So I have the website that provides the API for logging in/registering/etc. And I have the MediaWiki set up at my server.
I need to disallow MediaWiki registration and only allow logging people in through our API. So, when the user tries to login, no request to MediaWiki db for the user should be done, instead the request to our API should be done, logging person in if our API returned the correct data and displaying an error if it didn't.
Is there a way to get it done with MediaWiki?
Thanks in advance.
Your question is very broad and involves some development but also a lot of configuration as well. So, let's start:
First of all, you need to somehow integrate with the API you mentioned, which is possible by developing your own primary authentication provider. See the high level documentation. In this, you will have all the necessary entry points a user might hit when logging in or registering a new account and you can "translate" them to the actual actions which you need to do in your API (which you do not mention what it is or provides, so we can not give you better guidance here).
The second step would then be to configure this new authentication provider as the only one using $wgAuthManagerConfig which will in fact disable all other ways of creating other accounts as well as logging in with other accounts then the ones provided from your API.
If you've more questions, I would suggest that you provide more information and specific points where you're stuck :)
You can have a look at Extension:Auth remoteuser, it could fit at least partly you needs.
Related
I am working on a project and one of the key components is creating customized user profiles. I already have a schema design for the user data that will generate said profile. But I am lost on how the technology works.
I am mostly front-end so it has been sort of overwhelming. The goal is to allow multiple user profile creations and so far I have only seen that this can be achievable via NodeJs or PHP. I have not found any guides.
I am not sure if I am asking the right questions.
Any help is appreciated. Thank you.
Since you mention you already have schema for the user table, I assume you are going to design your own database and backend node.js API to handle user profiles. You may want to build authentication functionalities in the future. If you are not familiar with Node.js yet, I recommend you to start with https://www.tutorialspoint.com/nodejs/index.htm. It's a good tutorial for beginners.
The whole purpose of a back-end node.js API is building numbers of service with specified route. Once a http request is made to a particular path, it takes parameters and execute some script. In you case the scripts will do something in database containing user profile data, for example, add a row in your data table. This operation is equivalent to creating a new user. Then, the API send response to front-end.
Keep in mind maintaining user profile data is nothing special than regular data. You should be able to pick it up with a couple of days training if you know javascriopt. But if you have to build authentication functionality you need more technologies.
I am creating a mobile application using swift for my organization. The application reads in data in JSON format to populate the information that gets displayed on the application. I already have a method to generate the JSON files, but I need somewhere to host the actual files. I have an AWS account and an instance running, this is where I initially was hosting my JSON files but I got an email from AWS saying that having the app constantly grab the JSON files that I stored on the site resembled scanning behaviour, which is not allowed apparently. So I was wondering where I could host JSON files so that my mobile app can read in the information it needs. The biggest thing that I need is that I can host it with a static URL that I can keep calling with my app.
I was thinking of potentially putting the files on an AWS bucket with read permissions and having those get accessed, but since AWS already complained about me doing something like that I'm iffy. I was also thinking of putting the JSON files on Github, but again I'd hate to get an email from github telling me that they don't like that an application keeps grabbing the data.
For background, the app essentially has a hardcoded URL that grabs the JSON data and parses it. I didn't do an api because an API takes some time to grab all the information that doesn't really change that often, it's much easier to generate the JSON files locally and just post them online somewhere. The information on it can be read by anyone too it's not private or anything.
Message from AWS:
Hello,
We've received a report(s) that your AWS resource(s)
information
has been implicated in activity which resembles scanning remote hosts on the internet for security vulnerabilities. Activity of this nature is forbidden in the AWS Acceptable Use Policy (https://aws.amazon.com/aup/). We've included the original report below for your review.
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We are unable to assist you with troubleshooting or technical inquiries. However, for guidance on securing your instance, we recommend reviewing the following resources:
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Using an AWS EC2 instance to host static files (which is what it sounds like you were doing?) is pretty standard and I suspect that this is not what Amazon is complaining about. More likely, your instance has been infected by some sort of software which is causing it to request many files from other random servers on the web ("scanning for remote vulnerabilities"). You should check that you have not accidentally publicly posted your AWS credentials (in any form), and consider wiping the instance and resetting it. And of course reply to the email explaining this to AWS.
At the moment I am working on a CRUD app that I am going to deploy (someday) and use for my own startup company. However I am nowhere near finishing this product and I stumbled upon a question that I can't seem to figure out.
I am using Express to serve angular the data out of my MySQL database. To do this I had to create '/api/' routes. However if I go (for example) to '/api/clients' I will be able to see the entire list of clients in an ugly array. In this case that does not really matter since it's just the data they were able to see anyways.
However my question is, is it important to block these kind of routes from users? Will problems arise when a user goes to 'api/createClient'? Could this result in a DB injection that could ruin my db?
My project can be found here: https://github.com/mickvanhulst/BeheerdersOmgevingSA
The server-side routing code can be found: server > Dao > clientDao.js
Controllers, HTML & client-side routing can be found in the 'public' folder.
I hope my question is clear enough and someone will be able to answer my question. If not, please state why the question is not clear and I will try to clarify.
Thanks!
Looking at the code, it looks like your URLs can directly be accessed using browser and if yes, then this does pose a security concern.
Doing DB transaction with the user provided fields or values is major security concern, if these data are not validated and sanitised before making a database call.
I would recommend following minimum steps to follow before crafting APIs which is internal but can be accessed using browser -
If this is internal, then do not provide HEADER ACCESS CONTROL from the server or keep it confined only to your domain name. This prevents any ajax call to be made to your APIs from another domains.
Do sanitise and validate all the data thoroughly before doing any kind of database transactions. There are lots of material on this everywhere on how to do it.
If these APIs are meant to be used for internal purpose, then kindly provide some kind of authentication to your APIs before doing the logical work in your routes with the help of middle-wares. You can leverage cookie authentication for very simple API authentication management. You can also use JSON Web Tokens, if you want a more levels of security.
If you are manipulating your databases then I would highly recommend to use some kind of authentication in your APIs. Ofcourse, point number 2 is must.
The problem I am trying to tackle is simple. I have two pages - the first is a registration page, I take in a few fields from the user, once they submit it takes them to another page that processes the data, stores it to a database, and if successful, gives a confirmation message. Here is my issue - the data from the user is sensitive - as in, I'm using an https connection to ensure no eavesdropping. After that is sent to the database, I'd like on the confirmation page to do some nifty things like Google Maps navigation (this is for a time reservation application). The problem is by using the Google Maps api, I'd be linking to items through a unsecure source, which in turn prompts the user with a nasty warning message. I've browsed around, Google has an alternative to enterprise clients, but it costs $10,000 a year. What I am hoping is to find a workaround - use a secure connection to take in the data, and after it is processed, bring them to a page that isn't secure and allows me to utilize the Google Maps API. If any of you have a Netflix account you can see exactly what I would like to do when you sign-in, it is a secure page, which then takes you to your account / queue, on an unsecure page. Any suggestions? Thanks!
I generally advise never to skip security features, because they are there for a reason, but i found this for you to check out.
Perhaps it is time to consider retiring support for IE6?
Hi I have a question regarding security, and web services.
I need a web service to provide an interface for the underlying mySQL database. I am trying to get a Blackberry Application to store data on the web servers mySQL database through a web service.
My question is, how can I ensure that the bb-application is the only thing that is using the web service? The web service will essential insert data into a table. I want to ensure that only the bb-application is allowed to use this service and not someone who figures out the service and starts spamming my table.
Any pointers, best practices or links are greatly appreciated.
Also what sort of web service is best in this scenario?
Take a look at basic authentication over SSL. Configuring the application to include the username/password in the header should be fairly straightforward and the SSL connection will ensure they're not being transmitted in cleartext.
Use net.rim.device.api.crypto.HMAC to implement HMAC authentication and validation. Establishing end to end SSL connections on a Blackberry can be problematic and dependent on wireless provider support unless your users are activated on a corporate BES (which I srongly recommend as part of the solution if you want robust security).
I am going to assume that the BlackBerry application is made by yourself as well. How you can then do this is by creating a sequence or hash that only your application can create, that the web service can verify. For instance, in the beginning of the process, or better, for each step the web service sends down a key sequence, which maps to an internal dictionary within your application on the method to make the unique hash.
The flow would then be as follows:
Perform data task in BB application
Ready to transmit data to web service
Create unique hash from data + your own information from the mapped dictionary
Transmit the data with the key
Web Service verifies the key. If validation fails, it discards the data completely, if succeeds, it will then do what it needs to do.
Continue.
HTH
Disclaimer: Assuming this is an open ended WS.
Also see my answer here.
I would go with a REST web service over HTTPS it would take your problems away. I dunno anything about blackberry apps so I can't give u any pointers on how to use HTTPS in that platform.
If you are creating a SOAP web service then you want to read about ws-security.
Others have indicated using SSL to secure the site. However, that is only one part of the puzzle. Kyle was close with the second, but didn't quite cut it.
The answer is that every single transaction which is posted to your web service must contain some type of authorization key. That key can be pre-shared and baked into the application OR it can be acquired through some other means and set up as part of the application install / configuration process.
Nearly all companies which provide web services online following this method. The idea is that regardless of the underlying protocol (ssl for example) you have to validate that the request is indeed coming from an authorized device / program. Some vendors have the users create a unique key for each user, some for each device, and others just 1 key for the entire organization. Regardless of how deep you take it there is in fact a key.
The key usually isn't that large. It might be anywhere from 15 to 40 alphanumeric characters.