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Build, Sign and Encrypt JSON Web Tokens

According to RFC7519, JSON Web Token (JWT) is a compact, URL-safe means of representing claims which are encoded as a JSON object that is used as the payload of a JSON Web Signature (JWS) structure or as the plaintext of a JSON Web Encryption (JWE) structure, enabling the claims to be digitally signed or integrity protected with a Message Authentication Code(MAC) and/or encrypted.

Signing the claims is used most often to secure the claims. What is known today as a JWT token is typically produced by signing the claims in a JSON format using the steps described in the JSON Web Signature specification.

However, when the claims are sensitive, their confidentiality can be guaranteed by following the steps described in the JSON Web Encryption specification to produce a JWT token with the encrypted claims.

Finally, both the confidentiality and integrity of the claims can be further enforced by signing them first and then encrypting the nested JWT token.

SmallRye JWT Build provides an API for securing JWT claims using all of these options. Jose4J is used internally to support this API.

Dependency

pom.xml

<dependency>
    <groupId>io.quarkus</groupId>
    <artifactId>quarkus-smallrye-jwt-build</artifactId>
</dependency>

build.gradle

implementation("io.quarkus:quarkus-smallrye-jwt-build")

Note you can use SmallRye JWT Build API without having to create MicroProfile JWT endpoints supported by quarkus-smallrye-jwt. It can also be excluded from quarkus-smallrye-jwt if MP JWT endpoints do not need to generate JWT tokens.

Create JwtClaimsBuilder and set the claims

The first step is to initialize a JwtClaimsBuilder using one of the options below and add some claims to it:

import java.util.Collections;
import jakarta.json.Json;
import jakarta.json.JsonObject;
import io.smallrye.jwt.build.Jwt;
import io.smallrye.jwt.build.JwtClaimsBuilder;
import org.eclipse.microprofile.jwt.JsonWebToken;
...
// Create an empty builder and add some claims
JwtClaimsBuilder builder1 = Jwt.claims();
builder1.claim("customClaim", "custom-value").issuer("https://issuer.org");
// Or start typing the claims immediately:
// JwtClaimsBuilder builder1 = Jwt.upn("Alice");

// Builder created from the existing claims
JwtClaimsBuilder builder2 = Jwt.claims("/tokenClaims.json");

// Builder created from a map of claims
JwtClaimsBuilder builder3 = Jwt.claims(Collections.singletonMap("customClaim", "custom-value"));

// Builder created from JsonObject
JsonObject userName = Json.createObjectBuilder().add("username", "Alice").build();
JsonObject userAddress = Json.createObjectBuilder().add("city", "someCity").add("street", "someStreet").build();
JsonObject json = Json.createObjectBuilder(userName).add("address", userAddress).build();
JwtClaimsBuilder builder4 = Jwt.claims(json);

// Builder created from JsonWebToken
@Inject JsonWebToken token;
JwtClaimsBuilder builder5 = Jwt.claims(token);

The API is fluent so the builder initialization can be done as part of the fluent API sequence.

The builder will also set iat (issued at) to the current time, exp (expires at) to 5 minutes away from the current time (it can be customized with the smallrye.jwt.new-token.lifespan property) and jti (unique token identifier) claims if they have not already been set.

One can also configure smallrye.jwt.new-token.issuer and smallrye.jwt.new-token.audience properties and skip setting the issuer and audience directly with the builder API.

The next step is to decide how to secure the claims.

Sign the claims

The claims can be signed immediately or after the JSON Web Signature headers have been set:

import io.smallrye.jwt.build.Jwt;
...

// Sign the claims using an RSA private key loaded from the location set with a 'smallrye.jwt.sign.key.location' property.
// No 'jws()' transition is necessary. Default algorithm is RS256.
String jwt1 = Jwt.claims("/tokenClaims.json").sign();

// Set the headers and sign the claims with an RSA private key loaded in the code (the implementation of this method is omitted).
// Note a 'jws()' transition to a 'JwtSignatureBuilder', Default algorithm is RS256.
String jwt2 = Jwt.claims("/tokenClaims.json").jws().keyId("kid1").header("custom-header", "custom-value").sign(getPrivateKey());

Note the alg (algorithm) header is set to RS256 by default. Signing key identifier (kid header) does not have to be set if a single JSON Web Key (JWK) containing a kid property is used.

RSA and Elliptic Curve (EC) private keys as well as symmetric secret keys can be used to sign the claims. ES256 and HS256 are the default algorithms for EC private and symmetric key algorithms respectively.

You can customize the signature algorithm, for example:

import io.smallrye.jwt.SignatureAlgorithm;
import io.smallrye.jwt.build.Jwt;

// Sign the claims using an RSA private key loaded from the location set with a 'smallrye.jwt.sign.key.location' property. Algorithm is PS256.
String jwt = Jwt.upn("Alice").jws().algorithm(SignatureAlgorithm.PS256).sign();

Alternatively you can use a smallrye.jwt.new-token.signature-algorithm property:

smallrye.jwt.new-token.signature-algorithm=PS256

and write a simpler API sequence:

import io.smallrye.jwt.build.Jwt;

// Sign the claims using an RSA private key loaded from the location set with a 'smallrye.jwt.sign.key.location' property. Algorithm is PS256.
String jwt = Jwt.upn("Alice").sign();

Note the sign step can be combined with the encrypt step to produce inner-signed and encrypted tokens, see Sign the claims and encrypt the nested JWT token section.

Encrypt the claims

The claims can be encrypted immediately or after the JSON Web Encryption headers have been set the same way as they can be signed. The only minor difference is that encrypting the claims always requires a jwe() JwtEncryptionBuilder transition given that the API has been optimized to support signing and inner-signing of the claims.

import io.smallrye.jwt.build.Jwt;
...

// Encrypt the claims using an RSA public key loaded from the location set with a 'smallrye.jwt.encrypt.key.location' property. Default key encryption algorithm is RSA-OAEP.
String jwt1 = Jwt.claims("/tokenClaims.json").jwe().encrypt();

// Set the headers and encrypt the claims with an RSA public key loaded in the code (the implementation of this method is omitted).  Default key encryption algorithm is A256KW.
String jwt2 = Jwt.claims("/tokenClaims.json").jwe().header("custom-header", "custom-value").encrypt(getSecretKey());

Note the alg (key management algorithm) header is set to RSA-OAEP and the enc (content encryption header) is set to A256GCM by default.

RSA and Elliptic Curve (EC) public keys as well as symmetric secret keys can be used to encrypt the claims. ECDH-ES and A256KW are the default algorithms for EC public and symmetric key encryption algorithms respectively.

Note two encryption operations are done when creating an encrypted token:

1) the generated content encryption key is encrypted by the key supplied with the API using the key encryption algorithm such as RSA-OAEP 2) the claims are encrypted by the generated content encryption key using the content encryption algorithm such as A256GCM.

You can customize the key and content encryption algorithms, for example:

import io.smallrye.jwt.KeyEncryptionAlgorithm;
import io.smallrye.jwt.ContentEncryptionAlgorithm;
import io.smallrye.jwt.build.Jwt;

// Encrypt the claims using an RSA public key loaded from the location set with a 'smallrye.jwt.encrypt.key.location' property.
// Key encryption algorithm is RSA-OAEP-256, content encryption algorithm is A256CBC-HS512.
String jwt = Jwt.subject("Bob").jwe()
    .keyAlgorithm(KeyEncryptionAlgorithm.RSA_OAEP_256)
    .contentAlgorithm(ContentEncryptionAlgorithm.A256CBC_HS512)
    .encrypt();

Alternatively you can use smallrye.jwt.new-token.key-encryption-algorithm and smallrye.jwt.new-token.content-encryption-algorithm properties to customize the key and content encryption algorithms:

smallrye.jwt.new-token.key-encryption-algorithm=RSA-OAEP-256
smallrye.jwt.new-token.content-encryption-algorithm=A256CBC-HS512

and write a simpler API sequence:

import io.smallrye.jwt.build.Jwt;

// Encrypt the claims using an RSA public key loaded from the location set with a 'smallrye.jwt.encrypt.key.location' property.
// Key encryption algorithm is RSA-OAEP-256, content encryption algorithm is A256CBC-HS512.
String jwt = Jwt.subject("Bob").encrypt();

Note that when the token is directly encrypted by the public RSA or EC key it is not possible to verify which party sent the token. Therefore, the secret keys should be preferred for directly encrypting the tokens, for example, when using JWT as cookies where a secret key is managed by the Quarkus endpoint with only this endpoint being both a producer and a consumer of the encrypted token.

If you would like to use RSA or EC public keys to encrypt the token then it is recommended to sign the token first if the signing key is available, see the next Sign the claims and encrypt the nested JWT token section.

Sign the claims and encrypt the nested JWT token

The claims can be signed and then the nested JWT token encrypted by combining the sign and encrypt steps.

import io.smallrye.jwt.build.Jwt;
...

// Sign the claims and encrypt the nested token using the private and public keys loaded from the locations set with the 'smallrye.jwt.sign.key.location' and 'smallrye.jwt.encrypt.key.location' properties respectively. Signature algorithm is RS256, key encryption algorithm is RSA-OAEP-256.
String jwt = Jwt.claims("/tokenClaims.json").innerSign().encrypt();

Fast JWT Generation

If smallrye.jwt.sign.key.location or/and smallrye.jwt.encrypt.key.location properties are set then one can secure the existing claims (resources, maps, JsonObjects) with a single call:

// More compact than Jwt.claims("/claims.json").sign();
Jwt.sign("/claims.json");

// More compact than Jwt.claims("/claims.json").jwe().encrypt();
Jwt.encrypt("/claims.json");

// More compact than Jwt.claims("/claims.json").innerSign().encrypt();
Jwt.signAndEncrypt("/claims.json");

As mentioned above, iat (issued at), exp (expires at), jti (token identifier), iss (issuer) and aud (audience) claims will be added if needed.

Dealing with the keys

smallrye.jwt.sign.key.location and smallrye.jwt.encrypt.key.location properties can be used to point to signing and encryption key locations. The keys can be located on the local file system, classpath, or fetched from the remote endpoints and can be in PEM or JSON Web Key (JWK) formats. For example:

smallrye.jwt.sign.key.location=privateKey.pem
smallrye.jwt.encrypt.key.location=publicKey.pem

You can also use MicroProfile ConfigSource to fetch the keys from the external services such as HashiCorp Vault or other secret managers and use smallrye.jwt.sign.key and smallrye.jwt.encrypt.key properties instead:

smallrye.jwt.sign.key=${private.key.from.vault}
smallrye.jwt.encrypt.key=${public.key.from.vault}

where both private.key.from.vault and public.key.from.vault are the PEM or JWK formatted key values provided by the custom ConfigSource. smallrye.jwt.sign.key and smallrye.jwt.encrypt.key can also contain only the Base64-encoded private or public keys values.

However, please note, directly inlining the private keys in the configuration is not recommended. Use the smallrye.jwt.sign.key property only if you need to fetch a signing key value from the remote secret manager.

The keys can also be loaded by the code which builds the token and supplied to JWT Build API.

If you need to sign and/or encrypt the token using the symmetric secret key then consider using io.smallrye.jwt.util.KeyUtils to generate a SecretKey of the required length.

For example, one needs to have a 64 byte key to sign using the HS512 algorithm (512/8) and a 32 byte key to encrypt the content encryption key with the A256KW algorithm (256/8):

import javax.crypto.SecretKey;
import io.smallrye.jwt.KeyEncryptionAlgorithm;
import io.smallrye.jwt.SignatureAlgorithm;
import io.smallrye.jwt.build.Jwt;
import io.smallrye.jwt.util.KeyUtils;

SecretKey signingKey = KeyUtils.generateSecretKey(SignatureAlgorithm.HS512);
SecretKey encryptionKey = KeyUtils.generateSecretKey(KeyEncryptionAlgorithm.A256KW);
String jwt = Jwt.claim("sensitiveClaim", getSensitiveClaim()).innerSign(signingKey).encrypt(encryptionKey);

You can also consider using a JSON Web Key (JWK) or JSON Web Key Set (JWK Set) format to store a secret key on a secure file system and refer to it using either smallrye.jwt.sign.key.location or smallrye.jwt.encrypt.key.location properties, for example:

{
 "kty":"oct",
 "kid":"secretKey",
 "k":"Fdh9u8rINxfivbrianbbVT1u232VQBZYKx1HGAGPt2I"
}

{
 "keys": [
   {
     "kty":"oct",
     "kid":"secretKey1",
     "k":"Fdh9u8rINxfivbrianbbVT1u232VQBZYKx1HGAGPt2I"
   },
   {
     "kty":"oct",
     "kid":"secretKey2",
     "k":"AyM1SysPpbyDfgZld3umj1qzKObwVMkoqQ-EstJQLr_T-1qS0gZH75aKtMN3Yj0iPS4hcgUuTwjAzZr1Z9CAow"
   }
 ]
}

io.smallrye.jwt.util.KeyUtils can also be used to generate a pair of asymmetric RSA or EC keys. These keys can be stored using a JWK, JWK Set or PEM format.

SmallRye JWT Builder configuration

SmallRye JWT supports the following properties which can be used to customize the way claims are signed and/or encrypted:

Property Name Default Description

Property Name	Default	Description
`smallrye.jwt.sign.key.location`	`none`	Location of a private key which will be used to sign the claims when either a no-argument `sign()` or `innerSign()` method is called.
`smallrye.jwt.sign.key`	`none`	Key value which will be used to sign the claims when either a no-argument `sign()` or `innerSign()` method is called.
`smallrye.jwt.sign.key.id`	`none`	Signing key identifier which is checked only when JWK keys are used.
`smallrye.jwt.encrypt.key.location`	`none`	Location of a public key which will be used to encrypt the claims or inner JWT when a no-argument `encrypt()` method is called.
`smallrye.jwt.sign.relax-key-validation`	`false`	Relax the validation of the signing keys.
`smallrye.jwt.encrypt.key`	`none`	Key value which will be used to encrypt the claims or inner JWT when a no-argument encrypt() method is called.
`smallrye.jwt.encrypt.key.id`	`none`	Encryption key identifier which is checked only when JWK keys are used.
`smallrye.jwt.encrypt.relax-key-validation`	`false`	Relax the validation of the encryption keys.
`smallrye.jwt.new-token.signature-algorithm`	`RS256`	Signature algorithm. This property will be checked if the JWT signature builder has not already set the signature algorithm.
`smallrye.jwt.new-token.key-encryption-algorithm`	`RSA-OAEP`	Key encryption algorithm. This property will be checked if the JWT encryption builder has not already set the key encryption algorithm.
`smallrye.jwt.new-token.content-encryption-algorithm`	`A256GCM`	Content encryption algorithm. This property will be checked if the JWT encryption builder has not already set the content encryption algorithm.
`smallrye.jwt.new-token.lifespan`	`300`	Token lifespan in seconds which will be used to calculate an `exp` (expiry) claim value if this claim has not already been set.
`smallrye.jwt.new-token.issuer`	`none`	Token issuer which can be used to set an `iss` (issuer) claim value if this claim has not already been set.
`smallrye.jwt.new-token.audience`	`none`	Token audience which can be used to set an `aud` (audience) claim value if this claim has not already been set.
`smallrye.jwt.new-token.override-matching-claims`	`false`	Set this property to `true` for `smallrye.jwt.new-token.issuer` and `smallrye.jwt.new-token.audience` values to override the already initialized `iss` (issuer) and `aud` (audience) claims.
`smallrye.jwt.keystore.type`	`JKS`	This property can be used to customize a keystore type if either `smallrye.jwt.sign.key.location` or `smallrye.jwt.encrypt.key.location` or both of these properties point to a `KeyStore` file. If it is not set then the file name will be checked to determine the keystore type before defaulting to `JKS`.
`smallrye.jwt.keystore.provider`		This property can be used to customize a `KeyStore` provider if `smallrye.jwt.sign.key.location` or `smallrye.jwt.encrypt.key.location` point to a `KeyStore` file.
`smallrye.jwt.keystore.password`		Keystore password. If `smallrye.jwt.sign.key.location` or `smallrye.jwt.encrypt.key.location` point to a `KeyStore` file then this property has be set.
`smallrye.jwt.keystore.encrypt.key.alias`		This property has to be set to identify a public encryption key which will be extracted from `KeyStore` from a matching certificate if `smallrye.jwt.encrypt.key.location` points to a `KeyStore` file.
`smallrye.jwt.keystore.sign.key.alias`		This property has to be set to identify a private signing key if `smallrye.jwt.sign.key.location` points to a `KeyStore` file.
`smallrye.jwt.keystore.sign.key.password`		This property may be set if a private signing key’s password in `KeyStore` is different to `smallrye.jwt.keystore.password` when `smallrye.jwt.sign.key.location` points to a `KeyStore` file.

smallrye.jwt.sign.key.location

none

Location of a private key which will be used to sign the claims when either a no-argument sign() or innerSign() method is called.

smallrye.jwt.sign.key

none

Key value which will be used to sign the claims when either a no-argument sign() or innerSign() method is called.

smallrye.jwt.sign.key.id

none

Signing key identifier which is checked only when JWK keys are used.

smallrye.jwt.encrypt.key.location

none

Location of a public key which will be used to encrypt the claims or inner JWT when a no-argument encrypt() method is called.

smallrye.jwt.sign.relax-key-validation

false

Relax the validation of the signing keys.

smallrye.jwt.encrypt.key

none

Key value which will be used to encrypt the claims or inner JWT when a no-argument encrypt() method is called.

smallrye.jwt.encrypt.key.id

none

Encryption key identifier which is checked only when JWK keys are used.

smallrye.jwt.encrypt.relax-key-validation

false

Relax the validation of the encryption keys.

smallrye.jwt.new-token.signature-algorithm

RS256

Signature algorithm. This property will be checked if the JWT signature builder has not already set the signature algorithm.

smallrye.jwt.new-token.key-encryption-algorithm

RSA-OAEP

Key encryption algorithm. This property will be checked if the JWT encryption builder has not already set the key encryption algorithm.

smallrye.jwt.new-token.content-encryption-algorithm

A256GCM

Content encryption algorithm. This property will be checked if the JWT encryption builder has not already set the content encryption algorithm.

smallrye.jwt.new-token.lifespan

300

Token lifespan in seconds which will be used to calculate an exp (expiry) claim value if this claim has not already been set.

smallrye.jwt.new-token.issuer

none

Token issuer which can be used to set an iss (issuer) claim value if this claim has not already been set.

smallrye.jwt.new-token.audience

none

Token audience which can be used to set an aud (audience) claim value if this claim has not already been set.

smallrye.jwt.new-token.override-matching-claims

false

Set this property to true for smallrye.jwt.new-token.issuer and smallrye.jwt.new-token.audience values to override the already initialized iss (issuer) and aud (audience) claims.

smallrye.jwt.keystore.type

JKS

This property can be used to customize a keystore type if either smallrye.jwt.sign.key.location or smallrye.jwt.encrypt.key.location or both of these properties point to a KeyStore file. If it is not set then the file name will be checked to determine the keystore type before defaulting to JKS.

smallrye.jwt.keystore.provider

This property can be used to customize a KeyStore provider if smallrye.jwt.sign.key.location or smallrye.jwt.encrypt.key.location point to a KeyStore file.

smallrye.jwt.keystore.password

Keystore password. If smallrye.jwt.sign.key.location or smallrye.jwt.encrypt.key.location point to a KeyStore file then this property has be set.

smallrye.jwt.keystore.encrypt.key.alias

This property has to be set to identify a public encryption key which will be extracted from KeyStore from a matching certificate if smallrye.jwt.encrypt.key.location points to a KeyStore file.

smallrye.jwt.keystore.sign.key.alias

This property has to be set to identify a private signing key if smallrye.jwt.sign.key.location points to a KeyStore file.

smallrye.jwt.keystore.sign.key.password

This property may be set if a private signing key’s password in KeyStore is different to smallrye.jwt.keystore.password when smallrye.jwt.sign.key.location points to a KeyStore file.

References

Dependency
Create JwtClaimsBuilder and set the claims
Sign the claims
Encrypt the claims
Sign the claims and encrypt the nested JWT token
Fast JWT Generation
Dealing with the keys
SmallRye JWT Builder configuration
References

Build, Sign and Encrypt JSON Web Tokens

Dependency

Create JwtClaimsBuilder and set the claims

Sign the claims

Encrypt the claims

Sign the claims and encrypt the nested JWT token

Fast JWT Generation

Dealing with the keys

SmallRye JWT Builder configuration

References

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