Sun Java System Directory Server Enterprise Edition 6.0 Administration Guide

SASL Authentication Through DIGEST-MD5

The DIGEST-MD5 mechanism authenticates clients by comparing a hashed value sent by the client with a hash of the user’s password. However, because the mechanism must read user passwords, all users that want to be authenticated through DIGEST-MD5 must have {CLEAR} passwords in the directory. When storing {CLEAR} passwords in the directory, you must ensure that access to password values is properly restricted through ACIs, as described in Chapter 6, Directory Server Access Control. In addition, you need to configure attribute encryption in the suffix, as described in Encrypting Attribute Values.

ProcedureTo Configure the DIGEST-MD5 Mechanism

The following procedure explains how to configure Directory Server to use DIGEST-MD5.

You cannot use DSCC to perform this task. Use the command line, as described in this procedure.

  1. Use the ldapsearch command to verify that DIGEST-MD5 is a value of the supportedSASLMechanisms attribute on the root entry.

    For example, the following command shows which SASL mechanisms are enabled:


    $ ldapsearch -h host -p port -D cn=admin,cn=Administrators,cn=config -w - \
     -s base -b "" "(objectclass=*)" supportedSASLMechanisms
    Enter bind password:
    dn:
    supportedSASLMechanisms: EXTERNAL
    supportedSASLMechanisms: DIGEST-MD5
    supportedSASLMechanisms: GSSAPI
    ^D
  2. If DIGEST-MD5 is not enabled, enable it.


    $ ldapmodify -h host -p port -D cn=admin,cn=Administrators,cn=config -w - 
    Enter bind password:
    dn: cn=SASL, cn=security, cn=config
    changetype: modify
    add: dsSaslPluginsEnable
    dsSaslPluginsEnable: DIGEST-MD5
    -
    replace: dsSaslPluginsPath
    dsSaslPluginsPath: SASL-library
    ^D

    where SASL-library is one of the following:

    JES installation

    /usr/lib/mps/sasl2

    Zip installation

    install-path/dsee6/private/lib

  3. Use the default identity mapping for DIGEST-MD5, or create new ones.

    For information, see DIGEST-MD5 Identity Mappings.

  4. Ensure that the password is stored in {CLEAR} for all users who will access the server through SSL using DIGEST-MD5.

    See Chapter 7, Directory Server Password Policy for password storage schemes.

  5. If you modified the SASL configuration entry or one of the DIGEST-MD5 identity mapping entries, restart Directory Server.

DIGEST-MD5 Identity Mappings

Identity mappings for SASL mechanisms try to match the credentials of the SASL identity with a user entry in the directory. Authentication fails if the mapping cannot find a DN that corresponds to the SASL identity. See Sun Java System Directory Server Enterprise Edition 6.0 Reference for a complete description of this mechanism.

The SASL identity is a string called the Principal that represents a user in a format specific to each mechanism. In DIGEST-MD5, clients should create a Principal that contains either a dn: prefix and an LDAP DN or a u: prefix followed by any text determined by the client. During the mapping, the Principal that is sent by the client is available in the ${Principal} placeholder.

The following entry in your server configuration is the default identity mapping for DIGEST-MD5:


dn: cn=default,cn=DIGEST-MD5,cn=identity mapping,cn=config
objectClass: top
objectClass: nsContainer
objectClass: dsIdentityMapping
objectClass: dsPatternMatching
cn: default
dsMatching-pattern: \${Principal}
dsMatching-regexp: dn:(.*)
dsMappedDN: \$1

This identity mapping assumes that the dn field of the Principal contains the exact DN of an existing user in the directory.

ProcedureTo Define Your Own Identity Mappings for DIGEST-MD5

You cannot use DSCC to perform this task. Use the command line, as described in this procedure.

  1. Edit the default mapping entry or create new mapping entries under cn=DIGEST-MD5,cn=identity mapping,cn=config.

    An example mapping for DIGEST-MD5 is located in instance-path/ldif/identityMapping_Examples.ldif.

    This example assumes that the unqualified text field of the Principal contains the user name of the desired identity. The following command shows how this mapping would be defined:


    $ ldapmodify -a -h host1 -p 1636 -D cn=admin,cn=Administrators,cn=config -w -
    Enter bind password:
    dn: cn=unqualified-username,cn=DIGEST-MD5,cn=identity mapping
    cn=config
    objectclass: dsIdentityMapping
    objectclass: dsPatternMatching
    objectclass: nsContainer
    objectclass: top
    cn: unqualified-username
    dsMatching-pattern: \${Principal}
    dsMatching-regexp: u:(.*)@(.*)\\.com
    dsSearchBaseDN: dc=\$2
    dsSearchFilter: (uid=\$1)
  2. Restart Directory Server for your new mappings to take effect.