- Business Priorities and Goals:
- Secure access to applications and services.
- Centralized identity and access management.
- Single Sign-On (SSO) for improved user experience and security.
- Streamlined user management and administration.
- Support for modern authentication and authorization protocols.
- Compliance with security and regulatory requirements.
- Business Risks:
- Unauthorized access to sensitive applications and data.
- Data breaches due to compromised user credentials or vulnerabilities in the identity management system.
- Service disruption and application downtime caused by issues with the identity provider.
- Compliance violations and legal repercussions due to inadequate access controls and data protection.
- Reputational damage and loss of customer trust in case of security incidents.
- Existing Security Controls:
- security control: Authentication protocols (OpenID Connect, OAuth 2.0, SAML 2.0, Kerberos). Implemented within Keycloak server and client adapters.
- security control: Authorization framework (Role-Based Access Control, Attribute-Based Access Control). Implemented within Keycloak server and client adapters.
- security control: User management features (password policies, account lockout, user registration). Implemented within Keycloak Admin Console and server.
- security control: Security audit logging. Implemented within Keycloak server and accessible via Admin Console and APIs.
- security control: Encryption of sensitive data at rest (database encryption). Configurable during Keycloak deployment.
- security control: Secure communication channels (HTTPS). Enforced by web server configuration hosting Keycloak.
- security control: Secure software development lifecycle (SSDLC) practices. Described in Keycloak development documentation and community practices.
- security control: Regular security updates and patches. Released by Keycloak development team and community.
- Accepted Risks:
- accepted risk: Complexity of configuration and management, potentially leading to misconfigurations if not properly handled.
- accepted risk: Reliance on underlying infrastructure security (e.g., database, operating system, network).
- accepted risk: Potential vulnerabilities in third-party dependencies.
- accepted risk: Risk of social engineering attacks targeting user credentials.
- Recommended Security Controls:
- security control: Implement Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for all users, especially administrators.
- security control: Conduct regular security audits and penetration testing of Keycloak deployments.
- security control: Implement vulnerability scanning for Keycloak server and its dependencies.
- security control: Establish a robust incident response plan for security incidents related to Keycloak.
- security control: Provide security awareness training for administrators and users of Keycloak.
- security control: Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) in front of Keycloak to protect against common web attacks.
- Security Requirements:
- Authentication:
- Requirement: Support for strong authentication mechanisms including multi-factor authentication.
- Requirement: Protection against brute-force attacks and account enumeration.
- Requirement: Secure password storage using strong hashing algorithms.
- Requirement: Session management to prevent session hijacking and fixation.
- Authorization:
- Requirement: Fine-grained access control based on roles, attributes, and policies.
- Requirement: Policy enforcement to ensure consistent authorization decisions.
- Requirement: Support for least privilege principle.
- Requirement: Centralized authorization management and audit logging.
- Input Validation:
- Requirement: Validate all user inputs to prevent injection attacks (e.g., SQL injection, Cross-Site Scripting).
- Requirement: Input sanitization and encoding to mitigate injection risks.
- Requirement: Use of secure coding practices to avoid common input validation vulnerabilities.
- Cryptography:
- Requirement: Encryption of sensitive data at rest (e.g., user credentials, tokens).
- Requirement: Encryption of data in transit using TLS/HTTPS.
- Requirement: Secure key management practices for cryptographic keys.
- Requirement: Use of strong and up-to-date cryptographic algorithms and libraries.
- Authentication:
flowchart LR
subgraph "Organization"
U[/"User"\nType: Person\nDescription: End-user accessing applications\nResponsibilities: Authenticate to access applications/]
A[/"Administrator"\nType: Person\nDescription: Manages Keycloak configuration and users\nResponsibilities: Configure Keycloak, manage users and roles/]
end
KC[/"Keycloak"\nType: Software System\nDescription: Identity and Access Management System\nResponsibilities: Authentication, Authorization, User Management, SSO/]
WebApp[/"Web Application"\nType: Software System\nDescription: Example application secured by Keycloak\nResponsibilities: Delegate authentication and authorization to Keycloak/]
MobileApp[/"Mobile Application"\nType: Software System\nDescription: Example mobile application secured by Keycloak\nResponsibilities: Delegate authentication and authorization to Keycloak/]
API[/"API Gateway"\nType: Software System\nDescription: API Gateway secured by Keycloak\nResponsibilities: Delegate authentication and authorization to Keycloak, protect backend APIs/]
IDP[/"Identity Provider (External)"\nType: Software System\nDescription: External identity provider (e.g., LDAP, Social)\nResponsibilities: User authentication, user attribute provision/]
U -->|Authenticates via| WebApp
U -->|Authenticates via| MobileApp
U -->|Authenticates via| API
A -->|Manages| KC
WebApp -->|Delegates Authentication and Authorization to| KC
MobileApp -->|Delegates Authentication and Authorization to| KC
API -->|Delegates Authentication and Authorization to| KC
KC -->|Authenticates Users via| IDP
- Context Diagram Elements:
-
- Name: User
- Type: Person
- Description: End-user who needs to access various applications and services secured by Keycloak.
- Responsibilities: Authenticating to access applications, interacting with applications.
- Security controls: Strong passwords, multi-factor authentication (if enabled by application and Keycloak).
-
- Name: Administrator
- Type: Person
- Description: User responsible for managing and configuring Keycloak, including user management, realm configuration, and security settings.
- Responsibilities: Configuring Keycloak, managing users, roles, and clients, monitoring Keycloak health.
- Security controls: Strong passwords, multi-factor authentication, role-based access control within Keycloak Admin Console, audit logging of administrative actions.
-
- Name: Keycloak
- Type: Software System
- Description: The Identity and Access Management system itself, providing authentication, authorization, and user management services.
- Responsibilities: Authenticating users, authorizing access to applications, managing user identities, providing SSO capabilities, integrating with identity providers.
- Security controls: Authentication mechanisms, authorization policies, input validation, cryptography, security audit logging, secure configuration, regular security updates.
-
- Name: Web Application
- Type: Software System
- Description: A web-based application that needs to be secured using Keycloak for authentication and authorization.
- Responsibilities: Delegating authentication and authorization to Keycloak, protecting application resources based on Keycloak's authorization decisions, providing user interface for end-users.
- Security controls: Using Keycloak client adapters for secure communication, enforcing authorization policies received from Keycloak, protecting application-specific data.
-
- Name: Mobile Application
- Type: Software System
- Description: A mobile application that needs to be secured using Keycloak for authentication and authorization.
- Responsibilities: Delegating authentication and authorization to Keycloak, securely storing tokens, protecting application resources based on Keycloak's authorization decisions, providing user interface for end-users.
- Security controls: Using Keycloak client adapters or SDKs for secure communication, securely storing tokens on the mobile device, enforcing authorization policies received from Keycloak, protecting application-specific data.
-
- Name: API Gateway
- Type: Software System
- Description: An API Gateway that protects backend APIs and uses Keycloak for authentication and authorization of API requests.
- Responsibilities: Authenticating and authorizing API requests using Keycloak, routing requests to backend APIs, providing rate limiting and other API management features.
- Security controls: Validating tokens issued by Keycloak, enforcing authorization policies, protecting backend APIs from unauthorized access, implementing API security best practices.
-
- Name: Identity Provider (External)
- Type: Software System
- Description: External identity providers such as LDAP directories, Active Directory, or social identity providers (e.g., Google, Facebook) that Keycloak can integrate with for user authentication.
- Responsibilities: Authenticating users, providing user attributes to Keycloak, managing user identities in external systems.
- Security controls: Secure communication protocols (e.g., LDAPS, secure API connections), secure storage of user credentials, adherence to security best practices for identity management.
-
flowchart LR
subgraph "Keycloak Server"
DB[/"Database"\nType: Data Store\nDescription: Stores Keycloak configuration, users, roles, and sessions\nResponsibilities: Persistent storage of Keycloak data/]
AdminConsole[/"Admin Console"\nType: Web Application\nDescription: Web UI for Keycloak administration\nResponsibilities: Keycloak configuration, user and role management/]
AuthServer[/"Authentication Server"\nType: Web Application\nDescription: Core Keycloak server for authentication and authorization\nResponsibilities: Authentication, Authorization, SSO, Protocol Adapters/]
EventListener[/"Event Listener SPIs"\nType: Component\nDescription: Allows custom event handling and auditing\nResponsibilities: Custom event processing, audit logging extensions/]
UserStorage[/"User Storage SPIs"\nType: Component\nDescription: Allows integration with external user stores\nResponsibilities: User federation, integration with LDAP/AD/]
AuthProtocol[/"Authentication Protocol SPIs"\nType: Component\nDescription: Supports various authentication protocols\nResponsibilities: Protocol handling (OpenID Connect, SAML, OAuth2)/]
end
WebApp[/"Web Application"\nType: Software System]
MobileApp[/"Mobile Application"\nType: Software System]
API[/"API Gateway"\nType: Software System]
IDP[/"Identity Provider (External)"\nType: Software System]
Admin[/"Administrator"\nType: Person]
User[/"User"\nType: Person]
Admin -->|Manages via HTTPS| AdminConsole
User -->|Authenticates via HTTPS| AuthServer
WebApp -->|Authenticates and Authorizes via HTTPS using Adapters| AuthServer
MobileApp -->|Authenticates and Authorizes via HTTPS using SDKs| AuthServer
API -->|Authenticates and Authorizes via HTTPS using Adapters| AuthServer
AuthServer -->|Reads/Writes| DB
AuthServer -->|Authenticates Users via| UserStorage
AuthServer -->|Authenticates Users via| AuthProtocol
AuthServer -->|Sends Events to| EventListener
AuthServer -->|Authenticates Users via| IDP
- Container Diagram Elements:
-
- Name: Database
- Type: Data Store
- Description: Persistent database used by Keycloak to store configuration, user data, roles, sessions, and other persistent information. Examples include PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, etc.
- Responsibilities: Persistent storage of Keycloak data, ensuring data integrity and availability.
- Security controls: Database access controls, encryption at rest, regular backups, vulnerability patching, database hardening.
-
- Name: Admin Console
- Type: Web Application
- Description: Web-based user interface for administrators to manage Keycloak realms, users, roles, clients, and other configurations.
- Responsibilities: Providing a UI for Keycloak administration, allowing administrators to configure and manage the system.
- Security controls: Authentication and authorization for access, input validation, protection against common web attacks, secure session management, audit logging of administrative actions.
-
- Name: Authentication Server
- Type: Web Application
- Description: The core Keycloak server application responsible for handling authentication and authorization requests, managing sessions, and implementing SSO logic. Typically based on WildFly or Quarkus.
- Responsibilities: Authentication, authorization, SSO, session management, protocol handling (OpenID Connect, OAuth 2.0, SAML 2.0), integration with SPIs and external identity providers.
- Security controls: Authentication mechanisms, authorization policies, input validation, cryptography, secure session management, protection against common web attacks, regular security updates.
-
- Name: Event Listener SPIs
- Type: Component
- Description: Service Provider Interfaces (SPIs) that allow for custom event handling and auditing extensions within Keycloak.
- Responsibilities: Enabling custom event processing, allowing for extensions to audit logging and other event-driven functionalities.
- Security controls: Secure implementation of custom event listeners, proper handling of sensitive data in event processing, protection against denial-of-service attacks through event flooding.
-
- Name: User Storage SPIs
- Type: Component
- Description: Service Provider Interfaces (SPIs) that enable integration with external user stores such as LDAP directories, Active Directory, or custom user databases.
- Responsibilities: User federation, allowing Keycloak to authenticate users against external user stores, synchronizing user data.
- Security controls: Secure communication with external user stores (e.g., LDAPS), secure handling of credentials during federation, protection against injection attacks when querying external stores.
-
- Name: Authentication Protocol SPIs
- Type: Component
- Description: Service Provider Interfaces (SPIs) that support various authentication protocols like OpenID Connect, SAML 2.0, OAuth 2.0, and potentially custom protocols.
- Responsibilities: Handling protocol-specific logic for authentication and token exchange, ensuring compliance with protocol standards.
- Security controls: Secure implementation of protocol handling logic, protection against protocol-specific vulnerabilities, adherence to security best practices for each protocol.
-
- Deployment Options:
- Standalone Server: Single Keycloak server instance for development or small deployments.
- Clustered Deployment: Multiple Keycloak server instances for high availability and scalability, typically behind a load balancer.
- Containerized Deployment: Deployment using containers (Docker) and orchestration platforms (Kubernetes, OpenShift) for scalability and easier management.
- Detailed Deployment (Clustered Deployment on Kubernetes):
flowchart LR
subgraph "Kubernetes Cluster"
subgraph "Namespace: keycloak"
subgraph "Deployment: keycloak-deployment"
KC1[/"Keycloak Pod 1"\nType: Container\nDescription: Keycloak Server Instance 1/]
KC2[/"Keycloak Pod 2"\nType: Container\nDescription: Keycloak Server Instance 2/]
KCN[/"Keycloak Pod N"\nType: Container\nDescription: Keycloak Server Instance N/]
end
Service[/"Service: keycloak-service"\nType: Kubernetes Service\nDescription: Load balancer for Keycloak pods/]
DBPod[/"Database Pod"\nType: Container\nDescription: Database instance for Keycloak/]
end
Ingress[/"Ingress Controller"\nType: Kubernetes Ingress\nDescription: Exposes Keycloak service to external traffic/]
end
User[/"User"\nType: External User]
Admin[/"Administrator"\nType: External Administrator]
User -->|HTTPS Requests| Ingress
Admin -->|HTTPS Requests| Ingress
Ingress -->|Routes to| Service
Service -->|Load Balances to| KC1
Service -->|Load Balances to| KC2
Service -->|Load Balances to| KCN
KC1 -->|Connects to| DBPod
KC2 -->|Connects to| DBPod
KCN -->|Connects to| DBPod
- Deployment Diagram Elements:
-
- Name: Kubernetes Cluster
- Type: Infrastructure
- Description: Underlying Kubernetes cluster providing container orchestration and management.
- Responsibilities: Container orchestration, resource management, service discovery, scaling, health monitoring.
- Security controls: Kubernetes RBAC, network policies, pod security policies/admission controllers, security audits of Kubernetes configuration, regular patching of Kubernetes components.
-
- Name: Namespace: keycloak
- Type: Kubernetes Namespace
- Description: Dedicated Kubernetes namespace to isolate Keycloak resources.
- Responsibilities: Resource isolation, access control within the namespace.
- Security controls: Kubernetes RBAC for namespace access control, network policies to restrict traffic within and outside the namespace.
-
- Name: Deployment: keycloak-deployment
- Type: Kubernetes Deployment
- Description: Kubernetes Deployment managing Keycloak server pods, ensuring desired state and rolling updates.
- Responsibilities: Managing Keycloak pod replicas, ensuring high availability, performing rolling updates.
- Security controls: Pod security context, resource limits, health probes, security updates of container images.
-
- Name: Keycloak Pod 1, Keycloak Pod 2, Keycloak Pod N
- Type: Container
- Description: Individual instances of the Keycloak server running as containers within Kubernetes pods.
- Responsibilities: Handling authentication and authorization requests, running Keycloak server application.
- Security controls: Container image security scanning, least privilege container user, resource limits, regular security updates of Keycloak application and base image.
-
- Name: Service: keycloak-service
- Type: Kubernetes Service
- Description: Kubernetes Service acting as a load balancer in front of Keycloak pods, providing a single access point.
- Responsibilities: Load balancing traffic to Keycloak pods, service discovery within Kubernetes.
- Security controls: Service account security, network policies to control access to the service.
-
- Name: Database Pod
- Type: Container
- Description: Database instance (e.g., PostgreSQL) running as a container within Kubernetes pod, used by Keycloak for persistent storage.
- Responsibilities: Persistent storage for Keycloak, database operations.
- Security controls: Database access controls, encryption at rest (if supported by database and configured), regular backups, database hardening, container image security scanning.
-
- Name: Ingress Controller
- Type: Kubernetes Ingress
- Description: Kubernetes Ingress controller exposing the Keycloak service to external traffic, handling TLS termination and routing.
- Responsibilities: Exposing Keycloak service externally, TLS termination, routing traffic based on hostnames or paths.
- Security controls: TLS configuration, WAF integration (optional), rate limiting, access control to Ingress controller configuration.
-
flowchart LR
Developer[/"Developer"\nType: Person\nDescription: Software developer contributing to Keycloak project/] -->|Code Commit| SourceCode[/"Source Code Repository (GitHub)"\nType: Code Repository\nDescription: Keycloak source code hosted on GitHub\nSecurity Controls: Access Control, Branch Protection/]
SourceCode -->|Webhook Trigger| CI[/"CI System (GitHub Actions)"\nType: CI/CD System\nDescription: GitHub Actions for automated build and testing\nSecurity Controls: Secure Workflows, Secret Management, Audit Logging/]
CI -->|Build Process| BuildEnv[/"Build Environment"\nType: Environment\nDescription: Environment for building Keycloak artifacts\nSecurity Controls: Isolated Environment, Access Control/]
BuildEnv -->|Build Artifacts| ArtifactRepo[/"Artifact Repository (Maven Central, Docker Hub)"\nType: Artifact Repository\nDescription: Repositories for publishing Keycloak artifacts\nSecurity Controls: Access Control, Integrity Checks, Vulnerability Scanning/]
CI -->|Security Checks (SAST, Dependency Scan)| BuildEnv
BuildEnv -->|Publish Artifacts| ArtifactRepo
- Build Process Elements:
-
- Name: Developer
- Type: Person
- Description: Software developers who write code and contribute to the Keycloak project.
- Responsibilities: Writing code, committing code changes, participating in code reviews.
- Security controls: Secure development practices, code review process, access control to source code repository, developer training on secure coding.
-
- Name: Source Code Repository (GitHub)
- Type: Code Repository
- Description: GitHub repository hosting the Keycloak source code.
- Responsibilities: Version control, source code management, collaboration platform for developers.
- Security controls: Access control (authentication and authorization), branch protection rules, audit logging of code changes, vulnerability scanning of repository configurations.
-
- Name: CI System (GitHub Actions)
- Type: CI/CD System
- Description: GitHub Actions used for automated build, testing, and publishing of Keycloak artifacts.
- Responsibilities: Automated build process, running tests, performing security checks, publishing artifacts.
- Security controls: Secure workflow definitions, secret management for credentials, audit logging of CI/CD activities, access control to CI/CD configurations, isolation of build environments.
-
- Name: Build Environment
- Type: Environment
- Description: Environment where the Keycloak build process is executed, including build tools, dependencies, and runtime environment.
- Responsibilities: Providing a consistent and reproducible build environment, executing build steps, performing security checks.
- Security controls: Isolated build environment, access control to build environment, hardened build environment configuration, regular patching of build tools and dependencies.
-
- Name: Artifact Repository (Maven Central, Docker Hub)
- Type: Artifact Repository
- Description: Repositories where Keycloak build artifacts (JAR files, Docker images) are published. Examples include Maven Central for Java artifacts and Docker Hub for container images.
- Responsibilities: Storing and distributing Keycloak artifacts, providing access to users and systems for downloading artifacts.
- Security controls: Access control to artifact repository, integrity checks for artifacts (e.g., signatures, checksums), vulnerability scanning of published artifacts, audit logging of artifact access and modifications.
-
- Name: Security Checks (SAST, Dependency Scan)
- Type: Security Tooling
- Description: Static Application Security Testing (SAST) tools and dependency scanning tools integrated into the CI pipeline to identify security vulnerabilities in the code and dependencies.
- Responsibilities: Automated security vulnerability detection during the build process, providing feedback to developers, ensuring secure code and dependencies.
- Security controls: Configuration and maintenance of security scanning tools, integration with CI pipeline, vulnerability reporting and remediation process.
-
- Critical Business Processes:
- Authentication of users accessing applications and services.
- Authorization of user access to resources within applications.
- User management and provisioning.
- Single Sign-On (SSO) functionality.
- Security auditing and logging of access events.
- Data to Protect:
- User Credentials (passwords, password hashes, MFA secrets): Sensitivity: High (Confidentiality, Integrity).
- User Attributes (personal information, roles, permissions): Sensitivity: Medium to High (Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability depending on attributes).
- Session Tokens and Access Tokens: Sensitivity: High (Confidentiality, Integrity).
- Audit Logs: Sensitivity: Medium (Integrity, Availability).
- Keycloak Configuration Data: Sensitivity: Medium (Integrity, Availability).
- Questions:
- What are the specific applications and services that Keycloak will be securing?
- What are the specific security compliance requirements that need to be met (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS)?
- What is the expected scale and performance requirements for Keycloak deployment?
- What are the preferred database and operating system platforms for Keycloak?
- Are there any specific identity providers that Keycloak needs to integrate with?
- What is the level of security expertise of the team responsible for managing Keycloak?
- Assumptions:
- The organization prioritizes security and is willing to invest in security controls for identity and access management.
- The deployment environment is assumed to be a modern infrastructure capable of supporting containerized applications and Kubernetes.
- The team managing Keycloak has basic understanding of identity and access management concepts.
- The primary goal is to secure web applications, mobile applications, and APIs using Keycloak.
- The organization is interested in a clustered and highly available deployment of Keycloak.