Auth_aka Module


Table of Contents

1. Admin Guide
1.1. Overview
1.2. Authentication Vectors
1.3. Supported algorithms
1.4. Dependencies
1.4.1. OpenSIPS Modules
1.4.2. External Libraries or Applications
1.5. Exported Parameters
1.5.1. default_av_mgm (string)
1.5.2. default_qop (string)
1.5.3. default_algorithm (string)
1.5.4. hash_size (integer)
1.5.5. sync_timeout (integer)
1.5.6. async_timeout (integer)
1.5.7. unused_timeout (integer)
1.5.8. unused_timeout (integer)
1.6. Exported Functions
1.6.1. aka_www_authorize([realm]])
1.6.2. aka_proxy_authorize([realm]])
1.6.3. aka_www_challenge([av_mgm[, realm[ ,qop[, alg]]]])
1.6.4. aka_proxy_challenge([realm]])
1.6.5. aka_av_add(public_identity, private_identity, authenticate, authorize, confidentiality_key, integrity_key[, algorithms])
1.6.6. aka_av_drop(public_identity, private_identity, authenticate)
1.6.7. aka_av_drop_all(public_identity, private_identity[, count])
1.6.8. aka_av_fail(public_identity, private_identity[, count])
1.7. Exported MI Functions
1.7.1. aka_av_add
1.7.2. aka_av_drop
1.7.3. aka_av_drop_all
1.7.4. aka_av_fail
2. Contributors
2.1. By Commit Statistics
2.2. By Commit Activity
3. Documentation
3.1. Contributors

List of Tables

2.1. Top contributors by DevScore(1), authored commits(2) and lines added/removed(3)
2.2. Most recently active contributors(1) to this module

List of Examples

1.1. default_av_mgm parameter usage
1.2. default_qop parameter usage
1.3. default_algorithm parameter usage
1.4. hash_size parameter usage
1.5. sync_timeout parameter usage
1.6. async_timeout parameter usage
1.7. unused_timeout parameter usage
1.8. pending_timeout parameter usage
1.9. aka_www_authorize usage
1.10. aka_proxy_authorize usage
1.11. aka_www_challenge usage
1.12. aka_proxy_challenge usage
1.13. aka_av_add usage
1.14. aka_av_drop usage
1.15. aka_av_drop_all usage
1.16. aka_av_fail usage
1.17. aka_av_add usage
1.18. aka_av_drop usage
1.19. aka_av_drop_all usage
1.20. aka_av_drop usage

Chapter 1. Admin Guide

1.1. Overview

This module contains functions that are used to perform digest authentication using the AKA (Authentication and Key Agreement) security protocol. This mechanism is being used in IMS networks to provide mutual authentication between the UE (device) and the 3G/4G/5G network.

The AKA protocol establishes a set of security keys, called authentication vectors (or AVs), and uses them to generate the digest challenge, as well as for computing the digest result and authenticating the UE. AVs are exchanged over a separate communication channel.

Although the AKA protocol also requires to use the AVs to establish a secure channel between the UE and the network (by means of IPSec tunnels), this module does not handle that part - it just performs the authentication of the user and passes along the cyphering and integrity keys in the Authorization header, according to the ETSI TS 129 229 specifications. These are later on picked up by other components (such as P-CSCFs) to establish the secure channel.

1.2. Authentication Vectors

Authentication Vectors (or AVs) consist of a set of five parameter (RAND, AUTN, XRES, CK, IK) that are being used for mutual authentication. As these need to be exchanged between the device (UE) and network through a different channel (i.e. Diameter Cx interface in LTE networks), the module does not provide any means to fetch the AV information. It does, however, provide a generic interface (called AV Manage Interface) to store AVs (that are being fetched by other modules/channels), manage them and use them in the digest authentication algorithm.

Basic AV operations that the module performs:

  • Ask for a new AV to be fetched for a specific user identity

  • Manage an AV lifetime, including reuses

  • Mark an AV as being used in a digest challeng

  • Invalidate or discard an AV (due to various reasons)

A module that implements the AV Manage Interface (called AV Manager) should be able to fetch all five parameters of an AV, and push them in the AV Storage.

1.3. Supported algorithms

The current implementation only supports the AKAv1 algorithms, with the associated hashing functions (such as MD5, SHA-256). In the challenge message, we send, one can advertise other algorithms as well, but the response cannot be handled by this module, and an appropriate error will be returned.

1.4. Dependencies

1.4.1. OpenSIPS Modules

The module depends on the following modules (in the other words the listed modules must be loaded before this module):

  • auth -- Authentication framework

  • AV manage module -- at least one module that fetches AVs and pushes them in the AV storage

1.4.2. External Libraries or Applications

This module does not depend on any external library.

1.5. Exported Parameters

1.5.1. default_av_mgm (string)

The default AV Manager used in case the functions do not provide them explicitly.

Example 1.1. default_av_mgm parameter usage

		
modparam("auth_aka", "default_av_mgm", "diameter") # fetch AVs through the Cx interface
		

1.5.2. default_qop (string)

The default qop parameter used during challenge, if the functions do not provide them explicitly.

Default value is auth.

Example 1.2. default_qop parameter usage

		
modparam("auth_aka", "default_qop", "auth,auth-int")
		

1.5.3. default_algorithm (string)

The default algorithm to be advertise during challenge, if the functions do not provide them explicitly. Note that at least one of the algorithms provided should be an AKA one, otherwise it makes no sense to use this module.

Default value is AKAv1-MD5.

WARNING: only AKAv1* algorithms are currently supported.

Example 1.3. default_algorithm parameter usage

		
modparam("auth_aka", "default_algorithm", "AKAv2-MD5")
		

1.5.4. hash_size (integer)

The size of the hash that stores the AVs for each user. Must be a power of 2 number.

Default value is 4096.

Example 1.4. hash_size parameter usage

		
modparam("auth_aka", "hash_size", 1024)
		

1.5.5. sync_timeout (integer)

The amount of milliseconds a synchronous call should wait for getting an authentication vector.

Must be a positive value. A value of 0 indicates to wait indefinitely.

Default value is 100 ms.

Example 1.5. sync_timeout parameter usage

		
modparam("auth_aka", "sync_timeout", 200)
		

1.5.6. async_timeout (integer)

The amount of milliseconds an asynchronous call should wait for getting an authentication vector.

Must be a positive value, greater than 0.

NOTE: the current timeout mechanism only has seconds granularity, therefore you should configure this parameter as a multiple of 1000.

Default value is 1000 ms.

Example 1.6. async_timeout parameter usage


modparam("auth_aka", "async_timeout", 2000)
		

1.5.7. unused_timeout (integer)

The amount of seconds an authentication vector that has not been used can stay in memory. Once this timeout is reached, the authentication vector is removed.

Must be a positive value, greater than 0.

Default value is 60 s.

Example 1.7. unused_timeout parameter usage


modparam("auth_aka", "unused_timeout", 120)
		

1.5.8. unused_timeout (integer)

The amount of seconds an authentication vector that is being used in the authentication process shall stay in memory. Once this timeout is reached, the authentication vector is removed, and the authentication using it will fail.

Must be a positive value, greater than 0.

Default value is 30 s.

Example 1.8. pending_timeout parameter usage


modparam("auth_aka", "pending_timeout", 10)
		

1.6. Exported Functions

1.6.1. aka_www_authorize([realm]])

The function verifies credentials according to RFC3310, by using an authentication vector priorly allocated by an aka_www_challenge() call, using the av_mgm manager. If the credentials are verified successfully the function will succeed, otherwise it will fail with an appropriate error code, as follows:

  • -6 (sync request) - the auts parameter was was present, thus a sync was requested;

  • -5 (generic error) - some generic error occurred and no reply was sent out;

  • -4 (no credentials) - credentials were not found in request;

  • -3 (unknown nonce) - authentication vector with the corresponding nonce was not found;

  • -2 (invalid password) - password does not match the authentication vector;

  • -1 (invalid username) - no username found in the Authorize header;

In case the function succeeds, the WWW-Authenticate header is being added to the reply, containing the challenge information, as well as the Integrity-Key and the Confidentiality-Key values associated to the AV being used.

Meaning of the parameters is as follows:

  • realm (string) - Realm is a opaque string that the user agent should present to the user so he can decide what username and password to use. This is usually one of the domains the proxy is responsible for. If an empty string is used then the server will generate realm from host part of From header field URI.

If the credentials are verified successfully then the function will succeed and mark the credentials as authorized (marked credentials can be later used by some other functions).

This function can be used from REQUEST_ROUTE.

Example 1.9. aka_www_authorize usage

		
...
if (!aka_www_authorize("diameter", "siphub.com"))
	aka_www_challenge("diameter", "siphub.com", "auth");
...


1.6.2. aka_proxy_authorize([realm]])

The function behaves the same as aka_www_authorize(), but it authenticates the user from a proxy perspective. It receives the same parameters, with the same meaning, and returns the same values.

This function can be used from REQUEST_ROUTE.

Example 1.10. aka_proxy_authorize usage

		
...
if (!aka_proxy_authorize("siphub.com"))
	aka_proxy_challenge("diameter", "siphub.com", "auth");
...


1.6.3. aka_www_challenge([av_mgm[, realm[ ,qop[, alg]]]])

The function challenges a user agent. It fetches an authentication vector for each algorigthm used through the av_mgm Manager and generate one or more WWW-Authenticate header fields containing digest challenges. It will put the header field(s) into a response generated from the request the server is processing and will send the reply. Upon reception of such a reply the user agent should compute credentials using the used authentication vector annd retry the request. For more information regarding digest authentication see RFC2617, RFC3261, RFC3310 and RFC8760.

Meaning of the parameters is as follows:

  • av_mgm (string, optional) - the AV Manager to be used for this challenge, in case an AV is not already available for the challenged user identity. In case it is missing the value of the default_av_mgm is being used.

    realm (string) - Realm is an opaque string that the user agent should present to the user so it can decide what username and password to use. Usually this is domain of the host the server is running on. If missing, the value of the From domain is being used.

  • qop (string, optional) - Value of this parameter can be either auth, auth-int or both (separated by ,). When this parameter is set the server will put a qop parameter in the challenge. It is recommended to use the qop parameter, however there are still some user agents that cannot handle qop properly so we made this optional. On the other hand there are still some user agents that cannot handle request without a qop parameter too. If missing, the value of the default_qop is being used.

  • algorithms (string, optional) - Value of this parameter is a comma-separated list of digest algorithms to be offered for the UAC to use for authentication. Possible values are:

    • AKAv1-MD5
    • AKAv1-MD5-sess
    • AKAv1-SHA-256
    • AKAv1-SHA-256-sess
    • AKAv1-SHA-512-256
    • AKAv1-SHA-512-256-sess
    • AKAv2-MD5
    • AKAv2-MD5-sess
    • AKAv2-SHA-256
    • AKAv2-SHA-256-sess
    • AKAv2-SHA-512-256
    • AKAv2-SHA-512-256-sess

    When the value is empty or not set, the only offered digest the value of the default_algorithm is being used.

Possible return codes:

  • -1 - generic parsing error, generated when there is not enoough data to build the challange

  • -2 - no AV vector could not be fetched

  • -3 - authentication headers could not be built

  • -5 - a reply could not be sent

  • positive - the number of successful chalanges being sent in the reply; this value can be lower than the number of algorithms being requested in case there was a timeout waiting for some AVs.

This function can be used from REQUEST_ROUTE.

Example 1.11. aka_www_challenge usage

...
if (!aka_www_authorize("siphub.com")) {
	aka_www_challenge(,"siphub.com", "auth-int", "AKAv1-MD5");
}
...

1.6.4. aka_proxy_challenge([realm]])

The function behaves the same as aka_www_challenge(), but it challenges the user from a proxy perspective. It receives the same parameters, with the same meaning, the only difference being that in case of the realm is missing, then it is taken from the the To domain, rather than from From domain. The header added is Proxy-Authenticate, rather than WWW-Authenticate The rest of the parameters, behavior, as well as return values are the same.

This function can be used from REQUEST_ROUTE.

Example 1.12. aka_proxy_challenge usage

		
...
if (!aka_proxy_authorize("siphub.com"))
	aka_proxy_challenge(,"siphub.com", "auth");
...


1.6.5. aka_av_add(public_identity, private_identity, authenticate, authorize, confidentiality_key, integrity_key[, algorithms])

Adds an authentication vector for the user identitied by public_identity and private_identity.

Meaning of the parameters is as follows:

  • public_identity (string) - the public identity (IMPU) of the user to add authentication vector for.

  • private_identity (string) - the private identity (IMPI) of the user to add authentication vector for.

  • authenticate (string) - the concatenation of the authentication challenge RAND and the token AUTN, encoded in hexa format.

  • authorize (string) - the authorization string (XRES) used for authorizing the user, encoded in hexa format.

  • confidentiality_key (string) - the Confidentiality-Key used in the AKA IPSec process, encoded in hexa format.

  • integrity_key (string) - the Integrity-Key used in the AKA IPSec process, encoded in hexa format.

  • algorithms (string, optional) - AKA algorithms this AV should be used for. If missing, the AV can be used for any AKA algorithm.

This function can be used from any route.

Example 1.13. aka_av_add usage

		
...
aka_av_add("sip:test@siphub.com", "test@siphub.com",
			"KFQ/MpR3cE3V9PxucEQS5KED8uUNYIAALFyk59sIJI4=", /* authenticate */
			"00000262c0000014000028af2d6398cbe26eea69", /* authorize */
			"db7f8c4a58e17083974bba3b936d34c4", /* ck */
			"6151667b9ef815c1dcb87473685f062a"  /* ik */);
...

1.6.6. aka_av_drop(public_identity, private_identity, authenticate)

Drops the authentication vector corresponding to the authenticate/nonce value for an user identitied by public_identity and private_identity.

Meaning of the parameters is as follows:

  • public_identity (string) - the public identity (IMPU) of the user to drop authentication vector for.

  • private_identity (string) - the private identity (IMPI) of the user to drop authentication vector for.

  • authenticate (string) - the authenticate/nonce that identifies the authentication vector to be dropped.

This function can be used from any route.

Example 1.14. aka_av_drop usage

		
...
aka_av_drop("sip:test@siphub.com", "test@siphub.com",
			"KFQ/MpR3cE3V9PxucEQS5KED8uUNYIAALFyk59sIJI4=");
...

1.6.7. aka_av_drop_all(public_identity, private_identity[, count])

Drops all authentication vectors for an user identitied by public_identity and private_identity. This function is useful when a synchronization must be done.

Meaning of the parameters is as follows:

  • public_identity (string) - the public identity (IMPU) of the user to drop authentication vectors for.

  • private_identity (string) - the private identity (IMPI) of the user to drop authentication vectors for.

  • count (variable, optional) - a variable to return the number of authentication vectors dropped.

This function can be used from any route.

Example 1.15. aka_av_drop_all usage

		
...
aka_av_drop_all("sip:test@siphub.com", "test@siphub.com", $var(count));
...

1.6.8. aka_av_fail(public_identity, private_identity[, count])

Marks the engine that an authentication vector query for a user has failed, unlocking the processing of the message.

Note: this function is useful when you know that fetching a new authentication vector is not possible (due to various reasons) - calling it will resume the message procesing, using only the available AVs fetched so far.

Meaning of the parameters is as follows:

  • public_identity (string) - the public identity (IMPU) of the user to drop authentication vectors for.

  • private_identity (string) - the private identity (IMPI) of the user to drop authentication vectors for.

  • count (integer, optional) - the number of authentication vectors that failed. If missing, 1 is considered.

This function can be used from any route.

Example 1.16. aka_av_fail usage

...
aka_av_fail("sip:test@siphub.com", "test@siphub.com", 3);
...

1.7. Exported MI Functions

1.7.1. aka_av_add

Adds an Authentication Vector through the MI interface.

Parameters:

  • public_identity (string) - the public identity (IMPU) of the user to add authentication vector for.

  • private_identity (string) - the private identity (IMPI) of the user to add authentication vector for.

  • authenticate (string) - the concatenation of the authentication challenge RAND and the token AUTN, encoded in hexa format.

  • authorize (string) - the authorization string (XRES) used for authorizing the user, encoded in hexa format.

  • confidentiality_key (string) - the Confidentiality-Key used in the AKA IPSec process, encoded in hexa format.

  • integrity_key (string) - the Integrity-Key used in the AKA IPSec process, encoded in hexa format.

  • algorithms (string, optional) - AKA algorithms this AV should be used for. If missing, the AV can be used for any AKA algorithm.

Example 1.17.  aka_av_add usage

...
## adds an AKA AV
$ opensips-cli -x mi aka_av_add \
				sip:test@siphub.com
				test@siphub.com
				KFQ/MpR3cE3V9PxucEQS5KED8uUNYIAALFyk59sIJI4=
				00000262c0000014000028af2d6398cbe26eea69
				db7f8c4a58e17083974bba3b936d34c4
				6151667b9ef815c1dcb87473685f062a
...
			

1.7.2. aka_av_drop

Invalidates an Authentication Vector of an user identified by its authenticate value.

Parameters:

  • public_identity (string) - the public identity (IMPU) of the user to add authentication vector for.

  • private_identity (string) - the private identity (IMPI) of the user to add authentication vector for.

  • authenticate (string) - the authenticate/nonce to indentify the authentication vector.

Example 1.18.  aka_av_drop usage

...
## adds an AKA AV
$ opensips-cli -x mi aka_av_drop \
				sip:test@siphub.com
				test@siphub.com
				KFQ/MpR3cE3V9PxucEQS5KED8uUNYIAALFyk59sIJI4=
...
			

1.7.3. aka_av_drop_all

Invalidates all Authentication Vectors of an user through the MI interface.

Parameters:

  • public_identity (string) - the public identity (IMPU) of the user to drop authentication vectors for.

  • private_identity (string) - the private identity (IMPI) of the user to drop authentication vectors for.

Example 1.19.  aka_av_drop_all usage

...
## adds an AKA AV
$ opensips-cli -x mi aka_av_drop_all \
				sip:test@siphub.com
				test@siphub.com
...
			

1.7.4. aka_av_fail

Indicates the fact that the fetching of an authentication vector has failed, unlocking the processing of the message.

Note: this function is useful when you know that fetching a new authentication vector is not possible (due to various reasons) - calling it will resume the message procesing, using only the available AVs fetched so far.

Parameters:

  • public_identity (string) - the public identity (IMPU) of the user to add authentication vector for.

  • private_identity (string) - the private identity (IMPI) of the user to add authentication vector for.

  • count (integer, optional) - the number of authentication vectors failures.

Example 1.20.  aka_av_drop usage

...
## adds an AKA AV
$ opensips-cli -x mi aka_av_drop \
				sip:test@siphub.com
				test@siphub.com
				KFQ/MpR3cE3V9PxucEQS5KED8uUNYIAALFyk59sIJI4=
...
			

Chapter 2. Contributors

2.1. By Commit Statistics

Table 2.1. Top contributors by DevScore(1), authored commits(2) and lines added/removed(3)

 NameDevScoreCommitsLines ++Lines --
1. Razvan Crainea (@razvancrainea)53193377294

(1) DevScore = author_commits + author_lines_added / (project_lines_added / project_commits) + author_lines_deleted / (project_lines_deleted / project_commits)

(2) including any documentation-related commits, excluding merge commits. Regarding imported patches/code, we do our best to count the work on behalf of the proper owner, as per the "fix_authors" and "mod_renames" arrays in opensips/doc/build-contrib.sh. If you identify any patches/commits which do not get properly attributed to you, please submit a pull request which extends "fix_authors" and/or "mod_renames".

(3) ignoring whitespace edits, renamed files and auto-generated files

2.2. By Commit Activity

Table 2.2. Most recently active contributors(1) to this module

 NameCommit Activity
1. Razvan Crainea (@razvancrainea)Feb 2024 - Sep 2024

(1) including any documentation-related commits, excluding merge commits

Chapter 3. Documentation

3.1. Contributors

Last edited by: Razvan Crainea (@razvancrainea).

Documentation Copyrights:

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