Intermediary Token Authentication for CSRF Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing authentication methods are vulnerable to cross-site request forgery (CSRF) attacks, where a third-party site impersonates an authenticated party by exploiting secure information between a client and server, highlighting the need for enhanced security mechanisms to prevent such impersonation.
Innovation Solution
An intermediary system intervenes between the client and server, generating a token with a session identifier and credentials, encrypting it, and using it to facilitate secure connections, thereby preventing unauthorized access by matching session identifiers and ensuring only valid credentials complete server connections.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional authentication methods are used, then simplicity of implementation is maintained, but security against cross-site request forgery attacks deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a middle tier component that acts as an intermediary between the client and server. This intermediary generates secure tokens containing encrypted credentials and session identifiers, which prevents direct exposure of authentication mechanisms while maintaining security against CSRF attacks. The intermediary mediates the authentication process without requiring complex changes to either the client or server infrastructure.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary authentication actions by generating tokens in advance that contain encrypted credentials and session identifiers. These tokens are created before actual server interactions occur, allowing the client to present pre-authenticated credentials. This preliminary token generation enhances security while keeping the implementation straightforward, as the complex authentication logic is executed once during token creation rather than repeatedly during each interaction.
2Reliability
If token-based authentication with intermediary is implemented, then protection against cross-site request forgery improves, but communication protocol flexibility deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The token-based authentication system designed in the patent is universally applicable across multiple communication protocols. The intermediary generates tokens that can be used with both secure protocols (such as HTTPS) and non-secure protocols (such as HTTP). The token structure and validation mechanism remain consistent regardless of the underlying transport protocol, making the system highly adaptable while maintaining strong security protections against CSRF attacks.
Data Source
AI summary
An intermediary system facilitates a connection request from a client to a server. The intermediary system may participate in either or both of a token creation phase and a server connection phase. If participating in the token creation phase, the intermediary system generates a token that may later be used by the client during a server connection phase. The token includes a session identifier and is returned to the client. If participating in the server connection phase, the intermediary receives the token, which is sent from the client in conjunction with a connection request, extracts the session identifier from the token, and compares against the session identifier for the session in which the token was created. If the session identifiers match, then the intermediary connects to the server to complete the connection request for the client.