicating this list to prevent unauthorized access.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If security tokens are leased to user devices for a period, then user devices can access services of remote computing resources, but tokens remain vulnerable to interception and unauthorized access during the lease period
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-generates a list of revoked token identifiers before tokens are actually used. When a token needs to be invalidated, its identifier is added to this pre-existing revoked list, which is then replicated across the cluster. This preliminary structure allows immediate invalidation without waiting for token expiration, resolving the contradiction between maintaining token validity duration and ensuring security.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary mechanism - a centralized revoked token list stored in a data store and replicated across cluster nodes. This intermediary structure mediates between the token issuance system and validation system, allowing any node to immediately check whether a token has been revoked. This resolves the security vulnerability by providing a real-time invalidation mechanism that doesn't depend on token expiration timing.
2Reliability
If tokens are validated against a revoked list stored in a data store, then unauthorized access can be prevented, but validation speed may be reduced due to storage and retrieval operations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the revoked token list validation functionality directly into each cluster node's token validation process. Each node maintains a local copy of the revoked list and performs validation locally without requiring separate storage and retrieval operations. This merging of validation logic with node operations eliminates the performance overhead of external storage access while maintaining security.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary replication of the revoked token list to all cluster nodes before validation is needed. Each node has the revoked list pre-loaded in its local memory, eliminating the need for real-time storage and retrieval operations during token validation. This preliminary action resolves the contradiction by preparing validation data in advance, ensuring both security and speed.
3Stability of the object's composition
If the revoked token list is replicated between all nodes in the cluster, then consistent security validation is achieved across the cluster, but network traffic and synchronization overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements periodic replication of the revoked token list to cluster nodes rather than continuous real-time synchronization. The list is replicated at scheduled intervals or triggered by specific events (such as when the list changes), reducing unnecessary network traffic while maintaining consistency. This periodic approach resolves the contradiction between achieving cluster-wide consistency and minimizing network bandwidth consumption.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided are methods and systems for invalidating user security tokens. An example method may include providing, by one or more nodes in a cluster, a list of revoked security tokens. The method may include receiving, by the one or more nodes, an indication of invalidating a user security token associated with a user device. The indication may include a request from the user to invalidate the user security token. The method may further include, in response to the receiving, adding, by the one or more nodes, the user security token to the list of revoked security tokens. The user security token can be added to the list of revoked security tokens prior to the expiration time of the user security token. The method may further include replicating, by the one or more nodes, the list of revoked security tokens between further nodes of the cluster.